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A Veteran's Review of STFD
Allow me to preface this review by saying that I have been playing the ND games for almost thirteen years. Over those years, I have probably played each game over twenty times--the older ones probably over fifty--and I do at least one full marathon of all 33 games (i.e., all 32 and SCK Remastered) annually. As I have gotten older, I have found myself ranking the games, characters, music, etc. in my spare time during marathons, and this year I thought I would write--and subsequently post--reviews of each game while I go through my 2018 marathon (I'm starting a month early). I have lost access to/forgotten about my previous accounts on here, including my very first one 
, so I made a new one solely for this purpose. That being said, I hope you enjoy my review.
Plot: I must say this game has one of the most unique and tense plots of all the ND games because instead of a "whodunnit" it's a "who's doing it." There are several others in the series that have followed this type of formula (e.g., Warnings at Waverly Academy, Tomb of the Lost Queen, Message in a Haunted Mansion, The Phantom of Venice, etc.), but I don't think any of them quite create the same level of urgency (except perhaps The Final Scene, but even it is handled differently). I will discuss the characters at length below, but I think Mattie's desperation to protect Rick and his nonchalance-- and the fact that we nearly see Rick killed by a falling fresnel light (correct me, theatre buffs, if that is not the proper name
) the first time we go on set--creates some serious tension to solve the mystery as quickly as possible. Sure, there are moments in the plot that feel a little contrived and unrealistic, but never so extreme that I can't suspend that disbelief.
Setting: As someone who has never been to NYC but always wanted to go, I think the game does a pretty fair job of making the Big Apple feel realistic; the jazzy street music, taxi cabs, and Mattie's townhouse are fitting. I absolutely love Mattie's house and dressing room in WWB Studios; they feel so warm and lived-in. We don't get to see much of the studio, but the rooms we do see are great. Each space feels so unique and appropriate for the character who inhabits it. My favorite place in the game is probably the Prop Room because of all the subtle nods to the original book series (e.g., the whistling bag pipes and the spider sapphire, for example). The threatening letters and disturbing gifts strewn around Rick's room are also a great touch, and I think, besides being there for Nancy to snoop through, they show that Rick might be more concerned about this whole affair than he is letting on to anyone.
Characters: I think this game has a great cast of characters, especially for another reasonably short game. Mattie is obviously still so in love with Rick, I find myself still rooting for them to get together in that tease at the end. She's clearly such a nice, loyal human being: she doesn't abandon Dwayne after Rick upgrades to a bigger agency, she loans Dwayne money to help him pay his rent, and she calls for Nancy to come in because she is terrified that something will happen to Rick. There is the small matter of how she got angry and sent Rick that lipstick smeared headshot, but she is easily one of the nicest characters in all of the games. I have a fondness for Rick, too, even though he is portrayed in a pretty flat, vacuous manner in his interactions with Nancy and pretty much everyone else (i.e., he is nothing but a egotistical, but charming playboy). From his relationship with Mattie, I assume he has more depth, but that could be me just being hopeful for Mattie's sake.
Lillian is another of the characters I somehow really like despite 99.9% of Nancy's interactions with her involving extreme sass and door-slamming (then again, maybe I love her because she is so sassy and won't put up with anyone's foolishness). Even though Rick seriously dumped her hard and used her to ladder-climb, she conducts an investigation into the death threats herself because she's actually concerned about him. Mattie and Lillian are both too good for Rick; it's tragic. Millie Strathorn absolutely cracks me up to this day. She's so eccentric in all the right ways, and she absolutely hates Rick--or perhaps only Rory, but who can tell the difference?!--and her insults are legendary.
Lani Minella's voice-acting only makes her even more delightful.
I'm afraid I don't have much to say about Dwayne because he creeps me out to this day. He's just such an angry and unbalanced man, with some serious ego problems of his own. I kind of feel bad for him though; he's probably been pining after Mattie for years. I should probably mention Ralph, although he is a minor character. There is something about him that is very lovable, even though we know nothing about him except that he is serious about his job (I actually got caught by him while snooping at night for the first time EVER during this playthrough, and it shocked me). I know most of the other games have minor characters, usually off-screen or on the phone, but it is nice to have good ole Ralph waiting to greet Nancy at the desk every day.
Music: I cannot properly express my love for Mattie's theme in this game. It is legitimately one of my favorite pieces from any of the games. Like her and her living spaces, it's such a nice, warm, and pleasant air to it, but there is this underlying tension and suspense. I love, love, love, love it! The lobby theme for WWB Studios has this distinct 90s nostalgic factor to it that makes me so happy. It's ALMOST muzak, but better. Genius. By contrast, the night music for all locations in the game is so appropriately eerie. Not exactly my favorite to listen to on the daily, but it does its job of creating a tense atmosphere to snoop in (especially the set music...so unsettling).
