Game #29: Happy or Unhappy?

[secretsleuth89]

From looking at the teaser trailer for ND 29, I thought that the woman's voice sounded a bit like Nancy's. That's not to say it was her, it could have been someone who sounded like her.

Nonetheless, I'm very interested to learn more about Scotland in this game and am looking forward to it.

[NancyandMiley]

Sigh. I was hoping this would never happen. I vented about this when it was referenced in TMB and at the time felt alone. I'm glad I'm not. I love HER. I truly do and want them to know I support you all 100%. You guys work hard and are often unappreciated for all the awesome things you do. For that, you will always have my love and support.

That being said, I am not happy about this so far. As several people have stated, I hope this is a trick and does not deal with the actual storyline of how Nancy's mother died. In my opinion, HER has no business deciding how this went about. If it was never decided upon in the books, why should games based off these books create a different story?

The books say a few things about Nancy's mother's death. Originally it was when she was ten but moved to age three when she aged from 16 to 18. I believe they did this for two reasons: eliminate the baggage that Nancy would have with losing a mother at ten opposed to three and to create Hannah as a more defined mother figure in Nancy's life instead of just a housekeeper.

As for her death, the books state once that she died from a prolonged illness. If HER would go about that any other way, then it is completely changing something that is in the books. And not something small and simple. Nancy's mother is a big deal.

I am a Nancy Drew fan by the books. I am in love with these games and am so grateful for HER creating such wonderful recreations of Nancy's mysteries. BUT because how I grew to love Nancy was through the original series, I don't take it well when I feel like it's being deviated from. Nancy should grow and learn and have new experiences through the game, but there are some things that should be respected as canon. Any deviation from that is cutting into the character of who Nancy Drew truly is.

EDIT: And I have to say, as a writer, I would find it insulting if people came around later and decided to change what I originally created in such a definite way. Whether if you're a Nancy Drew fan by the books or the games, I think there should be a heavy dose of respect for the original books. After all, without them, we would have no Nancy Drew. They are the reasons we are having this discussion. They are the reason Nancy is who she is. She was defined and created to be that person in those books and that should not be treated lightly.

[shiregirl]

I've only ever read one Nancy Drew book, a long time ago and well before I ever played any of these games. So I mostly know her through the games, and it doesn't bother me at all to bring her mom in. I am intrigued by the spy theme and think it could be fun. Looking forward to it!

[Dana Girls]

I don't really understand how changing the way Nancys mom died would ruin someone's view of Nancy Drew. The Nancy from these games is already so different from the original Nancy anyway.

If you don't like the idea of them talking about Nancy's mom, then just treat the game as if it were just a detective game. I personally really disliked the way Bess and George looked in RAN, but I could ignore that and have fun with it.

I don't want to offend anyone, I just don't understand...

[Sleuth14]

I don't really understand how changing the way Nancys mom died would ruin someone's view of Nancy Drew. The Nancy from these games is already so different from the original Nancy anyway.

If you don't like the idea of them talking about Nancy's mom, then just treat the game as if it were just a detective game. I personally really disliked the way Bess and George looked in RAN, but I could ignore that and have fun with it.

I don't want to offend anyone, I just don't understand...

Like Dana Girls said, The game and the stories are two different representations of Nancy Drew. Don't treat them as the same thing. The Nancy Drew in the games is much more modern and with the times, while the Nancy Drew in the books is much more old school and different.

-S14

[DrewFan22]

I don't really understand how changing the way Nancys mom died would ruin someone's view of Nancy Drew. The Nancy from these games is already so different from the original Nancy anyway.

If you don't like the idea of them talking about Nancy's mom, then just treat the game as if it were just a detective game. I personally really disliked the way Bess and George looked in RAN, but I could ignore that and have fun with it.

I don't want to offend anyone, I just don't understand...

I agree. The Nancy that everyone knew and loved from the books is completely different from the Nancy in the games. They are two very different stories and everything. Neither is the same in either way. And I don't understand how it would ruin someone's view of Nancy. HeR has slowly been moving away from ideas based on books from the last few games anyway. Also, not every game has been based on the original yellow hardback books either, so I really don't see the big deal about this one, to be honest.

[CarpeDiem]

From the trailer we can only know so little of the what really is going to happen in the game.
We know Nancy is called to go to Glasgow, Scotland on what appears to be a mission to find out what happened to her mother. We do not know the full story at all.

Something that stood out to me in re-watching the trailer is that Nancy only responds when the person on the other end says the name "Kate Drew". None of us (including Nancy) know for sure if the woman's voice on the phone actually is her mother's.

All in all, I am definitely looking forward to ND29 (I ran around my house screaming in excitedness the first time I watched the trailer) and I understand others' concerns over how it will affect the book series, but frankly I don't think HeR would ever put something in a game that would divide fans' feelings. We can expect that HeR would never have Nancy move from River Heights to Los Angeles, or that she would go on a mission to Mars, or suddenly start dating Dave Gregory so we can also expect that ND29 will in no way completely change the Nancy Drew we know and love.

[Sleuth14]

The changes you mention don't actually change Nancy, they change her surroundings.


-S14

[NDfavs]

I can 100% honestly say that this might be the first game that I will not play. I always pride myself on having played all the games, knowing all the connections, and being able to help everyone, but I don't think that I'll be able to continue that.

If other people are able to compartmentalize the games and the books as separate then that's great, but you also have to recognize that some of us do not have that ability.

[HappyGirl05]

I can 100% honestly say that this might be the first game that I will not play. I always pride myself on having played all the games, knowing all the connections, and being able to help everyone, but I don't think that I'll be able to continue that.

