A Spoiler Free Review of Nancy Drew: Mystery of the Seven Keys

[@newyt3033]

I couldn't decide if I wanted to spend my money on the game after MID so this spoiler free review is so so helpful!

[@GoobaandJetpack]

It’s likely not going to be your favorite Nancy Drew game, but it’s a big improvement from MID (in our opinions!).

[@tinabeana7]

the “it’s locked” is my fav Nancy quip lol

[@tinabeana7]

Or the “haven’t done that yet. Can’t check that off yet” as I just start trying to check off random tasks 😂

[@theredheadchronicles17]

I agree!! I missed the phone calls!

[@AnneliseB23]

I thought the puzzles were so tough in this one! There were a couple where I knew I was in the right spot for a puzzle but for the life of me could not figure out what little tidbit I missed to figure out how to solve it. Then at one point when the game said ‘go look for x item in y location’ I couldn’t find the item, and google wasn’t helpful. Or I was sitting there knowing I was doing it correctly but something was off but I couldn’t figure it out. I really liked the idea of the puzzles but yeah something was off for me with this game. In previous games I always knew when I found a clue that would be helpful later and it was satisfying to see a puzzle and be like ‘oh yeah!’ But that didn’t really happen to me this time around.

[@GoobaandJetpack]

Exactly. This is where Nancy’s vocal cues could really be helpful. If Nancy just made a comment like “hm… I wonder what these marks mean” it would have saved us from spending far too much time on a puzzle. Fans like challenging puzzles, but we need gentle pushes when things aren’t obvious.

[@sarahdavis2406]

@@GoobaandJetpack I missed her vocal cues so much! Both to signal important info and just to make the world feel a little more "human"

[@dezinorris8343]

Did you guys also feel like some of the puzzles (the one with the repeating background noise for example, lol) could have had multiple solutions with the information given? I felt like there was no way to know what the game expected the answer to be!

[@GoobaandJetpack]

Yes! That is Jetpack’s least favorite puzzle because 1) the clues aren’t obvious enough and 2) there seem to be multiple solutions because the clues are so open to interpretation.

[@bathead392]

Just discovered your channel and love your content!! Your editing and humour are iconic haha great review :) Subbed

[@GoobaandJetpack]

Thank you so much! 🥰

[@ShesUncontrolable]

Scuba and Laughtrack! I love this for you!

[@foxpawprince]

"DADDY GOLF BALL" 😂😂 I'm dead 😂 you guys always get me with your jokes👌💯👍 (also blackmoor manor was my childhood fave too~!!)

[@snughly]

The intro killed me 🤣🤣🤣

[@maggiemcginity-termuhlen]

Not a dog in a tshirt 😂❤

[@GoobaandJetpack]

Lilo did it first hehe

[@olivialeezeh8076]

Great review, guys!

[@italiangamerjoe7501]

Great review and wonderful points as well! Love all the ND references and everything. Your points were very well thought out and I liked that you addressed some of the technical difficulties surrounding the controller issues. (Which is so strange because Midnight in Salem was steam deck verified). Overall, I agree with your conclusion and I really enjoyed KEY a lot. It’s a really good Nancy Drew game and a great step in the right direction for modern ND games. 😄

[@GoobaandJetpack]

Thanks, Joe! We are hopeful that controller support will be added eventually. I may be misremembering but I thought MID initially didn’t have the controller support, but added it on the steam version of the game later on. Excited to see your review as well!!

[@maryloewen8353]

Anybody gonna mention how the NPCs were just reused throughout all the environments?? Like you’d approach man in plaid shirt outside the cafe, turn around, walk a few clicks still outside and there he would be again in all his exactly the same glory? 😂

[@GoobaandJetpack]

Yeah definitely had some reuse and you can spot some familiar faces from MID in the NPCs. Not ideal, but I don’t totally mind it. I assume they put the extra time saved into other main characters in the game 😅

[@chellywhovian]

I would love to play it but unfortunately it won’t work on my pc. Thank you for a great review.

[@carolscott5301]

Loved the intro 🤣

[@sarahdavis2406]

Great review, but I think the fact that you were able to play it on a gaming computer massively enhanced your experience. I've got a 2021 MacBook pro that met the requirements but I still had to play the low graphic setting and it was buggy and laggy - the coffee game was genuinely painful because of this, and don't get me started on the lockpicking mechanism that didn't correctly register button clicks. Plus the point and click 'classic' mode was definitely an afterthought so it's not the most functional, I had to give up on it and use WASD controls which isn't ideal when you just want to play on your laptop on the couch. I found it to be an ultimately disappointing game and I don't understand why HER is building these games with such high system requirements when a large part of their fanbase are casual gamers, especially when the games don't seem to have graphics, systems or functionality that should require them.

[@GoobaandJetpack]

I get your frustration. I definitely felt it when trying to play MID on my MAC and that’s a big reason I saved up to build my own pc. I understand it’s definitely not in everyone’s budget to do that. Unfortunately Macs just aren’t great for gaming. I personally dont think the system requirements are incredibly high, but I have seen first hand how wildly frustrating a Nancy Drew game can be when laggy. I can’t imagine doing the coffee puzzle that way. We didnt truly dive into the point and click component before the review. We tried it for a moment, liked the free roam better and stuck with it the entire game. WASD definitely takes getting used to and isn’t ideal for people who experience motion sickness. I tried the point and click afterwards and I agree they definitely prioritized the free roam, but I think they did that purposefully- not to alienate their old demographic but to help bring it into this decade of gaming. I would LOVE for both formats to be seamless but I don’t know enough about programming to know if it’s truly possible. We didn’t experience bugs BEFORE the review but when streaming the game on senior it froze and I had to force close it. Thankfully the auto save feature saved us, but it should not have happened. Otherwise no bugs - but that was a big one! Anyway! Thank you for watching and thank you so much for your thoughts on this in a kind way.

[@sarahdavis2406]

@@GoobaandJetpack Of course, gotta be kind! I'm primarily a console gamer so until I strike it rich I'm not getting a gaming PC haha. I think what I love about the older Nancy games is I could play one-handed which is why the WASD isn't my favourite. I like being able to click around while I take notes (or snack tbh haha) I'd wager having both be seamless is possible but cost-prohibitive for a company like HER. I think if they wanna keep using WASD though there needs to be a little more to do along the way or fast travel ability. I felt like I was just running back and forth across the square too much (thank goodness Nancy can really sprint through haha). Maybe more items or clues or things to pick up, things to look at etc.

[@GoobaandJetpack]

@sarahdavis2406 the snacking aspect of gaming one hand is soooo real! Hahaha. And I also think you’re right about the sprint. I would have gone mad if Nancy didn’t pick up the pace. If they didn’t have the sprint I would have absolutely wanted a fast travel option.

[@laurenm3148]

The AI inclusion seemed a little random.