I’m heartbroken that The Final Scene didn’t make any of the lists. Obviously it wasn’t going to win for it’s puzzles or for being educational, but the scare factor of the 3 day clock and a tightly woven plot with easily one of the best endings in the franchise should have counted for something
I totally agree! This game in my opinion is one of the best classics & had one of the best plots. As well as Lani's absolute best voice acting as Nancy. The emotion really comes across so well.
I think if there was a list of best Nancy’s, the Final Scene would be number one. Her dialogue in that one made her more assertive and funny and captured her perfectly as the protagonist. Love her character and the writing in that one which is important seeing how it’s so conversation heavy. And it’s an awesome game all around as you pointed out. 😀
I still can't believe how terrible MID looks. I wish they'd just go back to what was working before, but judging by what their website says-that MID and all future games will be supported on Mac while old games won't-it's looking more and more unlikely. Oh, HER...I miss what you were.
I normally don’t comment ever, but seriously, this channel deserves more love. Also, I’ve been waiting for another analysis video (I can’t believe I already watched all of them!). Thank you so much for your hard work. 💕
Seriously thank you for commenting! I couldn’t agree more! The passion and commitment, thought and effort Caitlyn puts into to each video is so remarkable! Crowdsourcing and sorting through data of 645 surveys is a ton of work!
the haunted carousel was my first game and then it led me right into danger on deception island, which is still my favorite game! these two were PERFECT introductions to the series
What’s scary is how HER kept us in the dark for almost 5 years and all we got was MID 😱 It makes me happy knowing how many other fellow detectives love the plots for Secret of Shadow Ranch and Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon 🥰 Storytelling at its finest!
Maybe I’m a minority opinion, but what I see in HER Interactive wanting market Midnight in Salem is more a cry for help from a video game company that has been floundering for almost a decade. I definitely want more Nancy Drew games, so it doesn’t really bother me. It kind of makes me want to root more for them because they’re trying so hard. And I liked Midnight in Salem. I don’t think it deserves the huge backlash it got either.
Shadow Ranch was one of the first Nancy Drew games I played. I started by reading the blue and yellow books then got hooked on the games. My 10 year old self got so mad at Shorty for veggie picking 🤣
Can you rate the best Nancy Drew games that have the most exploration? Im always trying to find games with multiple locations and lots to explore. Love your videos! So underrated ❤
This is AMAZING!!!! As a qualitative researcher, I am impressed by the effort and care you took in compiling and reporting this data for these beloved games! Thank you for putting this together!
Great analysis video as always! I took it way too personally when I saw that Midnight in Salem was on the best educational list. My favorite part of the games is learning all new information, which like you said sticks in my brain because the game makes you apply that knowledge. While I have a long list of problems with Midnight in Salem, I was incredibly disappointed with the lack of knowledge about Salem provided. Why would they make a museum when we can't learn anything from it?!? It's very interesting to hear what the community says, so I hope you keep doing surveys like this!
Wish Danger by Design got more love ❤️ love that one. Maybe you could do lists for best atmosphere or best use of music? Crystal Skull has a terrific use of atmosphere and Castle Malloy’s music is beautiful.
Love that game and the late night chats with the Professor. It’s fun being trapped in during a snow storm investigating the large mansion/tower and learning about Marie Antoinette. ♥️
Eek! First! Edit: Oh my goodness!!! What a phenomenal analysis video!!! Soooo good! I love the crowd sourcing and that SO MANY DETECTIVES gave their thoughts- INCREDIBLE!!! Also, HER’s marketing team will never rival the true passion and commit you demonstrate in this video! Your summaries and descriptions were EPIC and made me fall in love with games I already adore all over again! Your words were just oozing with the captivating qualities of these games and made me yearn for the nostalgia of what HER used to be!!! Thank you so very much!!
I just looked at their website, and I can't believe that HER Interactive thinks Midnight in Salem is scarier than Shadow at the Water's Edge AND Ghost of Thornton Hall! And it's #1 in Cooking games!? No way!!! Also, where did you put your own vote for each category (except for the last one), Caitlyn?
Right?! They're absurd! My votes are as follows, not in any particular order! Best Scary: GTH, SAW, DOG, MHM, HAU. Best Classics: FIN, TRT, MHM, DOG, DDI. Best Educational: SSH, DED, TOT, DDI, TMB. Best for Beginners: CAR, MHM, TRT, FIN, DOG. Best for Puzzle Lovers: DED, HAU, ICE, CRY, SAW. Best Stories: TRN, SHA, WAC, GTH, FIN. Best Adventures: SEA, SHA, TRN, CUR, DDI. Best Overall: WAC, DOG, FIN, GTH, SEA.
