by Jordan on Her Interactive

You've Made a Fatal Error. Would you like to try again?

The Good News: You finally pushed out a game after YEARS of waiting.

The Bad News: It's a complete flop and you may have lost your fan base.



This game feels like when a company gets bought out, fires everyone, and brings in new people who have no clue what they're doing. Is that what happened? Or did you outsource the whole thing? I don't know the history of what's happened recently with the company, but it's clear that the people who knew what they were doing are out the door. PLEASE bring them back. It's like watching Gordon Ramsay walk into those horrifying fridges on Kitchen Nightmares. I wish we could get the game version of him to come in and impress upon the designers how disappointing this game is.



It's so poor and slow that it barely plays, even though my computer exceeds the minimum requirements. Sure, 3D would have been a cool modernization, but that's the least of what we care about. The animation of the previous several games was beautiful, artistic! I don't need to reiterate 300 other reviews, so I copy them on the technical flaws and ridiculous dialogue.



Dear new designers, have you played any of the previous games? it doesn't feel like it. Have you read the original books? (They are yellow, ask your librarian.) Your fan base right now is largely young women, I'd estimate 25-35, and their family members and S.O.s whom they've converted. We read the books by flashlight under the covers and got lost in mystery. We started these games as children and draped blankets over huge desk monitors like a fort, and HER transported us to a different world. I grew up envisioning myself a brave heroine because of these games. And the kicker is that the games evolved in both graphics/animation and challenging puzzles. It's almost like they grew with their initial fan base in mind. You've lost your way, HER. Here's some characteristics of proper ND games (like, every one except this one).



1. Brilliant puzzles - I was continually impressed by the unique puzzles in each game. After about 15 games I thought that surely the types of puzzles would start being recycled frequently. But they just kept coming up with new ones! And they just kept getting harder! We want difficult, vexing, creative puzzles. Lots of them. Also, there is no point in puzzles which are not at some point required to progress in the game. They need to serve a function at least once.



2. Atmospheric - Getting lost in the world as if you are actually there walking around is a major aspect to these games. It is so clear that people researched the scene locations. The amount of detail in the scenery is amazing. The accents and attitudes of characters are always a nice touch. Go play Sea of Darkness, that game is a work of art unto itself. I started traveling the world because of what I saw through the eyes of Nancy Drew. Scotland, Ireland, France (next is Iceland and New Zealand)...I played ND and thought "I've got to go there in person!" It doesn't need to be in 3D. It needs to be beautiful, detailed, and we have to, you know, be able to easily navigate without getting frustrated and wanting to throw the mouse across the room.



3. Autonomy - on that note, it's key that we can wander around ourselves, not be led from place to place like a movie. Some of my greatest satisfactions came from being stuck, scrutinizing every inch of the world, and finally finding that one thing I had overlooked. The dialogue should only exist where it needs to in order for US to figure out what to do next. It doesn't need to ramble on and on forever.



4. Education - Part of getting immersed in the atmosphere comes from learning things about the setting - runes and alchemy in old England, the zodiac, the Catacombs in Paris, herbs and lore and different runes in Ireland, Greek Mythology, the French Revolution, Icelanic vocabulary, the entire Tesla game...what a great opportunity you had with SALEM! Squandered.



In conclusion, just go back to the old format. Ideally, bring back the team from Sea of Darkness, The Deadly Device, and The Silent Spy. Or honestly these games are going to die right here. I bet that most of your fan base would be willing to give HER one more chance. But not if takes another five years, and only if it's stunning. Like the transformations on Kitchen Nightmares.



ND was the reigning female heroine game before this debacle, and I have converted every male friend who thought a girl's game would be stupid. Please do better!