I've never really looked at the ND games as historical fiction, but after you defined the genre that made total sense. I always enjoy when the games include real-life people, like Houdini or Poe, and I have to start asking myself which parts of their lives are factual and which parts are made up for the game. Those types of plots are always super memorable.
Loved this idea!! I too am a sucker for a historical mystery (If you have any book recommendations I'm all ears). I think some of my favorite characters in these games have been the historical characters like Camille and Jake Hurley. I love looking at the items left behind and trying to picture what they were like (and usually end up trying to determine what their myers briggs types were!). One characters that I thought of that wasn't included was Trapper Dan from white wolf of icicle creek! I can't remember when he was supposed to have been around so maybe he was too recent to be considered. He seemed like such an oddball but someone who probably had some very interesting stories haha
My favorite historical fiction authors are Kate Morton, Elizabeth Gilbert, and Laurie R King! Highly recommend them all!! And yes, I thought about including Trapper Dan but I sort of felt like he was too peripheral when it came to the main mystery...like Julius McQuade played more a role if that makes sense??
@@WizardKittenYT thank you for the recommendations!! And yes I totally see your perspective on trapper Dan, he is a bit more of a background character.
Your analysis videos are always so thoroughly thought out and well presented; they’re some of my favorite videos on RUclips! I think my favorite part of Shadow Ranch is the voice acting for Dirk, Frances, and Meryl. For hearing players, it gives us an added layer of emotional connection. I remember how heavy I felt reading the last few pages of Meryl’s diary. I wish something similar to this had been used in other games.
Love this video. I would definitely agree with SHA being first. I have to disagree about SSH being last, though. It was Pacal who locked the Whisperer up in the monolith and scattered the pieces to open it around the world, and the Whisperer's writings are what the culprit is after. So I'd say he's pretty heavily involved in the mystery.
A solid point! My reasoning is that, like Nefertari, he pretty definitively didn't want his mystery solved. It just happened to be. And we learn more general information about him overall! But I totally get your argument!
Haha--for the DAN part, when you meant to say "Hans Von Schwesterkrank," you accidentally said "Hans Mittelmeier" from CAP! 😁 Also, I loved this! It actually is veryyyy similar to a video I think I once suggested in a comment for you that was like "the best dead characters from the ND games," with these parameters actually being very similar to ones that I was thinking of! My only wish is that at some point you do make one like that and consider ANY dead character because a lot of the BEST dead characters from games weren't eligible for this video because they died too recently--Josiah Crowley, Bruno Bolet, etc.!!!
I do really love the idea of exploring some of the modern day dead characters too! It could be kind of a fascinating follow up to this video! Also Hans Mittelmeier, WOOPS! LOL!
This was great! I really enjoy your detailed analyses!! I would argue that White Wolf of Icicle Creek could be included as historical fiction since we do get the story of Trapper Dan and his presence is throughout the setting-the details in the lodge bedrooms/hall, the shack, Trapper Dan’s Needle, his journal, etc. The game wouldn’t rank very high on the list in terms of Trapper Dan’s connection to the modern day mystery and his importance, but I’d say his presence is felt. :)
Yeah, I think that's a totally fair argument! Looking back, I think I decided not to include it because Julius McQuade felt more like the historical figure that we were following and he was a modern day character. Though I think Trapper Dan is definitely still there enough that he could be added to the list! Thanks for the comment, I'm so glad you liked the video!
Wow what a treat! You didn't just do a top 5 or 10 you did all of them! And I totally called number one from the beginning. Historical fiction is my go to reading as well and I agree with you that its a likely reason my favourite games from the series fall into the genre. It's interesting how they stopped doing that style and then when they did go back in Sea of Darkness is did really well. (Also you could say that there is another unmentionably ND that counts as historical fiction but it doesn't deserve to be in this group).
I knew what the top two were before watching the video but wasn’t sure which would claim the number one spot. Sheer perfection ❤️ I’d personally love more historical fiction games 😊
Ooh okay!! So the most recent one I read was The Widow of Pale Harbor by Hester Fox! Very solid! My favorite ones of all time are written by Kate Morton: The House at Riverton, The Distant Hours, The Secret Keeper, The Forgotten Garden, The Lake House, and The Clockmaker's Daughter! Also less gothic but still incredible historical fiction, The Signature of All Things and City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert!