Always a lovely way to start my Wednesday mornings. This is such a unique ranking/analysis video! Love it! The entire website has really lost any of its charm and has just become one big marketing ploy... such a disappointment! Also I am laughing MID is scary??? I’ve never laughed at any of the jump scares before that game... it was so ridiculous
To begin with I didn’t understand why MID got so much hate, but at that stage I had only watched a walkthrough. So I got it for my mum and I to play because it was the only game in the series she never got to play... and now I get it. The amount of times the game itself didn’t make sense and my god the navigation made me rage. The game can go yeet itself off a cliff, messed with such a perfect formula it’s so sad. I had a lot of fun voting on this poll!
Maybe HeR outsourced their website's game rankings as well. That might explain why they are hilariously bad! 😂 All these fan rankings are so good! I am surprised DAN didn't make the puzzle lover's category, since I always thought that game was intentionally made to be puzzle heavy, but it was great to see so many classic games show up in multiple tiers.
The only place I agreed with HER and not you was that Secret of the Old Clock should be included in the best classic games instead of Ghost Dogs (or perhaps MHM). This is controversial, I know, but personally I found CLK more enjoyable as a classic than Ghost Dogs, even though they are both solid games.
I wish HER Interactive would watch this channel and wake up to the reality of their current situation: They have strayed far from their roots, but we care about them still and want them to be successful. The current path they are on is absolutely not what we want, but we’ve left plenty of clues and cookie crumbs for them to get them back on track!
I have to disagree with this ranking as well lol. Ghost Dogs is not scary! There's literally ONE appearance from them in the start of the game and it's Disney music and birdsong from then on. Both CRY and MID would have fit better on that list. I mean MID doesn't have much going on, but it is clearly supposed to be a scary game.
Fair enough! While I agree that MID is *supposed* to be scary, I personally don't think it deserves to be on the list if it doesn't actually succeed. Otherwise that's the same argument for DOG! But I do agree that CRY has some good scare factor!
@@WizardKittenYT Agreed. I’d personally put CRY over DOG. Both games are fantastic, but I was creeped out WAY more by CRY than DOG. Lol But I’m glad you brought up honorable mentions for these lists so that even if there was something we didn’t agree with in the Top 5, at least there’s an alternative that came super close. ^-^
Do you think you'd be able to share the data in full? Like how many votes each game got for each category? I understand if it isn't possible, I'm just interested. :)
I actually disagree so much with your general thesis that MID shouldn't be on those lists! I get that most of the fandom disliked MID but like.... what is Her Interactive supposed to do, say "hey everyone our game sucked and nobody should buy it!" like.... literally it's their job to try to sell copies of it. I honestly think that the slots on those top 5 lists that Her put it on are completely fine. Like compared to the crowdsourced top 5 scary games list, DOG has one scary scene at the beginning but the majority of the game is very bright and cheery whereas MID has several jump scares, a fairly intense ending, and overall a very spooky aesthetic. It makes complete sense for it to be on the scary games list. And comparing the two educational games lists, I genuinely think MID was more educational than TRT. MID has a museum, you go on a walking tour, and most of the Salem history seems fairly accurate. Whereas the basis of the entire plot of TRT is just a completely fictional version of history and then they throw in some random facts about French history. 🤷♀️ I get that MID was a hot mess but I'm just trying to think about this objectively here. Her's lists for best classic game and best game for first time players are much more egregiously bad than the inclusion of MID on lists where it actually does fit thematically.
To each their own for sure, I get that! And at least this time, it's not just me making the thesis re: MID since this video was only possible through 645 fandom votes.
I don’t disagree with your argument, but I think the major problem is MID is probably not worth marketing to new customers. I don’t think anybody who tried the ND franchise for the first time with MID would come back for more. And there’s 32 other games they want to rope newcomers into. It’s a terrible representation of their legacy. They just really screwed themselves in a hundred ways with MID.
