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#NANCY DREW GAME SERIES SERIAL#
The plot centers on him, even though the supporting cast is equally complex: a government code breaker and linguist, a clueless rugby player descended from a long line of mystics, and a ruthless serial Reality TV star. The game gives him a background story worthy of the build-up. Despite never appearing onscreen, he’s become a fan favorite, which is why he’s been introduced in The Shattered Medallion as the producer of Pacific Rim: New Zealand. Since first appearing in the sixth game, Secret of the Scarlet Hand, Nancy has found Sonny’s doodles of aliens and notes on conspiracies in drawers and notebooks of her various travels. It is the narrative focus on Sonny Joon that sets the tone for the Shattered Medallion as a game primarily for long-term Nancy Drew fans.
#NANCY DREW GAME SERIES SERIES#
Even so, many Nancy Drew games end with a standard mystery climax, but this game builds toward a much more complex ending, due in part to the narrative focus on the characters, specifically a series regular background character named Sonny Joon. The game may have benefitted from the game tasks directly aligning to the plot: like many other Nancy Drew games, this format makes The Shattered Medallion a game about its characters rather than about a mystery. While the challenges educate players on New Zealand, the primary narrative unfolds at base camp through interactions with the other characters. I never knew there were so many breeds of sheep-yet another fact to add to the long list of “Things Nancy Drew has taught me,” which includes the folk history of Lycanthropy and what shoes Marie Antoinette was wearing when she died. In this case, the show’s challenges are New Zealand-related tasks, like sheep shearing and panning for gold. As in most Nancy Drew games, The Shattered Medallion educates the player on its geographical setting without fetishizing that locale. The game starts with Nancy and her best friend being selected for the show Pacific Run: New Zealand, a parody of programs like Survivor and The Amazing Race.
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The puzzle solving, clue-collecting mechanics work in a mystery game and they also work in Shattered Medallion’s primary setting: a reality TV show. Thus, players are never so overwhelmed that they abandon the story, a common problem in many older Nancy Drew titles where the difficult puzzles would prompt players to seek answers from the Internet (guilty). These innovations yield a game that is never too easy or too difficult. There is also a dialogue fast-forward button for players who hate talking to NPCs, as well as optional mini-games and object collecting, if so inclined. So, if puzzles aren’t your thing, an in-game hint system gradually helps you solve the puzzle or provides the solution if you’re stumped or just hate number puzzles. Newer titles show that HerInteractive’s slight alterations to the design of the core Nancy Drew experience accommodate the diverse range of player ability and preferences. This sense of personalization has only become more pronounced in recent releases. This is partially due to the many different mechanics working in concert, a form which allows the experience to be more customizable. While that remains true for the most part, like all good franchises, the games have consistently appealed to players of all ages. In the games, the player acts out this sleuthing through the mechanics of puzzle solving, exploring the environment, interviewing, and playing minigames aligned to the theme of the mystery.įrom an outside perspective, Nancy Drew games appear to be for a young audience. What better way to tell the stories of an endlessly curious girl detective than to play as her in-game? Nancy has been poking her nose in people’s business since the ‘30s: eavesdropping from secret passageways, sneaking into hotel rooms to rummage through suitcases, reading private journals and notes. Of all these incarnations, HerInteractive’s 30-game long series suits Nancy the best.
#NANCY DREW GAME SERIES MOVIE#
Since then, the character has appeared in countless novels, a couple television adaptations, and that movie starring Emma Roberts which no one saw. Nancy Drew was first introduced in the 1930s, through the series of novels written by an inconsistent string of ghost writers called Carolyn Keene. What better way to tell the stories of an endlessly curious girl detective than to play as her in-game?
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