An Honest, Detailed Review of Nancy Drew #34: Mystery of the Seven Keys

Enjoy my official honest review of Nancy Drew: Mystery of the Seven Keys! Please note that this review is my detailed, comprehensive review of the game. It does NOT include culprit or puzzle solution spoilers, but I do use some details from the game to support my claims and opinions, including describing some puzzle, character, or location details that do not appear until later in the game.
If you want my spoiler-free review instead, which has the same script as this review, but truncated to remove all spoilers and slightly modified to remain completely vague, find it here: • An Honest, Spoiler-Fre...
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[@Ever_Since_Never]

Petition to get WizardKitten working with the company on game design. 😂

[@WizardKittenYT]

That is so kind of you, thank you!!

[@sophinda6292]

I almost totally agree with everything you said. My biggest gripe was it wasn't intuitive. Normally I go straight in at senior detective and always know where to go to find the next clue etc. This game I did junior and without the guide and hints I'd have no idea! I hated almost all the puzzles (there were a few I got on my own like the candles, knight) but mostly I felt DUMB! I really felt for any 12 year old kids playing this. I also found most the puzzles were maths based and I did not find that fun. I don't want to be doing sums in a puzzle (jewellery safe puzzle i'm looking at you!)

[@WizardKittenYT]

Not intuitive for sure!!!

[@kindle831]

I just bought the game and yes, one thing is also the bugs, I recently had a run where whenever you leave the laptop and have to compare two documents, quit the game cus Im tired, go back and now you can't do the puzzle anymore, there are also way too many puzzles that doesn't even make any sense at all, I was genuinely 12 when I played sea of darkness and I even managed to play it without hints, I'm already an adult and I got stuck on a lot of parts. Honestly hated this game

[@MissFellatia]

You nailed it with Nancy sounding Ai. It’s like Brittany Cox wasn’t getting any of the surrounding dialogue between her lines.

[@WizardKittenYT]

Yes! It feels so lifeless and out of place!

[@terrikoop416]

First of all, this is such an incredibly fair review and I was surprised that I had more critiques than you did. Second, I wrote this all out once and my phone died so I’m writing this out for a second time. My additional critiques are as follow: 1) the phone conversations are only used to move along the story. That may make some people content, but I feel like I’ve developed friendships with these characters. Each game was used to further along each friendship. You were able to relay different parts of the story, use them to help with hints and usually hear some entertaining and usually funny situation happening in the background. The comic relief was always something I looked forward to and now feel like is gone. I also don’t feel like I’ve learned anything new about these characters. I just basically used them for my own purposes. I want Joe to take apart someone’s car or bess to try a new hobby that ultimately she messes up with and George needs to fix. With that I go to my next point. 2) I want Bess and George back. As much as I love Frank and Joe, it can be mundane to have the same characters every game. Part of the fun for each game is to see what phone contacts you had this time and what shenanigans they were up to. Bess and George bring something different than Frank and Joe do and vice versa. 3) that being said, I have similar critiques when it comes to the story line. Although it wasn’t technically linear, it also was because you basically had to do things in a certain order or the plot wouldn’t further. I want to be able to do things in different ways in order to be able to have a different experience every time I play, much like the older games do. It’s part of their charm. This brings me to my last point. 4) I very much dislike the fact that all conversation options are available at once. You can just go down the line because everything is right there. You don’t have a couple of ways to phrase a question and I miss sassy Nancy with the sassy responses. It kind of feels like they sanitized Nancy. She’s now SUPER apologetic. Part of Nancy’s charm was she didn’t understand personal space both in the physical and conversational world and sometimes that made someone mad at her or just plain throw her out. At the same time you didn’t always have to play that way, but now you don’t even have the option to make someone mad at you. I’m not in love with that and I truly believe they need to fix that up to make these games truly Nancy again. That being said I loved this game. They added in things that I always hoped they would such as free roam and larger environments. They certainly need to polish some things (such as the lobotomized NPCs 😂), but I can see they are well on their way there!

[@SamSamSam321]

I agree with everything you said!!!

[@minajones8341]

You’ve nailed it! I loved calling friends on the phone to get the scoop on what they were up to. One of my favorite conversations is hearing Bess and George at a pool party while poor Ned is hiding somewhere to avoid a flirty girl lol.