I don't deny that Ghost Dogs and Treasure in the Royal Tower aren't the best games for their respective lists. That said, when it comes to scary games, picking a 5th game to go on that list is difficult to determine. Scariness is both subjective and used sparingly in most of the remaining games. However, I wouldn't say MID is any scarier than other ND games that it deserves to be on that list (I'll get to why in a minute). Meanwhile, Royal Tower's historical focus is about the normal affair for ND games. I disagree that just because its fictional history that automatically makes it a poor choice because Historical Fiction is a genre in literature. It isn't the best pick for educational material but it does a much better job at it than MID because no where in the game does it state that the game's events happened in real-life and this was before the time when developers really got into the fictional warning label when people didn't realize that the games weren't telling us any real facts. MID, on the other hand, does something that any good game discussing historical facts and more importantly theories should never do while also ignoring the fictional game warning. MID's scariness to put it bluntly is either going to work or not work. It's very hit or miss for very specific reasons. One its very choreographic meaning if you pay attention to the signs you know its coming. Prior games were scary without indicating to players things would happen. Generally, it was RANDOM not obvious. If you know the scare is coming (and there's only a few of them), then the impact is almost always gone. The second major issue though is much worse. This isn't ND scares. Nancy does not believe in ghosts even when Charlotte (the most real ghost Nancy ever meets) is around Nancy only vaguely questions it but she still insists there's a rational explanation. Here she's like oh no I saw this ghost one time let me run and get completely shaken over it because it might be real. Nancy's reaction to this ghost is very uncharacteristic. Meanwhile, the scene of Nancy waking up to blood is more out of a horror game than ND ever goes. It just doesn't match our expectations and for newcomers to the series this can be a turn-off. If I'm into hyper horror, I would be excited and then disappointed to see that this is the closest the series ever gets. Likewise, someone who isn't a horror fan might freak out and assume this is a horror series and not pick up another game. Both sides of the spectrum get lost because of this poor horror aesthetic they used that simply doesn't match with the series. As for the ending, it might be intense but that comes more from the music and the shaking than anything else. The characters don't move or react much. Meanwhile, everything is getting wrapped up all at once and there's too much to really focus on anything. It also goes into this random puzzle heavy segment to find a will which literally makes no sense according to the in-game plot and baffles me as to why they included it. Then, the actual ending of the game much like the rest of it is just a really long drawn out conversation that tends to bore rather than intrigue the player especially since this game tries (and miserably fails) to apply real-world logic and law to the game. As for its historical aspect, MID is terrible at this process. Simply put, the ergot theory behind the Salem Witch Trials is just that a THEORY. It should not be treated as a legit real explanation for the story. The implication that a fungus caused mass hysteria and death implies that the Trials were born out of ignorance not intolerance. This changes the entire meaning of the trials and doesn't line up with Nancy's arguments at the end of the game. She calls out the judge for JUDGING Mei and letting his intolerance and inability to emphasize or talk with her as his problem. Not that he was ignorant that she was a victim of an accident or that he failed to investigate the mystery fully. By making the fungus actually a plot point in the game, they're implying unintentionally that the Salem Witch Trials was an accident that was caused by getting sick on mushrooms and being ignorant of its effects. Therefore, you can't blame the Puritans for their actions because it wasn't completely their fault. Their actions were based purely on getting high and seeing illusions and acting irrationally out of fear. It wasn't intolerance or a fear of the other just ergot induced hallucinations. Now remember I just pointed out earlier that this is a theory and theories should never be treated as fact. You can propose this as a rational solution but you can't act like it is the actual solution. that's how good games tell history they establish from the get-go that it is either a FACT or THEORY and that those aren't the same thing. Look at the ending of Thorton Hall for a example of this done right as they even use this wording in Nancy's explanation. As for other components of history, the books are poorly written and surface level information. They hold no significance to the plot and don't add anything. Meanwhile, that walking tour is 100% completely a waste of time. It could literally be cut out of the game and it would change NOTHING (likewise the information is so bare bones you can tell it's just a tourist thing rather than anything historically useful). But the worst sin is probably how they treat the law. Yes, this game is so bad it doesn't even teach kids current US law properly and ignores it in favor of half written nonsense laws. It took a Google search onto the MA government website to learn current MA inheritance law. Know what it says? Essentially, ANY child whether ADOPTED or NATURAL automatically INHERITS their parent's estate upon death. And guess what it says in game? That Lauren Holt was ADOPTED BY FRANCIS TUTTLE. That means this entire Will nonsense is pointless drivel because she is the HEIR to the Hawthorne estate. This entire plot is completely and utterly devoid of any logic or real-life legal sense. You might argue that the estate has some old law that overrides current law and you might be right EXCEPT THE GAME DOESN'T TELL US THIS. Instead, if I lived in MA and was 10 years old and adopted, I would freak out because this indicates that my parents need to make a will for me to be a legal heir. This game is actually teaching kids that if they're adopted they need their parents to make wills to inherit when that isn't even the law. This game also ignores laws about criminal investigation and legal prosecution for stealing evidence. Nancy would actually get arrested in this game for breaking and entering even if it was for a good reason. While it did provide legal evidence, she's still held responsible for any crimes she made to get there. Judges, meanwhile, are JUDGES. They're not criminal investigators. They just examine legal evidence and make a decision based on what's uncovered. However, this game implies Judge Danforth is also somehow a criminal investigator since he's clearly involved directly in these cases which is a violation of impartiality and thus should strip him of any decisions in the matter automatically. This is an issue of the game mishandling teaching kids current history and law as well which is way worse than a historical fiction story could ever do. Kids need to understand how the law works precisely so that they don't get blinded by loop-holes or miscommunication. MID's mishandling of this aspect is baffling bad (and I didn't even get to the part about the frustrating stupidity of the arsonist culprit almost ruining Mel's entire career and life FOREVER).