Puzzles: STFD has a few more puzzles than SCK, but most of them are pretty simple and some are flat out tedious (I'm looking at you, Master Detective stacking rings). Nonetheless, the majority help move the game forward, either by giving Nancy access to a new area or new information. While not quite a puzzle, the fact that Nancy uses her ID to get past the locks on set fills me with glee. This game also features little puzzles and clues that have little to no relevance to solving the mystery, but I love them and I think they flesh out the characters well.
Graphics: Like its predecessor, the 3D background/environment animations in this game are lovely and well done. The characters are also 3D models, and while they have a slightly disturbing, plastic-like quality to them, I wouldn't say they are in the uncanny valley. Each model is quite expressive and looks distinctly different than everyone else. It's a little awkward when they get stuck at the end of speaking and leave their mouths wide open, but I find it hysterical and move on. I also love that in lieu of animating a thousand poses for their character models, they just photoshopped their faces onto real pictures; it honestly doesn't look that bad, and it enabled them to flesh out the characters' personal and professional lives more. (Quick note: the security tape footage of a certain character walking around on set has become an inside joke in my family, and we semi-regularly start walking like that around each other. Please give it another watch if you haven't noticed how perfect and strange it is.)
Ending: When I first played this game as a ten-year-old, I did not see the culprit reveal coming at all. There are tiny little details and clues that I have picked up on as an older and experienced player--I can't spoil them though because it would give too much away to any observant first-timers--but when I found out who the culprit was I am almost certain I looked like this:
. It makes perfect sense on replays, but I always like when the game stumps me or provides me with enough evidence for all the characters that I can't determine who it is until the big reveal. That being said, I think the ending is great. Not only it is pretty terrifying and difficult, especially on Master Detective without the time patch, but the reveal itself and the conversation with the culprit are so great (and a bit melodramatic, but given this cast of soap celebrities, that's fair).
Other points of interest: The voice-acting is consistently solid in this game. Every delivery feels spot on. The writing can get cheesy at parts, but I am willing to overlook that because of how everyone in this is on or affiliated with a soap opera.
This game also gets bonus points compared to SCK because there is no disc changing required even though it's a bigger game. Unfortunately, I still find it easy to get stuck in this game waiting for certain plot events to occur or conversations to happen. Just in my playthrough yesterday, I probably spent ten minutes running around talking to everyone and knocking on doors trying to trigger a particularly explosive scene. In previous playthroughs, I always had trouble getting the phone to ring. I have heard complaints about getting softlocked because players kept forgetting to get certain items from the prop room that help with this scene and allow them to get back into the prop room.
The Takeaway: The second game in the series is much stronger than the first, but equally nostalgic for me, as I played it on the same day as I started the first five games in the series back in 2005. Unfortunately, many fans were unable to play this game for years after it was discontinued, but given that it was brought back to life last year, I believe, I hope that everyone, new fans and old, will give it a chance. If I was going to rate this game on a ten star basis, I would give it six stars. The plot is good, the characters are great, and the ending is terrifying, but the game is, again, pretty short even if you don't know what you're doing, and it is so easy to soft lock the game or get stuck waiting for an event or interaction to happen.
So the final question is obviously whether I think you should play this game. Definitely. It is a classic among the older games, and it is one of the easier games to play, so I would recommend for a first-time player who doesn't want a long or difficult game to start with. It wasn't the very first one I played--I got the 75th Anniversary Edition of the first five games for Christmas in 2005 and booted up Message in a Haunted Mansion first, until I got stuck, opened the rest, and got stuck on them too all in the same day--but it was one of the first, so it holds a special place in my heart. If you are new to Nancy Drew games and want more of a challenge/a longer game, then I would perhaps recommend playing another of the first five games--Treasure in the Royal Tower is one of the best games I have ever played in my life, and The Final Scene maintains its place in my top ten ND games--or one of the legendary fan favorites (also in my top ten): Curse of Blackmoor Manor and Secret of Shadow Ranch.
Thank you for reading my review! I hope that my perspectives and ramblings inspire someone to play this game, replay this game, look at it through fresh eyes, or try it for the first time. I should be posting a review of Message in a Haunted sometime over the next day or so, and I will continue to post them as I complete my 2018 Nancy Drew Marathon...so keep a look out for my message.