[@FelineStorm]

Some additional points: 1. The relationship between Ned and Nancy feels one heck of a lot healthier than it did in Sea of Darkness. My head cannon is they spent some time in couples therapy between SEA and this. Perhaps this could have been part of the intro dialogue, Nancy saying how much she appreciates Ned and Ned says he will do some research on Prague for her and that leads into us knowing to check in with Ned later on. 2. With regard to the puzzles: I have blocked MID out of my memory, but I do recall reading a review or nineteen saying that the puzzles were too easy or not really a puzzle. The quote I remember was “walk around and talk to everyone is not a puzzle.” I wonder if Her Interactive swung the pendulum of puzzles too far in the opposite direction. 3. This is an EXTREMELY minor nitpick, but when you were putting together the Crown Jewels at the end, the gems looked faceted. If you google the actual Bohemian Crown Jewels (which you should, because they are beautiful and fascinating) and look at the crown, the gems are in fact not faceted. And with Adela’s necklace being from the same or similar time frame, it shouldn’t have faceted gems either. I realize it’s minor, but it drives my inner history geek nuts.

[@WizardKittenYT]

Excellent points!

[@studiojiggly]

I like your suggestion to introduce Leo first, and then introduce the mystery with Adela. This would give Leo a bigger role than he has in the game and make certain events later on in the game feel more tense as he would be our initial contact. It’s wild this game technically falls into a D+ rank but I overall agree with your points!

[@WizardKittenYT]

Yes!! I'm glad you think so too! I just think it would make the stakes higher.

[@EliseT_1012]

RE: puzzles… I’m with you. I had to use hints WAY more than I like. Made me feel so dumb and unclever. I’d begrudgingly use a hint only to realize how close I actually was and that the lack of instructions/implied puzzle logic is what was throwing me. My puzzling was always on the right track, I would just fundamentally misunderstand how the puzzle worked! The alchemy book with the paper, as you mentioned, is a great example, and I detested the safe puzzle in Vladena’s shop for similar reasons. The cafe’s astronomical clock IMHO was also hard to adjust (as in literally moving the clock hands), and the walls of text and multiple pictures we got from Ned to educate us on it made me think there’s no way anyone is supposed to solve this without help. Big bummer.

[@WizardKittenYT]

YES!! Well said, I agree! So disheartening.

[@laurenm3148]

Perfectly said - same here! I could figure out how to solve the puzzle but not the actual mechanics of making it happen.

[@laurenm3148]

I completely agree about the puzzles and truly almost had frustration tears because I felt SO stupid. I was on Amateur Sleuth too and was like, "How can I possibly not understand this??" before realizing that some of this is definitely in-game problems. I kept wishing that there were more puzzle vocal cues, too, so great point there! I would say to myself over and over, "How should we have known to do that or put that together??" That said, I too liked the "original" puzzle aspect and how so many of them felt unique. The marionettes, coffee (the latte art made me want to rip out my hair, though, and I wish that part was optional), tracker, boxes, and all kinds of things just felt so immersive and great. But when they were bad, they were BAD.

[@WizardKittenYT]

YES! Such aggravating and disheartening puzzles!!

[@nghtblm]

I agree with everything you said! so on point-- I would also add I miss the little things like Nancy having her own hotel room to stay in with the clock to show day and night mode, and being able to call Bess and George for hints. I like to explore a location fully like in the previous games, such as if there is a castle, being able to walk through all of it vs. a few rooms and a map of a city block. Sadly, I have an old game system on a Mac and the graphics card caused issues but only in 3 places. What I think is weird is that the game worked perfectly in HD for almost all the gameplay but then completely glitched out. It makes me skeptical that it is actually the graphics card because I think then it wouldn't work at all, instead of looking amazing and then going black or getting stuck at specific points. I don't know what happened to the original voiceover actress but I wish she could come back.😥

[@sophinda6292]

I felt the ending came up quite suddenly and it didn't feel like it was time for the culprit reveal. I didn't get to know the characters enough to have any suspiscions and then all of a sudden it was like 'this is the culprit and this is the reason'. Bit like Kapu Cave.

[@WizardKittenYT]

Yeah, it was pretty sudden. I think a lot of the issues stem from there being too many underdeveloped characters. It's hard to make a logical guess when you barely know any of them!

[@ForSureTotallyLauren]

Moderate Spoiler Warning!! The biggest let down for me was the themes. The game introduces great topics like generational trauma, generational impacts of massive political shifts, loss of traditional culture in the face of modernization, and I like how a character at the end was presented as a sort of foil to Nancy. These are left largely unexplored and unfinished though, due to everything feeling spread too thin. Also every time you did the haunted tour I was waiting for the knight to jump off its display and chase you like something straight out of Scooby Doo lol.