Yes, Her should to some extend promote Midnight in Salem but using these lists is a stupid way to do that. If I see the same game on every single list, this implies that it must be a good one. MID is on half of their lists and either in the 1st or 2nd stop of every single one it does show up on. That implies its one of the best ND games they have. However, if you go into expecting good cooking challenges, you'll find it has 1 semi-realistic cooking challenge. If you go in for scares, it will unintentionally color your expectations for the rest of the series. And if you go in expecting to learn about history, you will learn history that is poorly done, inaccurately portrayed, and does little to teach kids about current legal laws correctly (keep in mind this is the game that MOST focuses on this aspect so it gets judged harsher because now we have real expectations that it will do this justice). Plus, this is not the way to promote a game. You want people to play this series you should focus on the best of the best. The first game is the most important because its the one that will push the player to buy another game. MID might be their most expensive game but if you add up any 2 games from 21-32, it will always earn more money that MID alone. Heck, any one game from 21-32 + any game in general, earns you more money that just MID. These lists should be focused on promoting the series which will get them the most long-term income rather than MID. If you want to promote MID, then you promote it as its own thing and show what's available that might appeal to new players. It shouldn't be dumped with the other games onto a hastily and poorly designed list that doesn't objectively reflect the series. Most people will point to Thorton Hall or Water's Edge as the scariest game. White Wolf is probably the best cooking game because its the only one with lots of cooking. And I learned more history that was more accurate and better written in most other games (even Medallion) than MID which has a poor understanding of how to tell a historically based mystery beyond a rather poorly pasted together story from a writer who clearly hated the original premise of this game and wanted to avoid it like the plague. Overall, it just shows how HER is more interested in promoting this one game than its own series. It almost implies that Penny thinks the older games are baggage that she needs to dump so people will appreciate 'her' game rather than trying to sell a franchise to a new audience. In the end, I just find their attempts sad because almost any other company would do a better job at this at this point.
i mean i do like shadow rantch but i wouldnt say it has the best story. hell atleast waverly accadamy had the hole twins twist that was pritty interesting. id still say shadow rantch is one of my favorate in the series but deffently not in the top 5 storys and certenly not number 1. however i would have it on my top 5 games in genral
What I'd like to say to HeR Interactive for putting MID on all the lists. "She doesn't even go here!!"
LOL, yes!!!
I’m heartbroken that The Final Scene didn’t make any of the lists. Obviously it wasn’t going to win for it’s puzzles or for being educational, but the scare factor of the 3 day clock and a tightly woven plot with easily one of the best endings in the franchise should have counted for something
I totally agree! It was so close to making the Best Classics and Best Stories lists and I was disappointed it missed out too 😓
I totally agree! This game in my opinion is one of the best classics & had one of the best plots. As well as Lani's absolute best voice acting as Nancy. The emotion really comes across so well.
I think if there was a list of best Nancy’s, the Final Scene would be number one. Her dialogue in that one made her more assertive and funny and captured her perfectly as the protagonist. Love her character and the writing in that one which is important seeing how it’s so conversation heavy. And it’s an awesome game all around as you pointed out. 😀
What about Danger By Design?
@@pendragonxt3674 I thought minette was so mean! Couldn't deal with her
Always laughed how many times they try to add Midnight in Salem into the categories 🙄
Right?! It's soooooo obvious what they're doing 🙄
I still can't believe how terrible MID looks. I wish they'd just go back to what was working before, but judging by what their website says-that MID and all future games will be supported on Mac while old games won't-it's looking more and more unlikely. Oh, HER...I miss what you were.
I miss what they were too 😥
I think all of super fans deeply miss the old Her interactive.😔
To be fair Midnight in Salem is pretty scary when you think about how bad it is compared to the other games….
I normally don’t comment ever, but seriously, this channel deserves more love. Also, I’ve been waiting for another analysis video (I can’t believe I already watched all of them!). Thank you so much for your hard work. 💕
Thank you so much for that!! It means so much to hear!
Seriously thank you for commenting! I couldn’t agree more! The passion and commitment, thought and effort Caitlyn puts into to each video is so remarkable! Crowdsourcing and sorting through data of 645 surveys is a ton of work!
the haunted carousel was my first game and then it led me right into danger on deception island, which is still my favorite game! these two were PERFECT introductions to the series
For sure, those would both be such great first games!
