Welcome back to my Nancy Drew Replay! If you didn't see the first part, go to my previous blog post to read the first part. I am analyzing the eras of Nancy Drew Herinteractive games based on my playthrough by the oldest to the newest release date. I'll let the first part speak for me. Let's dive in!
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*Spoiler warning! I have spoilers in these blogs for the purpose of proving trends.*
The Puzzle Heavy Era - White Wolf to Shadow at Waters Edge
Here is where my HP laptop, unlike my Dell laptop and the spare Lenovo laptop, didn't want to cooperate. This is the exact point where White Wolf installed with no problem but only launched for two seconds. The first dossier did the same thing. Apparently, this is an issue with HP computers. I tried the "changing 0 to 2 window setting in configuration files" fix with no luck. I then tried the compatibility 640-480 resolution mode with the same rotten luck. I just switched to playing on the Lenovo. This problem applies mostly to games 16-20 if my frustrated research is correct. 21 plays just fine on my HP, as do all the games after that.
I like to joke that Herinteractive noticed people in their 20s and 30s were playing and they upped the puzzle level just to give us more challenge, but I might not be joking. These seem to be aimed more at adults, with added help for those who aren't adults. Every era of games from here forward is harder in puzzle level and has more depth, even in the environments around you. They truly did look at audience age. For the most part, you still have linear storylines, but there is more to explore and longer games due to puzzle content. Deeper conversations begin to happen as the series progresses.
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Along with harder puzzles, we see more puzzles packed into each game. White Wolf has a lot of puzzles attached to one goal, much like Crystal Skull (finding eyes) and Ransom of the Seven Ships. The current trend is that one goal sometimes has a lot of mini-puzzles within it or there are a bunch of puzzles packed into one game. Also, two games in a row include finding a journal with multiple tasks in it (White Wolf and Crystal Skull). Ransom of the seven ships even has a journal with tasks in it.
White Wolf is actually considered one of the hardest games because of fox and geese with Bill Kessler. The puzzle level did rise to a more mature level. My husband loves this game so much that he made a board and bought marbles for it. Believe it or not, that game was not made up by herinteractive to make you angry - that game is ancient and comes from a long time ago. They simplified it compared to the original board. Consider yourself lucky that they did.
The amount of chores varies based on the game plot. Phantom of Venice has next to none. Crystal Skull has almost none. White Wolf is known for being practically a maid simulator and "chores the game" (though Twister gets the award for being all chores in my book), which makes sense given your cover story. It all depends on the plot, but I don't see nearly as many chores in the majority of this game era. Mini-games also show up, but are not consistently there in every game here.
The meta-awards begin at Crystal Skull. White Wolf only has one award (like the previous era). The meta-awards are like little achievements you can earn. It is very fun. At Phantom of Venice, we get blooper reels after the credits based on how many achievements you have earned.
We need to talk about the one game that really is 'chores the game', and that is Trail of the Twister. Half the game could be eliminated based on my task vs chores definition. Basically, half the tasks (if not more) don't advance the plot. The rest of the games in this category - White Wolf included - have the majority of tasks advancing the plot. For this reason, it could be its own category. Is it puzzle heavy? Yes, but the majority of those puzzles are unnecessary to the plot.
This era also includes a discontinued game that was quietly no longer sold by Herinteractive. The culprit uses a form of blackface (to look Jamaican) and Herinteractive decided to silently discontinue it. I have it because I preordered it way back when. It is worth playing at least once, but do not pay more than 20 dollars for the game itself because it isn't worth more than the price it was originally sold for. It is puzzle heavy and involves a lot of puzzles that take time to solve. You may need help at some points (hourglass puzzle, for sure). It isn't a bad game, but I won't say it is their best. It is one of the harder games out there and has a bad rap for being one of the least-liked games.
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