[@bookworm598]

Agreed!! At the end when the other culprit is talking about the unfairness of only the descendants of a specific line are allowed to handle the crown jewels, I was like "okay yes but this was mentioned like once?" I think it would have made her motives a lot better if we learned more about this and how these archaic rules still exist in the modern world. Maybe have Nancy dig more into her background, how she learned the gem trade, how and why she learned alchemy

[@WizardKittenYT]

I definitely agree! It feels like a lot of the emotional weight isn't earned.

[@NicoleLaurenEsq]

@@bookworm598 Lawyer and feminist here: I also couldn't stand how they were trying to make the important point that the history was unfair to women, and yet made the culprits - women! (and not in an anti-hero way). The heroes (anti-heroes) were Marek and Radek. It was soooo tired and honestly, depressing.

[@minajones8341]

The puzzles drove me crazy! I had to use the hint system so much I may as well have just watched a walkthrough and saved money. I completely agree that Nancy should have given audible clues as to if you’re on the right track. The artifact puzzle I actually got right but didn’t realize I needed to click the bottom to tip it over and that’s when the jewels would pop out. I spent 30 minutes trying all of the combinations only to realize that my first guess was right. I also really miss the old days when Nancy was just a pack rat and grabbed everything even if we didn’t need it until farther in the game. We used to be able to collect eyeballs even before Nancy knew she needed them! It would have helped with the hide and seek of finding the coffee maker instruments and the safe keys in Vladena’s office.

[@with_yarn_through_life]

I've been waiting for your review! I doubt this game would work on my computer, and I don't want to buy it only for it to not even open, so I'm living vicariously through all the walkthroughs and reviews.

[@WizardKittenYT]

Totally fair!! Thanks so much for watching!

[@BostonLow]

I definitely enjoyed this game quite a bit. After all the hype, I'm happy that we got a game of decent quality. Your critique of the puzzles was on point. By far my biggest issue was also with the puzzle design - I had to rely heavily on hints to understand what I was expected to do for several puzzles, as I don't think the objectives were explained well. One thing I loved about this game were the cinematic camera angles and the impressive animations during key moments, such as character introductions. Little touches like that just made me happy and also showed the care that was put into making this game. I have no clue if KEY will do well enough to keep HeR afloat, but if the devs can keep improving on the formula for this new era of ND games, then I'm excited for what the future might hold. 🔎

[@WizardKittenYT]

Well said!!

[@kaboo62]

Omigosh you’re supposed to talk to Ned about the clock? I just white knuckled my way through that puzzle - I ended up just getting lucky I think. The puzzles were honestly so great and so clever but you’re right - you could start so many of them before you had all the pieces. I can’t even imagine how hard it was on master slueth 😭 And yes. The NPCs were a huge distraction. I checked the settings to see if there was an option just to get rid of them. Unfortunately you could just make the crowd size smaller - which is something I guess. It’s ironic, something meant to make things feel more realistic actually takes me out of the game. Definitely think your rating is fair! I’ve ranked it a bit higher on my own scale but it feels so good that HER listened and changed things. I don’t think with Unity games will ever feel quite like the old ones moving forward. This is a new ND game era and I think I’m finally okay with that after this game.

[@stuffwithsoph8264]

Totally agree, this game is an alright game it just isn't Nancy Drew anymore. That can be both positive and negative, personally I am uninterested in these new games but respect them and hope they continue to improve in quality. For me, I just can't get over Lani not being Nancy anymore.

[@WizardKittenYT]

Yes, yes, and yes! Completely agree with your points!

[@rowlet9202]

Solving the astronomical clock by chance is so powerful

[@TeamTwentyEight]

To be fair, 12/50 is a pretty high score for Midnight in Salem BIG on the puzzles!!! I felt SO dumb with some of them, and some of them (sorting the keys when Marek was making them, marionette script) seemed like a logic puzzle but with intentionally missing pieces which just made it more trial and error, which is kind of annoying!

[@WizardKittenYT]

It's been so validating to see that so many people agree about the puzzles being so frustrating!!

[@laurenm3148]

I really thought we'd learn more about why Adela didn't get along with her mother. A missed thread!

[@WizardKittenYT]

Yeah, that really felt like shoehorned in backstory to try and make the character interesting, but it never went anywhere!