I was half expecting Her Interactive to put MID in a classic game list lmao
I wouldn't put it past them 😂
What’s scary is how HER kept us in the dark for almost 5 years and all we got was MID 😱
It makes me happy knowing how many other fellow detectives love the plots for Secret of Shadow Ranch and Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon 🥰 Storytelling at its finest!
Totally agree! TRN and SHA are masterpieces for sure!
Maybe I’m a minority opinion, but what I see in HER Interactive wanting market Midnight in Salem is more a cry for help from a video game company that has been floundering for almost a decade. I definitely want more Nancy Drew games, so it doesn’t really bother me. It kind of makes me want to root more for them because they’re trying so hard. And I liked Midnight in Salem. I don’t think it deserves the huge backlash it got either.
Fair enough! I would feel the same I think if the company hadn't burned so many bridges with its fan base, but I totally get wanting to keep hoping!
Shadow Ranch was one of the first Nancy Drew games I played. I started by reading the blue and yellow books then got hooked on the games. My 10 year old self got so mad at Shorty for veggie picking 🤣
Shorty is so picky!! 😅
Can you rate the best Nancy Drew games that have the most exploration? Im always trying to find games with multiple locations and lots to explore. Love your videos! So underrated ❤
Ooh stay tuned!! That is such a great video topic! I could definitely do that!
This is AMAZING!!!! As a qualitative researcher, I am impressed by the effort and care you took in compiling and reporting this data for these beloved games! Thank you for putting this together!
Great analysis video as always! I took it way too personally when I saw that Midnight in Salem was on the best educational list. My favorite part of the games is learning all new information, which like you said sticks in my brain because the game makes you apply that knowledge. While I have a long list of problems with Midnight in Salem, I was incredibly disappointed with the lack of knowledge about Salem provided. Why would they make a museum when we can't learn anything from it?!? It's very interesting to hear what the community says, so I hope you keep doing surveys like this!
I 1000% agree! Probably my biggest grievance with MID is how ANTI educational it is and to put it on a list of the best is insulting 😓
Wish Danger by Design got more love ❤️ love that one. Maybe you could do lists for best atmosphere or best use of music? Crystal Skull has a terrific use of atmosphere and Castle Malloy’s music is beautiful.
I love all those games too and they definitely have their positives!
I’m so happy that Treasure in the royal tower made the top spot in the 5 best classic Nancy Drew games category
Love that game and the late night chats with the Professor. It’s fun being trapped in during a snow storm investigating the large mansion/tower and learning about Marie Antoinette. ♥️
It is truly a fantastic classic and on its own a marvelous game!!
HeR literally just keep shoving MID to our faces everytime.
Right?! It's a little absurd, lol!
"Valuable pieces of art require meticulous caretakers" 😭 PREACH 🙌 this video was fantastic!!!
Aw yay!! So glad you liked it!!
Eek! First!
Edit: Oh my goodness!!! What a phenomenal analysis video!!! Soooo good! I love the crowd sourcing and that SO MANY DETECTIVES gave their thoughts- INCREDIBLE!!! Also, HER’s marketing team will never rival the true passion and commit you demonstrate in this video! Your summaries and descriptions were EPIC and made me fall in love with games I already adore all over again! Your words were just oozing with the captivating qualities of these games and made me yearn for the nostalgia of what HER used to be!!! Thank you so very much!!
Yay!! 🎉
Thank you so much for your kindness!!! That seriously meant so much to me!
It makes me sad that the Captive Curse is almost never mentioned in these videos! Not a top game, but it is solid!
I totally get it! It is a really fun game!
This is amazing!! Excellent work as always! ^-^
So glad you liked it!!
I lived voting for this video and seeing the results! Thank you for putting together the survey and publishing this video!! You did a great job!!
Thanks so much for voting! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!!
I just looked at their website, and I can't believe that HER Interactive thinks Midnight in Salem is scarier than Shadow at the Water's Edge AND Ghost of Thornton Hall! And it's #1 in Cooking games!? No way!!!
Also, where did you put your own vote for each category (except for the last one), Caitlyn?
Right?! They're absurd! My votes are as follows, not in any particular order! Best Scary: GTH, SAW, DOG, MHM, HAU. Best Classics: FIN, TRT, MHM, DOG, DDI. Best Educational: SSH, DED, TOT, DDI, TMB. Best for Beginners: CAR, MHM, TRT, FIN, DOG. Best for Puzzle Lovers: DED, HAU, ICE, CRY, SAW. Best Stories: TRN, SHA, WAC, GTH, FIN. Best Adventures: SEA, SHA, TRN, CUR, DDI. Best Overall: WAC, DOG, FIN, GTH, SEA.