@@WizardKittenYT wonderful! Thank you so much! Love you videos, by the way. I never have anyone in real life to talk to about the Nancy Drew games (except my very patient boyfriend) so I appreciate people like you so much
I enjoy historical fiction, but I consider it as something of a guilty pleasure here, just because it's rarely believable as something that could happen. Let's take the two best ones. Shadow Ranch: Story is fine, but just not believable is that a puzzle could be set up, and all the pieces still be accessible a century later. Sherlock Holmes dealt with problems like this in The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual, when a tree that was one of the markers in the puzzle had been cut down years ago, and they had to track down where it had stood and how tall it had been. (By the way, where do you go to steal solid gold hearts? I'm afraid to ask at the bank.) Blue Moon Canyon: Has the same problem, only worse. The puzzle is not only a century old, but key pieces of it have been scattered over a wide area. No problem, it's easy to collect them again. Interesting? Yeah. Believable? No. Treasure in the Royal Tower has the problem that the entire tower was taken apart piece by piece, and then reassembled elsewhere without the book being found.
I considered the main mystery (the kidnapping of Jessalyn) and the main ghost (Charlotte) to be too modern to truly be historical fiction. I know what you mean though!
For historical fiction, anything by Kate Morton is PERFECTION. I also highly recommend Elizabeth Gilbert, especially The Signature of All Things and City of Girls. There's also a Sherlock Holmes spin off series that I adore that starts with the book The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King.
@@WizardKittenYT ooooo! thank you so much! I will look into these. I am always searching for a good book to dig into and I totally trust that our styles in reading would be similar!
The story of Eleanor Penvelyn will never not be spooky, it's so perfect
I've never really looked at the ND games as historical fiction, but after you defined the genre that made total sense. I always enjoy when the games include real-life people, like Houdini or Poe, and I have to start asking myself which parts of their lives are factual and which parts are made up for the game. Those types of plots are always super memorable.
Totally agree, some of my favorite plots hands down!
Loved this idea!! I too am a sucker for a historical mystery (If you have any book recommendations I'm all ears). I think some of my favorite characters in these games have been the historical characters like Camille and Jake Hurley. I love looking at the items left behind and trying to picture what they were like (and usually end up trying to determine what their myers briggs types were!). One characters that I thought of that wasn't included was Trapper Dan from white wolf of icicle creek! I can't remember when he was supposed to have been around so maybe he was too recent to be considered. He seemed like such an oddball but someone who probably had some very interesting stories haha
My favorite historical fiction authors are Kate Morton, Elizabeth Gilbert, and Laurie R King! Highly recommend them all!! And yes, I thought about including Trapper Dan but I sort of felt like he was too peripheral when it came to the main mystery...like Julius McQuade played more a role if that makes sense??
@@WizardKittenYT thank you for the recommendations!! And yes I totally see your perspective on trapper Dan, he is a bit more of a background character.
Your analysis videos are always so thoroughly thought out and well presented; they’re some of my favorite videos on RUclips!
I think my favorite part of Shadow Ranch is the voice acting for Dirk, Frances, and Meryl. For hearing players, it gives us an added layer of emotional connection. I remember how heavy I felt reading the last few pages of Meryl’s diary. I wish something similar to this had been used in other games.
Aww that means so much to hear, thank you! Totally agree about that emotional connection in SHA!
Loved the vid! Cut transitions between games are seemless and feel coherent and overall give amazing sense of moving through "historical" places.
Aw yay! So glad you liked it!
Love this video. I would definitely agree with SHA being first. I have to disagree about SSH being last, though. It was Pacal who locked the Whisperer up in the monolith and scattered the pieces to open it around the world, and the Whisperer's writings are what the culprit is after. So I'd say he's pretty heavily involved in the mystery.
A solid point! My reasoning is that, like Nefertari, he pretty definitively didn't want his mystery solved. It just happened to be. And we learn more general information about him overall! But I totally get your argument!
Haha--for the DAN part, when you meant to say "Hans Von Schwesterkrank," you accidentally said "Hans Mittelmeier" from CAP! 😁
Also, I loved this! It actually is veryyyy similar to a video I think I once suggested in a comment for you that was like "the best dead characters from the ND games," with these parameters actually being very similar to ones that I was thinking of! My only wish is that at some point you do make one like that and consider ANY dead character because a lot of the BEST dead characters from games weren't eligible for this video because they died too recently--Josiah Crowley, Bruno Bolet, etc.!!!
I do really love the idea of exploring some of the modern day dead characters too! It could be kind of a fascinating follow up to this video! Also Hans Mittelmeier, WOOPS! LOL!
I was needing some new Caitlyn content, thank you!
So glad you enjoyed it!
As soon as I saw the title, I instantly knew what number 1 would be ❤️ Thank you so much for yet another amazing analysis video, Caitlyn!
Haha, totally! Hard for it not to be! 😁
Yessss 😍 Wizard Kitten Wednesday is my favorite day of the week!