If other people are able to compartmentalize the games and the books as separate then that's great, but you also have to recognize that some of us do not have that ability.

That's a shame. I'm going to play it for sure, and I'm going to wait until I have played to make up my mind on this game. I may not like it, or I may love it! Who knows? I won't until I play it.

[Mizrahi_1428]

I still hope that it's all a trick to get Nancy to solve a case. Honestly, when I saw the trailer I thought the woman speaking was Samantha Quick. In my opinion, she can be the real person involved. She and an accomplice needed Nancy's involvement for one reason or another, and the only way to draw her in was with this awful ruse. *Fingers crossed it goes something like that.*

I was thinking the same thing, Rianna! Maybe Samantha Quick is impersonating Kate Drew somehow? For those who played VEN (without spoiling things) maybe Samantha's giving Nancy a taste of her own medicine, if you know what I mean ... it would be in accordance with the title of ND29, Samantha is one of the best spies we know!

But, getting back to the thread topic, I'm not excited about the next one at all, really. I felt the same way about them showing Bess and George, and before ASH when I found out the game was set in River Heights. Even though many people don't equate the "book Nancy" to "game Nancy", I do. That's how I got into these games after all, my mother bought me SSH because of the name "Nancy Drew" and what it stood for in relation to the books I loved. To me, 'resurrecting' (for lack of a better term) Nancy's mother would be like breaking Ned and Nancy up, or having Bess and George be taken out of the game. HeR started this phenomenal series based off of the books (at one time, all games had book-based inspiration), why deviate from a good thing?

I enjoy the fact that HeR is getting more in depth with their plotlines, but in my opinion messing with something as sacred as the death of a mother is too far. It reminds me of another detective show I used to watch where they brought up the idea that the main character's wife was still alive -- seeing the anguish and pain that was regurgitated for him was too much, never wanted to rewatch that episode.

I'll buy the game because I want to complete my collection, of course, but will I enjoy it? That's TBD.

[Rianna]

I agree with your entire post, but this part in particular really captures my view on this matter and any and all alterations from the books:

But, getting back to the thread topic, I'm not excited about the next one at all, really. I felt the same way about them showing Bess and George, and before ASH when I found out the game was set in River Heights. Even though many people don't equate the "book Nancy" to "game Nancy", I do. That's how I got into these games after all, my mother bought me SSH because of the name "Nancy Drew" and what it stood for in relation to the books I loved. To me, 'resurrecting' (for lack of a better term) Nancy's mother would be like breaking Ned and Nancy up, or having Bess and George be taken out of the game. HeR started this phenomenal series based off of the books (at one time, all games had book-based inspiration), why deviate from a good thing?

[NancyandMiley]

I don't really understand how changing the way Nancys mom died would ruin someone's view of Nancy Drew. The Nancy from these games is already so different from the original Nancy anyway.

If you don't like the idea of them talking about Nancy's mom, then just treat the game as if it were just a detective game. I personally really disliked the way Bess and George looked in RAN, but I could ignore that and have fun with it.

I don't want to offend anyone, I just don't understand...

I really disagree with this. She may be more modern, use cellphones, etc., but Nancy Drew hasn't changed from the original series all that much. Sure, she's a little bit more clueless at times, but Nancy is still the same spunky, sassy girl sleuth who dives headfirst into a mystery. She does this because she loves it and wants to make a difference. What makes Nancy truly Nancy has never changed.

I actually don't understand how people are saying they are already straying from the books? They're not. Sure, some of the books they based them upon may barely resemble each other but the essence of Nancy Drew is still vary much present in these games.

Also, it's hard to deal with just the mystery when it might be the central plotline. I didn't like the reference to Nancy's mother in TMB but ignored it mostly. I LOVE that game. But this game might not be that way. We don't know that yet.

[phoenix star]

I'm confident that the mystery of Nancy's mom won't be ruined for us beyond her name and the possibility that she may have been a spy. I have faith in HeR that they know what the fans think of this and know how to handle this. It'll probably be like the "supernatural" games in which the individual players can decide what the causes of the unexplained factors were. I think HeR knows that they can't disrupt canon, but they also can't give us a trailer and game like this and expect us to be disappointed when we don't find anything concrete out about Nancy's mom, so I think it'll be left up to us to determine how far into the spy business she really was, if at all. For those of us that love the idea of this story, there might be clues that she was heavily involved in it and probably murdered because of it. For those who want Nancy's mom to remain a mystery, there will probably also be opposing evidence in the game that would indicate that these clues may or may not have come from the bad guys.

But even though I'm indifferent to any game centering around Nancy's life, ND29 strikes me as really unnecessary and too much too soon. The slight foreshadowing in Tomb of the Lost Queen couldn't have prepared me enough for this.

-- Ehzi

I had similar thoughts. After the TMB foreshadowing, I thought they would do the story of Nancy's mom eventually, but after a lot of other games with similar foreshadowing lines, like the Sonny Joon arc. Not, you know - immediately.

I hope to never see Nancy, Ned, Carson, Hannah, or Togo.

We already saw Togo in SSH.

[Sleuth14]

Perhaps I don't empathize with you because I have no desire to read the old books. After all, why read the old books when there are new up to date books? We surely wouldn't go back to the first version of Firefox or IE after we have new, better versions. I'm not really a superduperohwownancyisamazingandisabigpartofmylife kind of super fan I just play the games because they are fun and have a good story line. I like the new Nancy Drew books FAR better than the old ones. For one, there is so much more action in the new books and thats what I enjoy. I actually prefer Hardy Boys over Nancy Drew, but I am not a super fan of either I just relate more to the Hardy Boys simply because i'm a guy. I can understand most of the points in this thread, but I do not empathize.

-S14