I’m one of those who voted for MID as the top 5 scariest😆
LOL, I get it! To each their scary own!
Always a lovely way to start my Wednesday mornings. This is such a unique ranking/analysis video! Love it! The entire website has really lost any of its charm and has just become one big marketing ploy... such a disappointment! Also I am laughing MID is scary??? I’ve never laughed at any of the jump scares before that game... it was so ridiculous
So glad you enjoyed the video!! And yes, one big, marketing ploy for sure 😓
To begin with I didn’t understand why MID got so much hate, but at that stage I had only watched a walkthrough. So I got it for my mum and I to play because it was the only game in the series she never got to play... and now I get it. The amount of times the game itself didn’t make sense and my god the navigation made me rage. The game can go yeet itself off a cliff, messed with such a perfect formula it’s so sad.
I had a lot of fun voting on this poll!
So glad you enjoyed participating!! And yes, a tremendous disappointment of a game, sadly :(
@@WizardKittenYT like I remember watching the trailer and it’s not even the same story line haha her interactive need to get there crap together
Is there any way you do a video on the bottom 5 for each category? I know MID would be in all of them :) but i would still love it.
Oooohhhh. You know, that is possible!
@@WizardKittenYT YAY! I'll be looking forward to that possibility :)
Awesome video!! I loved filling out your survey. :)
Yay!! I'm so glad!
Ghost dogs of moon lake was my first Nancy Drew game!
Aw yay! It was my second!
So, we should send this to HeR and tell them to update their top 5 lists? The sleuths have spoken!
Ha! I personally think so! Doubt they'd be receptive, but it sure would be nice!! XD
Okay I'm just going to say it Midnight in Salem looks worse then the 90s and early 00s games.
I 1000% agree!! 👏👏
@@WizardKittenYT I wish they would go back to the old engine and write good mysteries.
Right? They need a re-release. Would totally buy more games if they improved! Love Nancy Drew.
Maybe HeR outsourced their website's game rankings as well. That might explain why they are hilariously bad! 😂
All these fan rankings are so good! I am surprised DAN didn't make the puzzle lover's category, since I always thought that game was intentionally made to be puzzle heavy, but it was great to see so many classic games show up in multiple tiers.
OMG, the outsourcing never ends!!! LOL 😂
The only place I agreed with HER and not you was that Secret of the Old Clock should be included in the best classic games instead of Ghost Dogs (or perhaps MHM). This is controversial, I know, but personally I found CLK more enjoyable as a classic than Ghost Dogs, even though they are both solid games.
I think CLK is a fair classic!
Same. I actually don't like Ghost Dogs
I wish HER Interactive would watch this channel and wake up to the reality of their current situation: They have strayed far from their roots, but we care about them still and want them to be successful. The current path they are on is absolutely not what we want, but we’ve left plenty of clues and cookie crumbs for them to get them back on track!
Agreed!!
I have to disagree with this ranking as well lol. Ghost Dogs is not scary! There's literally ONE appearance from them in the start of the game and it's Disney music and birdsong from then on. Both CRY and MID would have fit better on that list. I mean MID doesn't have much going on, but it is clearly supposed to be a scary game.
Fair enough! While I agree that MID is *supposed* to be scary, I personally don't think it deserves to be on the list if it doesn't actually succeed. Otherwise that's the same argument for DOG! But I do agree that CRY has some good scare factor!
@@WizardKittenYT Agreed. I’d personally put CRY over DOG. Both games are fantastic, but I was creeped out WAY more by CRY than DOG. Lol But I’m glad you brought up honorable mentions for these lists so that even if there was something we didn’t agree with in the Top 5, at least there’s an alternative that came super close. ^-^
Do you think you'd be able to share the data in full? Like how many votes each game got for each category? I understand if it isn't possible, I'm just interested. :)
I am willing to share it with people on an individual basis! Are you in the Discord? If so, you can DM me and I'll share the link with you!
@@WizardKittenYT I messaged you!
scariest nancy drew games?
Stay tuned for danger
Captive curse
Shadow at the waters edge
I actually disagree so much with your general thesis that MID shouldn't be on those lists! I get that most of the fandom disliked MID but like.... what is Her Interactive supposed to do, say "hey everyone our game sucked and nobody should buy it!" like.... literally it's their job to try to sell copies of it.
I honestly think that the slots on those top 5 lists that Her put it on are completely fine. Like compared to the crowdsourced top 5 scary games list, DOG has one scary scene at the beginning but the majority of the game is very bright and cheery whereas MID has several jump scares, a fairly intense ending, and overall a very spooky aesthetic. It makes complete sense for it to be on the scary games list.