[@monicastamant]

One big critique I had personally is that I didn’t actually feel that connected to Prague or learning about it. I feel like I learned a few interesting facts but not like I was immersed in Prague or like anything really mattered. In most Nancy games, I feel like the whole atmosphere is filled with little clues and you read every snippet of information you can to squeeze the juice out of the setting and the way information is presented is so well paced and fun. In KEY, I felt like the museum was just “Here’s a lot of stuff to read and some things to kind of look at” and it was so boring. The marionette show made it a little more engaging but that’s it. The rest of the game felt like it didn’t matter if I learned anything about Prague. I live abroad, I have friends from Czech, I had a friend who lived in Prague, and I wanted to feel like I was actually there learning things about the culture or food or history. But I feel like I learned a tiny bit and other facts were just there. Kafka is from there. They like coffee. There was a King who was a woman. Okay cool 🤷🏻‍♀️ I feel like it was a huge missed opportunity or like they failed in actually making the player appreciate the setting and history. I was surprised to hear you say you thought that part was good - I had the opposite reaction.

[@WizardKittenYT]

Thanks for your thoughts! I could see why the setting wouldn't connect as well, and I think the environments are partially to blame for that. They don't feel very immersive, so it makes it harder to experience Prague!

[@monicastamant]

@@WizardKittenYT Yeah, only giving us two TINY places to look around, with repeating features and a generic “computer store” and “jewelry store” just made it feel so cold. Marek’s little corner was pretty good, but there wasn’t a lot to explore there, and I kept taking pictures of things in Leo’s office thinking it would be important, only for none of it to matter at all. It was a “long” ND game but felt like I got less out of it than all the others!

[@andreap838]

This is a balanced review and I agree with almost everything in it. Especially your section about puzzles. I'd like a more direction, but still like having the hint option as a backup. I think HeR can continue to improve and has shown they care about our feedback. I am optimistic about the next game. I think one thing that would help immensely is adding more humor to the dialogue and more optional phone conversation with familiar characters like Hardy Boys and Bess/George. Also consider adding some mini games to allow players to chill for a bit if they are stuck on a little puzzle and need a break. Thanks for your thorough, honest and fair review. I enjoyed listening.

[@WizardKittenYT]

Thank you so much! I'm so glad you enjoyed the review! I absolutely agree about the dialogue and phone conversations.

[@MichelleSudarsono]

I've been playing this game with my BF who is new to ND game. We're both pretty good at puzzles so we played on Master sleuth. It was a mistake. The lack of verbal cues, that you mentioned, or the lack of direction where to go--especially in terms of contacting someone through the phone unprompted--made us go back and forth a lot. While it's great that the place feels big, it makes it easier to miss things when there had been changes; for example, Radek's trailer. The entrance has always been closed, but apparently at some point, the door opens and we can snoop in. We completely missed that so we didn't a text from the Hardy boys once we figured out the DEGAS 'puzzle'. We had to check the guide to see what we missed because it said "you will get a text message from Frank and George". Apparently, the snooping was to gain a topic that we can ask Zane about. Why can't we call him again when I find out about it? I feel like, in the old games, even when we don't have any topics to talk about, we can still call them only to choose the "never mind" option. Which leads me to phone contact. They're so boring. They put too much verbal cues on that end where Nancy kept saying "Now's not a good time to call." Even if it doesn't make sense! Why is it not a good time to call the anonymous person? Or the police? Or Adele? Wasn't she the one who wanted us to update things about her jewels? Some of them goes to voice mail even though we were just chatting, Ned! All of the conversation feels very plot-only. There's no "fun" in interacting with anyone, which is what the previous 32 games managed to do. I agree with how we should start with Leo first, because somehow, the urgency of Adela changed midway because Nancy revealed something bigger is afoot. Even though, the first time we were asked to update her, she wanted results ASAP. If HeR added her character as Patricia's friend, it makes sense that she's only interested in the jewels, with Leo being more interested in the rest of the information that we found. All of these issues seems like a game tester should be able to point out when they play it. Especially in terms of flow direction and puzzles. Not to mention, the awkward moment of when Nancy entered the Dean's office, not closing the door, to suddenly a cut scene of her listening in to a heated convo with the doors already closed just so we can ask Leo about it later on. They could've wrote it better. Nancy could have been more snoopy, whispering about how she should be careful not to get caught because the secretary happens to be out for a coffee run. (Maybe she could even call Patricia to distract him in the cafe while she snoops). I would much rather have a snooty British sounding secretary being physically there and blocking my entrance, rather than Zane showing at the end. I haven't finished the game but out of respect of the work HeR had put throughout my childhood years, I want to finish this. Hopefully, like you said, the last 2 hours will turn things around. Atm, I still can't guess who the culprit is, which what I like about these games. Thank you for the in-depth review!

