Which Nancy Drew?

Hi All,

I have all the Nancy Drew games but I have only played Message in a Haunted Mansion. I haven't played any games for a while, so which one of the others would be a good one to start with?

Or should I start with The Omega Stone?

Thanks.

~Dee

Dee, you know I love those first person Mystie games, right? Well, hon, I hate to disappoint you but Omega Stone isn't very Rivenesque. Save that for when you don't have anything better to play. It's a tad slow. (YAWN)

As for Nancy,I'd get Royal Tower outta the way as it's the shortest/easiest IMO. Or start with the first one & work your way through. I haven't played Ghost Dogs yet but Laura's comments make me want to! Don't know anything about Haunted Carousel other than I want it. Glad to hear you're feeling up to playing. :kiss:

Love, Jen

Hi Dee,

I've got them all except Haunted Carousel which Amazon says is on it's way. I loved Ghost Dogs. Thought it was the best of the Nancy Drews.

Ghost Dogs is prpbably my favorite, with the Royal Tower close behind. I loved the setting of Royal Tower, with secret rooms, tunnels, passageways, etc. The only downside of Royal Tower was the dead-ends that occured if you didn't follow the right conversation trees, and people didn't show up where they were supposed to be. But with the help of a WT, I made it through OK.

Ghost Dogs is my favorite after MIAHM.

Why don't you play them in order of release?

Hi Dee

I can recommend Royal Tower - my favourite upto now - closely followed by Ghost Dogs

Cheers.

Mad

Royal Tower is definitely the best, but I'm with Jenny--you should play them in order!

Dawn

Thanks all.

Do I need to play them in order? I really enjoyed Haunted Mansion. Looks like most of you like Royal Tower. Any particular reason?

~Dee

Dee, I have several of the Nancy Drew games and I intend to play the best ones first. I just finished Haunted Mansion and liked it the best of any I played. Ghost Dogs was good too. I didn't think that Scarlet Hand was nearly as good. I have Treasure in the Royal Tower and Final Scene lined up to play next.

Hi Dee, you dont have to play them in order. I liked Ghost Dogs the best, and I enjoyed The Final Scene more than Royal Tower.But if the choice was either Scarlet Hand or Royal tower I'd take the Royal Tower. Scarlet Hand was too much note taking..

Yeah, playing Scarlet Hand was like being in school again! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Razz]" src="tongue.gif" />
Ann

Hi Dee

I played them in order - which is nice to see the changes and such. But I agree that it's not needed. I think Haunted Mansion, Royal Tower and Ghost Dogs are the best. Final Scene was probably the shortest - but good. If you play Stay Tuned - be sure and get the patch that extends the time for the finale puzzle.

Good to hear you're in a game playing mood Dee!

I would play the games in order myself. There's minor references backwards, the user interface improves. "Secrets Can Kill" is atypical (seem to remember I needed a patch for that for one puzzle to be doable.)

Best wishes, Peter.

looking for nancy drew haunted carousel if stores in Florida cant find why

Hmmm, I wouldn't care for that. That's what turned me off Adventure at the Chateau d'Or.

I'm not sure the older games will play on my XP. I'll have to check Inferno's Page. Looks like Royal Tower first, then Ghost Dogs. Thanks. Haunted Carousel any good? I love a game with the word "Haunted" in the title.

~Dee

watson...I haven't seen it in stores around here either. I ordered mine online.

Hi Dee,
Just for your info, I have played them all on XP. No problems at all.
Rusty

Thanks Rusty! I didn't think the older ones would play.

~Dee

I just checked my boxes and disks. I think I have the re-releases of the old ones. They put two games together in one box and released them like that. It lists XP under the system requirements. I'm not sure if the games were redone for XP or not. I tend to think that they probably weren't. Costs alot of money to re-code a game to run under another OS. So, on second thought, I don't know. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Confused]" src="confused.gif" />
Sorry,
Rusty

I just checked mine. I think I bought them in Walmart. They're in those boxes the size of a JC and they say XP on them. I think I'll still play Royal Tower first though since everyone likes it so well.

~Dee

Haunted Carousel is okay - not one of my favorites in the series but it's pretty easy and short. Loved Treasure in the Royal Tower, The Haunted Mansion, Ghost Dogs and The Scarlet Hand however

Great Syd, I'll make The Scarlet Hand 3rd. I remember we played Haunted Mansion about the same time.

~Dee

The Nancy Drew games don't need that much from DirectX or the operating system. It shouldn't be very difficult for Her Interactive to keep their game engine running on Microsoft's newer releases.

Must see whether I can play "Haunted Carousel" under Virtual PC one of these days.

I agree with Peter, the fact that they have frequent references to the past makes playing them in sequence desirable, but of course not necessary.

Another reason to keep them in sequence is the fact that they keep improving in one way or another. Also, the first, Secrets Can Kill, is far and away the longest ND game. It's jammed full of clues everywhere you look, a style that was probably deemed too expensive and too much work, and never used again.

If you play the late games first, and the early games afterward, you might find your self getting impatient or dissatisfied with the early ones. The early games were notorious for dead-ends. It's possible to do things in a sequence different from the designers' plans, and reach a point where you can't return to a situation needed to trigger the next action.

Save, save, save, and keep notes is the only way out of that trap. There are only eight slots, and clever players quit and move their saves to another folder, in order to have eight fresh slots.

Be sure to call Bess on the phone. She gives out useful information and hints.

I'm babbling on, aren't I?

Enjoy ND whatever sequence you take.

Thanks for the input.

I have tons of patience. It's my favorite thing to snoop around everywhere although "dead ends" don't thrill me.

~Dee

Hi, all! Dee, I think you will love these games. Royal Tower and Haunted Mansion are among my favorites, but I am surprised to see The Final Scene not getting much of a mention. I liked that one even better than Haunted Mansion. I really enjoyed the music in this one and some of the puzzles were so much fun I kept the game on my harddrive long after I finished the game.

And Doug makes a good point about seeing the progression in the games. I found the earlier games somewhat frustrating due to dead ends too.

Whichever one you play next, enjoy!

My favorite is Treasure in the Royal Tower because I found absolutely nothing too difficult or annoying in it. Scarlet Hand had an edutainment flair. Ghost Dogs had the forest maze that got too much use in my opinion, and Haunted Carousel had the Barnacle Blast puzzle (which I tried 50 times and my action gamer husband did it in 1).....In any event, I absolutely loved every one of them! Lucky You to have them all in front of you

I can relate to that conmol. Except it's usually my 7 year old grandson who gets me out of those messes.

~Dee