Previous Review: Secrets Can Kill
Next Review: Message in a Haunted Mansion
Other Reviews: TRT FIN SSH DOG CAR DDI SHA CUR CLK TRN DAN CRE ICE CRY VEN HAU RAN WAC TOT SCK2 SAW CAP ASH TMB DED GTH
, so I made a new one solely for this purpose. That being said, I hope you enjoy my review.Plot: I must say this game has one of the most unique and tense plots of all the ND games because instead of a "whodunnit" it's a "who's doing it." There are several others in the series that have followed this type of formula (e.g., Warnings at Waverly Academy, Tomb of the Lost Queen, Message in a Haunted Mansion, The Phantom of Venice, etc.), but I don't think any of them quite create the same level of urgency (except perhaps The Final Scene, but even it is handled differently). I will discuss the characters at length below, but I think Mattie's desperation to protect Rick and his nonchalance-- and the fact that we nearly see Rick killed by a falling fresnel light (correct me, theatre buffs, if that is not the proper name
) the first time we go on set--creates some serious tension to solve the mystery as quickly as possible. Sure, there are moments in the plot that feel a little contrived and unrealistic, but never so extreme that I can't suspend that disbelief.Setting: As someone who has never been to NYC but always wanted to go, I think the game does a pretty fair job of making the Big Apple feel realistic; the jazzy street music, taxi cabs, and Mattie's townhouse are fitting. I absolutely love Mattie's house and dressing room in WWB Studios; they feel so warm and lived-in. We don't get to see much of the studio, but the rooms we do see are great. Each space feels so unique and appropriate for the character who inhabits it. My favorite place in the game is probably the Prop Room because of all the subtle nods to the original book series (e.g., the whistling bag pipes and the spider sapphire, for example). The threatening letters and disturbing gifts strewn around Rick's room are also a great touch, and I think, besides being there for Nancy to snoop through, they show that Rick might be more concerned about this whole affair than he is letting on to anyone.
Characters: I think this game has a great cast of characters, especially for another reasonably short game. Mattie is obviously still so in love with Rick, I find myself still rooting for them to get together in that tease at the end. She's clearly such a nice, loyal human being: she doesn't abandon Dwayne after Rick upgrades to a bigger agency, she loans Dwayne money to help him pay his rent, and she calls for Nancy to come in because she is terrified that something will happen to Rick. There is the small matter of how she got angry and sent Rick that lipstick smeared headshot, but she is easily one of the nicest characters in all of the games. I have a fondness for Rick, too, even though he is portrayed in a pretty flat, vacuous manner in his interactions with Nancy and pretty much everyone else (i.e., he is nothing but a egotistical, but charming playboy). From his relationship with Mattie, I assume he has more depth, but that could be me just being hopeful for Mattie's sake.
Lillian is another of the characters I somehow really like despite 99.9% of Nancy's interactions with her involving extreme sass and door-slamming (then again, maybe I love her because she is so sassy and won't put up with anyone's foolishness). Even though Rick seriously dumped her hard and used her to ladder-climb, she conducts an investigation into the death threats herself because she's actually concerned about him. Mattie and Lillian are both too good for Rick; it's tragic. Millie Strathorn absolutely cracks me up to this day. She's so eccentric in all the right ways, and she absolutely hates Rick--or perhaps only Rory, but who can tell the difference?!--and her insults are legendary.
Lani Minella's voice-acting only makes her even more delightful.I'm afraid I don't have much to say about Dwayne because he creeps me out to this day. He's just such an angry and unbalanced man, with some serious ego problems of his own. I kind of feel bad for him though; he's probably been pining after Mattie for years. I should probably mention Ralph, although he is a minor character. There is something about him that is very lovable, even though we know nothing about him except that he is serious about his job (I actually got caught by him while snooping at night for the first time EVER during this playthrough, and it shocked me). I know most of the other games have minor characters, usually off-screen or on the phone, but it is nice to have good ole Ralph waiting to greet Nancy at the desk every day.
Music: I cannot properly express my love for Mattie's theme in this game. It is legitimately one of my favorite pieces from any of the games. Like her and her living spaces, it's such a nice, warm, and pleasant air to it, but there is this underlying tension and suspense. I love, love, love, love it! The lobby theme for WWB Studios has this distinct 90s nostalgic factor to it that makes me so happy. It's ALMOST muzak, but better. Genius. By contrast, the night music for all locations in the game is so appropriately eerie. Not exactly my favorite to listen to on the daily, but it does its job of creating a tense atmosphere to snoop in (especially the set music...so unsettling).