[@WizardKittenYT]

I totally agree with all these thoughts! Well said!

[@izzyb1567]

Great review! I'm super amazed at the accuracy of the settings, especially after finding the street-views of both the Orloj and St Vitus Cathedral. The biggest difference was the variety of different humans walking around. Ha! I actually found the repeated characters hilarious. I think most Nancy Drew games I can think of don't pull as much from reality. Everything was super well-researched. If you need fodder for a video I think doing a video on Nancy Drew IRL vs in-game would be pretty fun to see.

[@WizardKittenYT]

It is so interesting how they basically decided to recreate locations this time! They've done it before, but this time it seemed like the main goal for the environments.

[@NicoleLaurenEsq]

The side character voice acting was very good - except for Nancy. She sounded computerized with inflections completely in the wrong places. That was jarring. Too many puzzles had zero/barely existent intuitiveness - as you explain in this video. I almost rage quit so many times. It took me a week - skipping 2 or 3 days in between plays as I really had no desire to play (that has only happened to me once before - I hated Ransom of the Seven Ships and didn't finish it). I even enjoyed Salem more, as I knew they were just learning the Unity Engine and I pretty much expected it to be that way. Overall they are getting better at using Unity (but generally, my thoughts on games is if isn't broke don't fix it - (See Wadjeteye/Dave Gilbert games). This was a strong effort, but not enjoyable. The world and areas of exploration were absurdly small and contained. I did finally finish and still want to throw my computer out the window. Thanks for your walkthrough. Could have never played without it. I won't be replaying this one. I give it a 5/10.

[@WizardKittenYT]

Excellent points! I firmly agree with much of this!

[@NicoleLaurenEsq]

@@WizardKittenYT Now I'm dying to play Treasure in a Royal Tower or Curse of Blackmoor manor again! White Wolf is a fave too. So many good ones. I hope they get it right again!

[@EmilySmith-vx3ro]

This was a wonderful and very fair review of KEY. I used the strategy guide for my first play through, and I was still honestly very confused about the mechanics/logic of many of the puzzles. I think HER was a little too ambitious with the puzzles for this game. Hopefully by the next one they will have found the perfect balance. I’m definitely going to play again over the summer without the strategy guide, but I have a feeling I won’t be able to make it through with hints 😢

[@WizardKittenYT]

Yeah, I agree! I think they over-corrected from MID to this and hopefully they can find balance next time!

[@karricompton]

I agree with you more on this than I probably have anything else. Excited that there were more puzzles-frustrated that they were SO hard and not intuitive. Loved so many characters, but didn’t like their dialog or how flat they were and weird looking in some cases. And for Pete’s sake, Nancy, sound like a human and not like you’re reading! I have some VA experience, and you’re not believable or conversational! Good environments but those NPCs! And why have the lovely phone contacts when we can never call them??! Totally agree that this game is only inspired by ND games and not really part of the series. I really can’t get into the new style like I did the older games. I’ve never consulted a strategy guide more in my life and I haven’t even finished the game yet. I’ve decided to follow the guide to the end-otherwise it’s gonna take forever and not in a good way. So yeah, I may have rated it lower than you, but have mostly the same sentiments.

[@WizardKittenYT]

Yeah, we definitely sound aligned on this one!

[@colibri224]

18:34: It's sad that you have to tell them that. They're suppose to have 20+ years of experience with puzzle games.

[@lindsaydrubel7300]

Yes!! I felt so dumb with the puzzles! If 10 year old me could beat a ND game why can't 28 year old me 😅

[@WizardKittenYT]

Exactly!!

[@centainehlushak1658]

Yes 👏to 👏all 👏 This is a massive step up from MID (although the bar was on the floor, maybe even underground lol), however, there is still room for improvement. My hope is that the VO direction is overhauled for future games if and when they happen. I'm not sure if the actors were secluded the whole time or if they occasionally recorded together, but I think recording together would help some of the weird inflections we got in the final product. And some of the script felt like it was written by ChatGPT hahaha

[@WizardKittenYT]

100% chatGPT script vibes!!

[@EliseT_1012]

Regarding the characters, I couldn’t help but think their dialogue was kind of bare bones because they were overcompensating for the MID feedback regarding dialogue. That game was all yapping. Doesn’t mean this game should have been shallow, sparse conversations, of course, but I offer it up as a possible explanation. Also, can we talk about how the characters stand there like mannequins? The cloned NPCs had more life to them 🤦🏻‍♀️. I actually really liked the game, though. We’re harsh because we care! ❤

[@WizardKittenYT]

Very true! It's like the overcorrected by taking the too easy puzzles in MID and making them impossible and taking the gargantuan puzzles in MID and making them sparse. Swung too far in the other directions!