And comparing the two educational games lists, I genuinely think MID was more educational than TRT. MID has a museum, you go on a walking tour, and most of the Salem history seems fairly accurate. Whereas the basis of the entire plot of TRT is just a completely fictional version of history and then they throw in some random facts about French history.
🤷♀️ I get that MID was a hot mess but I'm just trying to think about this objectively here. Her's lists for best classic game and best game for first time players are much more egregiously bad than the inclusion of MID on lists where it actually does fit thematically.
To each their own for sure, I get that! And at least this time, it's not just me making the thesis re: MID since this video was only possible through 645 fandom votes.
I don’t disagree with your argument, but I think the major problem is MID is probably not worth marketing to new customers. I don’t think anybody who tried the ND franchise for the first time with MID would come back for more. And there’s 32 other games they want to rope newcomers into. It’s a terrible representation of their legacy. They just really screwed themselves in a hundred ways with MID.
I don't deny that Ghost Dogs and Treasure in the Royal Tower aren't the best games for their respective lists. That said, when it comes to scary games, picking a 5th game to go on that list is difficult to determine. Scariness is both subjective and used sparingly in most of the remaining games. However, I wouldn't say MID is any scarier than other ND games that it deserves to be on that list (I'll get to why in a minute). Meanwhile, Royal Tower's historical focus is about the normal affair for ND games. I disagree that just because its fictional history that automatically makes it a poor choice because Historical Fiction is a genre in literature. It isn't the best pick for educational material but it does a much better job at it than MID because no where in the game does it state that the game's events happened in real-life and this was before the time when developers really got into the fictional warning label when people didn't realize that the games weren't telling us any real facts. MID, on the other hand, does something that any good game discussing historical facts and more importantly theories should never do while also ignoring the fictional game warning.
MID's scariness to put it bluntly is either going to work or not work. It's very hit or miss for very specific reasons. One its very choreographic meaning if you pay attention to the signs you know its coming. Prior games were scary without indicating to players things would happen. Generally, it was RANDOM not obvious. If you know the scare is coming (and there's only a few of them), then the impact is almost always gone. The second major issue though is much worse. This isn't ND scares. Nancy does not believe in ghosts even when Charlotte (the most real ghost Nancy ever meets) is around Nancy only vaguely questions it but she still insists there's a rational explanation. Here she's like oh no I saw this ghost one time let me run and get completely shaken over it because it might be real. Nancy's reaction to this ghost is very uncharacteristic. Meanwhile, the scene of Nancy waking up to blood is more out of a horror game than ND ever goes. It just doesn't match our expectations and for newcomers to the series this can be a turn-off. If I'm into hyper horror, I would be excited and then disappointed to see that this is the closest the series ever gets. Likewise, someone who isn't a horror fan might freak out and assume this is a horror series and not pick up another game. Both sides of the spectrum get lost because of this poor horror aesthetic they used that simply doesn't match with the series. As for the ending, it might be intense but that comes more from the music and the shaking than anything else. The characters don't move or react much. Meanwhile, everything is getting wrapped up all at once and there's too much to really focus on anything. It also goes into this random puzzle heavy segment to find a will which literally makes no sense according to the in-game plot and baffles me as to why they included it. Then, the actual ending of the game much like the rest of it is just a really long drawn out conversation that tends to bore rather than intrigue the player especially since this game tries (and miserably fails) to apply real-world logic and law to the game.