Awww yay!! 🤗
This was great! I really enjoy your detailed analyses!! I would argue that White Wolf of Icicle Creek could be included as historical fiction since we do get the story of Trapper Dan and his presence is throughout the setting-the details in the lodge bedrooms/hall, the shack, Trapper Dan’s Needle, his journal, etc. The game wouldn’t rank very high on the list in terms of Trapper Dan’s connection to the modern day mystery and his importance, but I’d say his presence is felt. :)
Yeah, I think that's a totally fair argument! Looking back, I think I decided not to include it because Julius McQuade felt more like the historical figure that we were following and he was a modern day character. Though I think Trapper Dan is definitely still there enough that he could be added to the list! Thanks for the comment, I'm so glad you liked the video!
@@WizardKittenYT Ah, that’s a good point! I may be mixing some of Trapper Dan and Julius McQuade’s stories together. Now I want to replay ICE! 😄
Yayyy so excited for this one. This is a great idea for a ranking!
Yay!! It was so fun to make!
Ooh this is a fun one! You always have really great video ideas!
So glad you liked it!!!
How could I have missed this video? I love historical mysteries!
Aw yay!!
Yesss more ranking and analysis videos! Love it
Yay!! I'm so glad!
Wow what a treat! You didn't just do a top 5 or 10 you did all of them! And I totally called number one from the beginning. Historical fiction is my go to reading as well and I agree with you that its a likely reason my favourite games from the series fall into the genre. It's interesting how they stopped doing that style and then when they did go back in Sea of Darkness is did really well. (Also you could say that there is another unmentionably ND that counts as historical fiction but it doesn't deserve to be in this group).
Yeah, I purposefully kept MID out because it did NOTHING worthwhile with the historical plotlines 😂😂
I knew what the top two were before watching the video but wasn’t sure which would claim the number one spot. Sheer perfection ❤️ I’d personally love more historical fiction games 😊
I would too!! They end up being so solid!!
I would looove to see your reading list. Historical mysteries, with a particular love of the gothic. Yes please!
Ooh okay!! So the most recent one I read was The Widow of Pale Harbor by Hester Fox! Very solid! My favorite ones of all time are written by Kate Morton: The House at Riverton, The Distant Hours, The Secret Keeper, The Forgotten Garden, The Lake House, and The Clockmaker's Daughter! Also less gothic but still incredible historical fiction, The Signature of All Things and City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert!
@@WizardKittenYT wonderful! Thank you so much! Love you videos, by the way. I never have anyone in real life to talk to about the Nancy Drew games (except my very patient boyfriend) so I appreciate people like you so much
@@cuylerhedlund557 Aww, thank you!! I know what you mean, it's so hard to find people who understand the joy of these games!!
Great video Caitlyn! Also I just realized that I’ve now been watching your videos for a year! Thanks for some awesome ND content
Aww!! Happy channel anniversary! So glad you're still enjoying the content a year later!
I enjoy historical fiction, but I consider it as something of a guilty pleasure here, just because it's rarely believable as something that could happen. Let's take the two best ones.
Shadow Ranch: Story is fine, but just not believable is that a puzzle could be set up, and all the pieces still be accessible a century later. Sherlock Holmes dealt with problems like this in The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual, when a tree that was one of the markers in the puzzle had been cut down years ago, and they had to track down where it had stood and how tall it had been. (By the way, where do you go to steal solid gold hearts? I'm afraid to ask at the bank.)
Blue Moon Canyon: Has the same problem, only worse. The puzzle is not only a century old, but key pieces of it have been scattered over a wide area. No problem, it's easy to collect them again. Interesting? Yeah. Believable? No.
Treasure in the Royal Tower has the problem that the entire tower was taken apart piece by piece, and then reassembled elsewhere without the book being found.
Right, there's definitely some suspension of reality required for sure!
Can you do a scariest/creepiest/spookiest list too ? 😀
Stay tuned! 😁
What about Thornton hall with Charlotte and all of the family members/factory workers? Most of the plot was around that
I considered the main mystery (the kidnapping of Jessalyn) and the main ghost (Charlotte) to be too modern to truly be historical fiction. I know what you mean though!
❤️ Love The Video!! ❤️
Thank you!!
What are some of your favorite books that you would recommend ?
For historical fiction, anything by Kate Morton is PERFECTION. I also highly recommend Elizabeth Gilbert, especially The Signature of All Things and City of Girls. There's also a Sherlock Holmes spin off series that I adore that starts with the book The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King.
@@WizardKittenYT ooooo! thank you so much! I will look into these. I am always searching for a good book to dig into and I totally trust that our styles in reading would be similar!
Secret of Shadow Ranch may not be my personal favorite game, but it is (in my opinion) the absolute best game in the series.
I know what you mean! Structurally it just has absolutely everything it needs!