[@candiceolson1723]

As someone who has never played a Nancy Game and has only experienced them second hand via KZbin or Twitch, there is still a laziness to some of it that I don't understand. This is all constructive criticism to the HeR team: Firstly, The background characters being the MID cast "in disguise" and having 3 of the same person always visible; That pulled me out of the immersion more than say if it were perpetually night and no one was out and about ever. This is my biggest gripe with the game, as a viewer it not only looks lazy, it feels rushed again. secondly, The MID make-up scary museum exhibit in 7 keys flopped as hard as in MID. It would've been more intense reading them ourselves like old old games, I don't like the forced spooky-narrator-laugh-track-halloween-tape vibe, I don't know, the HeR team should stop exploring the museum route, it's not their strong suit now 3 modern games with dull, flat museums. As an overall game, SUCH a step up from MID and there's a hopeful future!

[@WizardKittenYT]

I actually really loved the museum exhibit because I learned something! And the haunted tour because I think it was meant to be corny, like it was made for kids. Definitely agree about there being a lot of elements that felt lazy or incomplete though! The background NPCs bug me so much.

[@englishatheart]

I hated the NPCs and the unnecessary character animations used to justify the cost and length it took to produce the game. Yes, I know a lot of people probably thought it was weird that we saw maybe 4 or 5 characters throughout an entire game and just heard the voices of the background characters, but I personally would prefer that to NPCs standing around looking like zombies. And why do we need to see a character getting up and opening the door? I would rather the money used for those unnecessary things go to hiring better voice actors and actresses. Most were fine, but Nancy's new voice isn't nearly as good as some of the secondary characters, and one of the voice actresses has played multiple parts and sounds the same each time, even when using a different accent. I would rather proper voice acting and fewer onscreen characters and animations than the opposite.

[@MissRegionRat]

We finally beat this game yesterday and I was so curious to hear your thoughts. My son and I started it a week before a trip and I thought we’d have plenty of time to beat it. But in my effort to not teach him to cheat his way through difficulty and persevere, we were unable to make much progress that first week. When we got back we were so….uninterested in picking it up again. And that’s when I knew the game was in trouble. We weren’t excited to dive back in and solve the mystery. Ironically, my 4 year old did immediately peg the culprit so he was satisfied with himself at the end lol But those puzzles were a slog and I hated having to use the strategy guide for them. My issue with the puzzles was often just how many pieces of information you were expected to synthesize. I think the jewelry safe one required compiling info from at least 4 pieces of paper? I think the alchemy lab had a similar issues cross-referencing way too many things. Regarding Nancy’s AI voice, it was brutal to listen to. Really grating. The emphasis was seemingly always on the wrong word. If I expected it to be something like “So YOU were the one behind this,” it was almost laughably guaranteed to be read like “So….you were the one BEHIND this.” And you’re thinking, as opposed to in front of this? I’m sorry to say, but I don’t think it’s a direction issue. It’s a voice actor issue. Every other voice actor seems to nail this just fine. Only Nancy was reading the wrong emphasis! And she never varied the emotion in her voice. It reminds me of when teacher called in a student in class who wasn’t a confident reader. Just painful. I think a lot of the rest is improved. The graphics were lovely. The characters were lovely. The plot was interesting. The history was cool. Internally logical puzzles like the marionette and the cyberblock were fun and challenging without being frustrating. But ultimately I chose to cheat our way through the entire end game bc it was all becoming a massive headache of a chore and we weren’t really having fun anymore. :(

[@WizardKittenYT]

@@MissRegionRat such a good description! And I'm sorry that so much of it was disappointing! It's such an improvement over MID, but still a long way to go.

[@MissRegionRat]

@@WizardKittenYT definitely an improvement over MID! I think they’ll find their groove. And I think one big accomplishment here was just getting the point-and-click people exposed to full motion WASD. I think most will now prefer the modern navigation and that can help them utilize more of the space. I think they can find their groove again, but it will always feel like a new reboot series instead of a continuation of our OG series. Grateful to have 32 other games I got to grow up with!

[@Ryversongfan]

I usually have issues with puzzles in game. I just wish my computer could handle the new games. The setting looks very nice. I enjoyed your review

[@WizardKittenYT]

I'm glad you enjoyed it! I wish the games were more accessible for more computers too!