As for its historical aspect, MID is terrible at this process. Simply put, the ergot theory behind the Salem Witch Trials is just that a THEORY. It should not be treated as a legit real explanation for the story. The implication that a fungus caused mass hysteria and death implies that the Trials were born out of ignorance not intolerance. This changes the entire meaning of the trials and doesn't line up with Nancy's arguments at the end of the game. She calls out the judge for JUDGING Mei and letting his intolerance and inability to emphasize or talk with her as his problem. Not that he was ignorant that she was a victim of an accident or that he failed to investigate the mystery fully. By making the fungus actually a plot point in the game, they're implying unintentionally that the Salem Witch Trials was an accident that was caused by getting sick on mushrooms and being ignorant of its effects. Therefore, you can't blame the Puritans for their actions because it wasn't completely their fault. Their actions were based purely on getting high and seeing illusions and acting irrationally out of fear. It wasn't intolerance or a fear of the other just ergot induced hallucinations. Now remember I just pointed out earlier that this is a theory and theories should never be treated as fact. You can propose this as a rational solution but you can't act like it is the actual solution. that's how good games tell history they establish from the get-go that it is either a FACT or THEORY and that those aren't the same thing. Look at the ending of Thorton Hall for a example of this done right as they even use this wording in Nancy's explanation. As for other components of history, the books are poorly written and surface level information. They hold no significance to the plot and don't add anything. Meanwhile, that walking tour is 100% completely a waste of time. It could literally be cut out of the game and it would change NOTHING (likewise the information is so bare bones you can tell it's just a tourist thing rather than anything historically useful). But the worst sin is probably how they treat the law. Yes, this game is so bad it doesn't even teach kids current US law properly and ignores it in favor of half written nonsense laws. It took a Google search onto the MA government website to learn current MA inheritance law. Know what it says? Essentially, ANY child whether ADOPTED or NATURAL automatically INHERITS their parent's estate upon death. And guess what it says in game? That Lauren Holt was ADOPTED BY FRANCIS TUTTLE. That means this entire Will nonsense is pointless drivel because she is the HEIR to the Hawthorne estate. This entire plot is completely and utterly devoid of any logic or real-life legal sense. You might argue that the estate has some old law that overrides current law and you might be right EXCEPT THE GAME DOESN'T TELL US THIS. Instead, if I lived in MA and was 10 years old and adopted, I would freak out because this indicates that my parents need to make a will for me to be a legal heir. This game is actually teaching kids that if they're adopted they need their parents to make wills to inherit when that isn't even the law. This game also ignores laws about criminal investigation and legal prosecution for stealing evidence. Nancy would actually get arrested in this game for breaking and entering even if it was for a good reason. While it did provide legal evidence, she's still held responsible for any crimes she made to get there. Judges, meanwhile, are JUDGES. They're not criminal investigators. They just examine legal evidence and make a decision based on what's uncovered. However, this game implies Judge Danforth is also somehow a criminal investigator since he's clearly involved directly in these cases which is a violation of impartiality and thus should strip him of any decisions in the matter automatically. This is an issue of the game mishandling teaching kids current history and law as well which is way worse than a historical fiction story could ever do. Kids need to understand how the law works precisely so that they don't get blinded by loop-holes or miscommunication. MID's mishandling of this aspect is baffling bad (and I didn't even get to the part about the frustrating stupidity of the arsonist culprit almost ruining Mel's entire career and life FOREVER).
Yes, Her should to some extend promote Midnight in Salem but using these lists is a stupid way to do that. If I see the same game on every single list, this implies that it must be a good one. MID is on half of their lists and either in the 1st or 2nd stop of every single one it does show up on. That implies its one of the best ND games they have. However, if you go into expecting good cooking challenges, you'll find it has 1 semi-realistic cooking challenge. If you go in for scares, it will unintentionally color your expectations for the rest of the series. And if you go in expecting to learn about history, you will learn history that is poorly done, inaccurately portrayed, and does little to teach kids about current legal laws correctly (keep in mind this is the game that MOST focuses on this aspect so it gets judged harsher because now we have real expectations that it will do this justice). Plus, this is not the way to promote a game. You want people to play this series you should focus on the best of the best. The first game is the most important because its the one that will push the player to buy another game. MID might be their most expensive game but if you add up any 2 games from 21-32, it will always earn more money that MID alone. Heck, any one game from 21-32 + any game in general, earns you more money that just MID. These lists should be focused on promoting the series which will get them the most long-term income rather than MID. If you want to promote MID, then you promote it as its own thing and show what's available that might appeal to new players. It shouldn't be dumped with the other games onto a hastily and poorly designed list that doesn't objectively reflect the series. Most people will point to Thorton Hall or Water's Edge as the scariest game. White Wolf is probably the best cooking game because its the only one with lots of cooking. And I learned more history that was more accurate and better written in most other games (even Medallion) than MID which has a poor understanding of how to tell a historically based mystery beyond a rather poorly pasted together story from a writer who clearly hated the original premise of this game and wanted to avoid it like the plague. Overall, it just shows how HER is more interested in promoting this one game than its own series. It almost implies that Penny thinks the older games are baggage that she needs to dump so people will appreciate 'her' game rather than trying to sell a franchise to a new audience. In the end, I just find their attempts sad because almost any other company would do a better job at this at this point.
@@fridaylambda3494 I read this whole thing and I all I can say is: VERY WELL SAID. *applause*
This top 5 overall is MHM erasure 😂
I agree!!! LOL!
i mean i do like shadow rantch but i wouldnt say it has the best story. hell atleast waverly accadamy had the hole twins twist that was pritty interesting. id still say shadow rantch is one of my favorate in the series but deffently not in the top 5 storys and certenly not number 1. however i would have it on my top 5 games in genral
well done