Puzzles: STFD has a few more puzzles than SCK, but most of them are pretty simple and some are flat out tedious (I'm looking at you, Master Detective stacking rings). Nonetheless, the majority help move the game forward, either by giving Nancy access to a new area or new information. While not quite a puzzle, the fact that Nancy uses her ID to get past the locks on set fills me with glee. This game also features little puzzles and clues that have little to no relevance to solving the mystery, but I love them and I think they flesh out the characters well.
Graphics: Like its predecessor, the 3D background/environment animations in this game are lovely and well done. The characters are also 3D models, and while they have a slightly disturbing, plastic-like quality to them, I wouldn't say they are in the uncanny valley. Each model is quite expressive and looks distinctly different than everyone else. It's a little awkward when they get stuck at the end of speaking and leave their mouths wide open, but I find it hysterical and move on. I also love that in lieu of animating a thousand poses for their character models, they just photoshopped their faces onto real pictures; it honestly doesn't look that bad, and it enabled them to flesh out the characters' personal and professional lives more. (Quick note: the security tape footage of a certain character walking around on set has become an inside joke in my family, and we semi-regularly start walking like that around each other
. Please give it another watch if you haven't noticed how perfect and strange it is.)Ending: When I first played this game as a ten-year-old, I did not see the culprit reveal coming at all. There are tiny little details and clues that I have picked up on as an older and experienced player--I can't spoil them though because it would give too much away to any observant first-timers--but when I found out who the culprit was I am almost certain I looked like this:
. It makes perfect sense on replays, but I always like when the game stumps me or provides me with enough evidence for all the characters that I can't determine who it is until the big reveal. That being said, I think the ending is great. Not only it is pretty terrifying and difficult, especially on Master Detective without the time patch, but the reveal itself and the conversation with the culprit are so great (and a bit melodramatic, but given this cast of soap celebrities, that's fair).Other points of interest: The voice-acting is consistently solid in this game. Every delivery feels spot on. The writing can get cheesy at parts, but I am willing to overlook that because of how everyone in this is on or affiliated with a soap opera.
This game also gets bonus points compared to SCK because there is no disc changing required even though it's a bigger game. Unfortunately, I still find it easy to get stuck in this game waiting for certain plot events to occur or conversations to happen. Just in my playthrough yesterday, I probably spent ten minutes running around talking to everyone and knocking on doors trying to trigger a particularly explosive scene. In previous playthroughs, I always had trouble getting the phone to ring. I have heard complaints about getting softlocked because players kept forgetting to get certain items from the prop room that help with this scene and allow them to get back into the prop room.The Takeaway: The second game in the series is much stronger than the first, but equally nostalgic for me, as I played it on the same day as I started the first five games in the series back in 2005. Unfortunately, many fans were unable to play this game for years after it was discontinued, but given that it was brought back to life last year, I believe, I hope that everyone, new fans and old, will give it a chance. If I was going to rate this game on a ten star basis, I would give it six stars. The plot is good, the characters are great, and the ending is terrifying, but the game is, again, pretty short even if you don't know what you're doing, and it is so easy to soft lock the game or get stuck waiting for an event or interaction to happen.
So the final question is obviously whether I think you should play this game. Definitely. It is a classic among the older games, and it is one of the easier games to play, so I would recommend for a first-time player who doesn't want a long or difficult game to start with. It wasn't the very first one I played--I got the 75th Anniversary Edition of the first five games for Christmas in 2005 and booted up Message in a Haunted Mansion first, until I got stuck, opened the rest, and got stuck on them too all in the same day--but it was one of the first, so it holds a special place in my heart. If you are new to Nancy Drew games and want more of a challenge/a longer game, then I would perhaps recommend playing another of the first five games--Treasure in the Royal Tower is one of the best games I have ever played in my life, and The Final Scene maintains its place in my top ten ND games--or one of the legendary fan favorites (also in my top ten): Curse of Blackmoor Manor and Secret of Shadow Ranch.
Thank you for reading my review! I hope that my perspectives and ramblings inspire someone to play this game, replay this game, look at it through fresh eyes, or try it for the first time. I should be posting a review of Message in a Haunted sometime over the next day or so, and I will continue to post them as I complete my 2018 Nancy Drew Marathon...so keep a look out for my message.
Previous Review: Secrets Can Kill
Next Review: Message in a Haunted Mansion
Other Reviews: TRT FIN SSH DOG CAR DDI SHA CUR CLK TRN DAN CRE ICE CRY VEN HAU RAN WAC TOT SCK2 SAW CAP ASH TMB DED GTH
MHM was my first game, too, and it's still one of my favorites!
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