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An Open Letter to Her Interactive - The Shattered Medallion Review
Hello everyone! I’ve never posted here before (perhaps I should start!), but I really felt I needed to give The Shattered Medallion a review. I’ve been playing Nancy Drew games for what feels like years now (I’m a young adult but a kid at heart). I’m a huge Nancy Drew fan; I love the books and I even collect the antique originals. Anyway, here’s my two cents on the game, because I really hope that Her Interactive has their finger on the pulse of their fans and listens to all of our collective insights.
For starters, to give you an idea of the sort of games I like, my favorite ND games so far have been (in random order) Warnings at Waverly Academy, Shadow at the Water’s Edge, Alibi in Ashes, The Phantom of Venice, The Secret of Shadow Ranch, and The Silent Spy. My least favorites have been Ransom of the Seven Ships, Tomb of the Lost Queen, Danger on Deception Island, and now The Shattered Medallion.
I had a sinking suspicion that the plot was going to suffer from the very beginning when we were presented with the trailer that revealed the plotline revolving around a “Survivor”-like premise. Her Interactive, the early 2000s called and they want their game show idea back. It’s been done. The competition elements were sometimes kind of fun, but overall it felt like a huge distraction to the main “mystery”.
Speaking of which, without revealing too much, I’d really like to announce that the “mystery” was pretty nonexistent and disappointing, as others have already mentioned. I’m still confused as to the final outcome and purpose of all the sleuthing. Even Nancy seemed confused.
The only redeeming quality to this game was the top-notch character development. I’m always impressed with the voice acting and fun one-liners. I was glad that we were able to “see” and interact with George and Bess.
Her Interactive, let me tell you what would have made this game so much better. New Zealand has a rich history and the location should have been made a bigger part of the plot (just like in Shadow Ranch or Thornton Hall). The location was almost an afterthought and was seen only in Maori symbols, gold mining, sheep, and plants. That’s it. Couldn’t you have interwoven Maori culture into the game? I enjoy learning things while I play!
Here’s an idea off the top of my head: Nancy and her friends won a trip to see the filming location of a big-name fantasy movie (kind of like, ahem, Lord of the Rings) and while she’s there, she needs to investigate a missing actor. Everyone thinks he/she disappeared to negotiate more pay (actor’s strike), but instead it’s a mystery intricately linked to rich Maori tradition and mythology. Hey, I just came up with a better idea than Shattered Medallion in less than 30 seconds – for free! Please hire me to write for you. ☺
That about sums it up. I’m still going to continue to play the games because I’m unabashedly obsessed with ND, but I really wanted Her Interactive to get the message that we need and want better-written games.
For starters, to give you an idea of the sort of games I like, my favorite ND games so far have been (in random order) Warnings at Waverly Academy, Shadow at the Water’s Edge, Alibi in Ashes, The Phantom of Venice, The Secret of Shadow Ranch, and The Silent Spy. My least favorites have been Ransom of the Seven Ships, Tomb of the Lost Queen, Danger on Deception Island, and now The Shattered Medallion.
I had a sinking suspicion that the plot was going to suffer from the very beginning when we were presented with the trailer that revealed the plotline revolving around a “Survivor”-like premise. Her Interactive, the early 2000s called and they want their game show idea back. It’s been done. The competition elements were sometimes kind of fun, but overall it felt like a huge distraction to the main “mystery”.
Speaking of which, without revealing too much, I’d really like to announce that the “mystery” was pretty nonexistent and disappointing, as others have already mentioned. I’m still confused as to the final outcome and purpose of all the sleuthing. Even Nancy seemed confused.
The only redeeming quality to this game was the top-notch character development. I’m always impressed with the voice acting and fun one-liners. I was glad that we were able to “see” and interact with George and Bess.
Her Interactive, let me tell you what would have made this game so much better. New Zealand has a rich history and the location should have been made a bigger part of the plot (just like in Shadow Ranch or Thornton Hall). The location was almost an afterthought and was seen only in Maori symbols, gold mining, sheep, and plants. That’s it. Couldn’t you have interwoven Maori culture into the game? I enjoy learning things while I play!
Here’s an idea off the top of my head: Nancy and her friends won a trip to see the filming location of a big-name fantasy movie (kind of like, ahem, Lord of the Rings) and while she’s there, she needs to investigate a missing actor. Everyone thinks he/she disappeared to negotiate more pay (actor’s strike), but instead it’s a mystery intricately linked to rich Maori tradition and mythology. Hey, I just came up with a better idea than Shattered Medallion in less than 30 seconds – for free! Please hire me to write for you. ☺
That about sums it up. I’m still going to continue to play the games because I’m unabashedly obsessed with ND, but I really wanted Her Interactive to get the message that we need and want better-written games.
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