Hello! I'm disneygirl12, and welcome to my *fanfare* 30th cake review! :D There are just a few games I've yet to review, and CLK is one of them. I'm not sure why I haven't reviewed it yet, to be honest...but I recently finished replaying it and wanted to finally give my thoughts on it.
This game is loosely based off of four ND books, one of which is titled none other than Secret of the Old Clock. This book was set in 1930, and to commemorate its 75-year anniversary since its publication, HeR decided to set the game in 1930 as well. Nancy is asked by Emily Crandall, a friend of a friend, to visit the Lilac Inn. Shortly after Nancy arrives, a number of strange things start happening, and it's up to her to figure out what exactly is going on in Titusville.
Fruitcakes (cons)
The character graphics are oddly blurry. I'm not sure if this was intentional, maybe to fit the 1930s setting, but it doesn't look very good. I have some problems with the ending. We don't really get a good confrontational moment with the culprit, so it just left me wanting more. I also didn't like the ending scene - it was really predictable and not too creative. I wasn't a huge fan of the puzzles. Some were really simple and not that challenging; others were kind of random and tedious.Good Cakes (pros)
The music does a FANTASTIC job of capturing the setting! It makes it really feel like it's the 1930s. This game stands out quite a bit from other ND games because it offers a lot of certain gameplay features, such as spending money and driving Nancy's car. Both were a first for the series, and both were handled really well. They gave the game a unique spin. There are some really fun mini-games/activities, like delivering telegrams. If you ever want a break from the mystery, there are a lot of ways to do so. :D The game does a pretty good job pacing the drama. There are multiple character and plot developments scattered throughout, and they do flow well with the overall story. I kind of like that there are two plots in the game. They don't tie together, but they don't need to. The ending does a good job of summarizing the results of both plots.Pancakes (so-so's)
There are a few tasks in the game, and they always come in right when you're about to do something. These tasks were both kind of random and kind of not, if that makes any sense. What I mean is, they try to make them fit in, but they still feel like they come out of nowhere. It could have been handled worse, though. The characters are alright, but I didn't find any of them to be very interesting. I think my favorite was the cat.In the end, CLK proved to be rather enjoyable upon replay. I found myself liking certain things about it that I hadn't really thought of before, like just how well the music fits in and how well the two plots/mysteries are handled. While there are some fun "extras" in this game (the mini-games and activities), I do have some problems with the relatively uninteresting characters, mediocre ending and the bizarre fuzziness of the graphics. I can be a bit more forgiving for this game though because it did some very experimental things -- the setting, the based-off-of-four-books, and those little activities -- all of which were handled pretty well. So while not the best game, it's still enjoyable and it's one of those games I find myself coming back to play at least once a year, and that's more than I can say for plenty of the other games. Overall, I think I would give Secret of the Old Clock a 3 out of 5 stars, which to me equals a title of "Good".
Well, that wraps up this review! Thanks so much for your time (haha, clock puns). Feel free to comment - they're always welcome! :)
★ ★ ★ = Good
Read my last review, on The Secret of Shadow Ranch (Mobile Mystery).
Read my next review, on The Secret of Shadow Ranch (PC game).
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