Plot
This time the plot manages to revolve around Nancy taking a holiday in Wisconsin, a large castle which was originally owned by a millionaire, who somehow managed to dismantle Marie Antoinettes tower in France and had it transported over. Yes that is as dumb as it sounds. It gets a little dumber when the plot also revolves around a hidden treasure that somehow wasn't found when the whole thing was disassembled and transported over such a distance. The plot continues down this area with it attempting to look smart, but having all sorts of plot holes and 'wait what?' moments, ruining it slightly. Things roll on however as a snowstorm shuts everyone in the hotel and the library is trashed by a mysterious individual.
The characters are thankfully good and varied, the gruff but kind hotel caretaker, an lothario Olympic ski champion, a nosey photojournalist and a slightly batty and eccentric scholar. All of them manage to make a clear impression and one of them (not saying who as to try not to plot spoil) appearing in multiple Nancy Drew games afterwards. The only real issue however with the characters is that the actual 'Culprit' of the story outs themselves about half-way into the game, yet the plot refuses to let you confront them until the endgame.
Location
The castle, despite the history and 'moving' aspect being incredibly dumb, happens to be a good solid location, its pretty hard to get lost there and areas are clear. Theres never any points where you should be scanning the screen for hidden things to pick up. The castle isn't exactly the most memorable of locations though.
Puzzles
Puzzle-wise its once again a mixed bag with a mix of interesting puzzles and irritating timed puzzles. Annoyingly the 'randomized lock' puzzle appears again and worse still, more than one minor puzzle can be worked out long before the game allows you to solve it.
Mechanics
Nothing has really changed much from the last game, the game still runs on a clock and you can still skip time by using the clock in your room. The phone is still there for hints, less if you are on a harder difficulty and Nancy's notepad (in her room, in the suitcase) is still as useless as ever.
Second Chance
The game once again has a number of ways to game over, most of them seem fair enough and even the ones that are slightly annoying (such as the endgame game over) can be understood quite quickly. As usual, if you get any of these moments, all it takes is pressing the 'Second Chance' button to go back to where you were.
Overall
Overall its a nice enough game, some memorable characters but its also one of the Nancy Drew games with large amounts of silly plotting.
No comments:
Post a Comment