[@SamSamSam321]

I so appreciate this video! I had so many thoughts after finishing this game and this video puts it all into words. I was having a bit of a hard time processing how I felt about it. Get out of my brain! (Or maybe not because this was so helpful lol.) I hope HER sees this video and uses it as a jumping off point for constructive criticism going forward. I now have hope for the future of HER after this game. Definitely an improvement from MID, but there's still a ways to go to get back to the quality we're used to. Fingers crossed that it doesn't take another 4.5 years before the next game is released. Edit: I just have to say this. I don't like the new voice of Nancy. No offence to her, but her voice just isn't a good fit for this role. I don't think it's the actor being directed in a certain way that makes it so strange, it's the way her voice sounds and how she acts. Her voice is very AI-y and completely reverses my immersion when she speaks. I understand they probably won't bring Lani back, but I hope they consider some other options for the voice of Nancy.

[@WizardKittenYT]

I'm so glad you liked the review!! I spent a lot of time processing my thoughts on it too, so you're definitely not alone! There was so much to consider!

[@russianvalkyrie2358]

The WHOLE time in Midnight in Salem I was waiting for an explanation of that one super weird phone call with Ned and it was never mentioned. And then it was never addressed here either. I kept waiting like ok that one thing that felt like a huge deal wasnt addressed and I guess never will be. Like the writers forgot about it in the middle of MID and forgot about it again and we will never know why a weird unknown girl was talking to Ned when he was on the phone like????

[@englishatheart]

Ned is in college. She was probably a study partner. Ned is the most loyal guy on earth. If you can trust someone not to cheat, it's him. Which is why I am glad they made Nancy a decent girlfriend in this one. Ned is like a dream man -- Supportive, attentive, loyal, devoted. He's always stood by Nancy even when she basically forgot he existed. Old Nancy definitely didn't deserve Ned, but I also know he loves her too much to leave. And, as someone who has seen good men stay with toxic women far too often in real life, I'm grateful this game made Nancy attentive and had her show she gives a bleep about him for once. That's one of the only positives about this game for me.

[@WizardKittenYT]

Right?! That phone call in MID was so weird...and definitely only to manufacture drama with the Frank - Ned - Nancy love triangle!

[@laurenm3148]

Re: Nancy's dialogue, voice direction, and acting. It's like they spent so much time trying to rebuild the Nancy Drew franchise and make the game itself great that they forgot to work on Nancy herself.

[@WizardKittenYT]

True!

[@julienharrison-iw4yp]

I love listening to you talk

[@WizardKittenYT]

Thank you!

[@HollyStansbery]

I watched a few of your videos to get through the puzzles, and i think we ran into the same issues on each one 😅 that was definitely the most disappointing part for me - I feel like the puzzles had so much potential to be great, but I spent so much time trying to figure out what to do I couldn't appreciate them. It didn't help that I was playing another puzzle game at the same time (Chants of Sennaar) that was super intuitive and clean. Not sure if you mentioned it, but did it ever feel like the plot jumped around weirdly? Like one minute I'm solving a puzzle, then cut screen of fog in the courtyard, then I'm back in the cafe saying that I need to put a stop to this - what? Why now? Anyways, I feel like this was 80% of the way to a really good game but just couldn't get there. I am slightly more hopeful for the future though!

[@WizardKittenYT]

Yes! Definitely! There were a lot of plot cohesion and motivation issues.

[@writerspen010]

I haven't played the game yet (waiting for the Steam release), but I really enjoyed it while watching playthroughs once I got over the stilted dialog, which is my biggest hurdle. Nancy sounding like AI is definitely a fair (and funny) assessment. To me, she reminds me of the children in the old "Charlie Brown" cartoons, whose dialog was recorded one word at a time, because they were too young to read their scripts. The direction must be a big reason for this, because several other characters sounded stilted (although at least they have a language barrier as an excuse!), but I also wonder how of this was an editing problem. That is, I wonder how often the editors spliced together separate recordings because different parts of them sounded better without having a single recording that nailed it all the way through. The flat set and character designs could've used some improvement too. We have many ND games that only take place at night, and I think it would have been better if they had gone in that direction for Keys, considering how flat--and even a bit unfinished--the sets (including the coffee station) and props looked during the day. In regards to the characters, I mostly think they were fine for still adjusting to this platform, but at times I felt like I was looking at animatronic faces on mannequins a la Elsa and Anna in the Disney World ride "Frozen Ever After" or floating faces a la the cats in the recent "Cats" movie adaptation. Related to your point about how repetitive/mindless the music could be in some scenes, I felt that way about the cat rescue scene and its sound effects. The distressed kitty meows while figuring out that block puzzle was driving me crazy, because it was non-stop. For something like that--even though that's pretty true to life, as any cat owner knows LOL--it would have been better if the developers had a longer audio with a variety of cat sounds, which would play all the way through, pause for a few minutes, then pick back up in timed intervals, instead of playing for 10 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour straight while solving the block puzzle. The chasing scenes were also strange, because it's unclear what triggers being chased. They should have taken a page out of Thornton Hall's book, in which you see and hear the ghost for specific story reasons (notes being delivered, clues being discovered, etc.). I'll know for sure how I feel about it once I get a chance to play it, but for now I'm happy with the game we got. Although there are still things to work on for next game, it feels like modernized return to form, and I think all the little Easter eggs peppered throughout the game showed how much more dedicated the team is to the game franchise's legacy.

[@WizardKittenYT]

A modernized return to form is a good way to put it! Definitely agree with all your thoughts!

[@sadnessy546]

You liked making coffee?! I was stuck on the TUTORIAL for hours! I'm never gonna return to this mini-game ever again! So many problems there: not intuitive ingredients (turns out this white jug is for cold water), stupid recipe that refer to another recipe... And latte art! So easy to ruin the ✨perfect✨ circle AND if you finished the drawing, somehow it's not enough! I had to watch walkthroughs and learn a roundabout way just to pass this mini-game... I made a promise to myself not to compare a new game and older ones. BUT in most previous games making food wasn't actually a puzzle. In Castle Malloy we had direct instructions with pictures, which allowed players to enjoy making cocktails and focus on earning money. In the White Wolf and Waverly academy we just needed to correctly gather an order. In the silent spy there were pictures to make cookies, although it can be labelled as a puzzle. So the coffee recipes should've looked either like a picture of a cup with corresponding layers or a simple scheme (e.g. 1 coffee bean, 1 steamed milk).

[@WizardKittenYT]

I definitely get why it would be frustrating! It goes along with the puzzles not being intuitive in general.

[@justafan6535]

Again, has it been severe since 2019, when we got a new game? Leo was kidnapped way too early. In Agatha Christie, for example, sometimes the person who gets kidnapped is halfway through the book, not five minutes later. It seems that only Leo is good enough for a lead,but then he disappears. Also , who is the original owner of the necklace?

[@WizardKittenYT]

I never understood who the original owner was supposed to be either! There were definitely several strange inconsistencies.

[@justafan6535]

@@WizardKittenYT I wanted to know! I still think Leo was taken early, it's like give me a reason to care besides a lead.

[@minajones8341]

If you haven’t seen it yet, the original owner was a relative of Patricia’s and Adele gives her back the necklace. It is beyond frustrating that the last puzzle only shows up if you trigger it the right way.

[@dragonslayersworkshop8598]

As someone who is only watching you play, I think it’s definitely a redemption over MID in… everything, really. Maybe not everything, but most things. The biggest cons to me are that the plot is a little disjointed, and the dialogue is clunky sometimes. The game’s definitely not perfect, but It really feels like a return to classic Nancy and the things the fans truly love about the series. Also, am I the only one here who doesn’t mind Nancy’s new voice? It took some getting used to for sure but the more I listened to it the more it sounded like Lani? But I like her new voice. The actress could’ve done a better job, but I think the voice kind reflects Nancy’s maturity in a way and I like that.

[@joyfulmysterygamer]

I didn’t mind the new voice but it didn’t think about how she acted until others talked about it. 😅

[@WizardKittenYT]

Yeah, with MID as a comparison, it would be pretty tough for it not to be much better!! Lol!

[@englishatheart]

No one is ever the only one with a specific opinion. Stop saying that. :-P Also, I don't know what ND games others have played, but this one is still nothing like the ones we fell in love with. I have played them all (apart from this and Salem) multiple times, and this is Nancy Drew in name only.

[@SimoneShaw-fy2zm]

Lazy attempt for a game no game for 4 years i would have loved to play the games i guess her interactive doesnt care anymore

[@iTotofogo]

Great fair review!

[@WizardKittenYT]

Thank you so much!!

[@abbyshewrote]

Love this review, and I totally agree with just about everything you said! Really glad to hear some of my own critiques of the game (the frustrating puzzles, lacking consistent themes, night looking better) validated. Thankd for another great review! ♥️🫶

[@WizardKittenYT]

I'm so glad you liked it!!