Nancy Drew: Treasure in the Royal Tower
A trip to snowy Wisconsin lands Nancy in a tricky situation when a storm traps her inside the historic Wickford Castle, with just the residents for company and a mystery to solve involving the infamous Queen Marie Antoinette ahead of her. Supposedly, thereās a fantastic treasure connecting to the French Queen to the Castle. But is there any truth to the rumors or will the villain have their cake and eat it?
This is a game Iāve only played a few times and if Iām being perfectly honest, I didnāt like it. Of course, my experience was soured by a few technical difficulties that made me have to start from the beginning twice and that put me on edge so much, I couldnāt enjoy it. There were also the loud, sudden noises that would scare the daylights out of me in a way that I did not enjoy! It starts with horrible screaming pipes in Nancyās room, the alarms that would sound whenever you entered the library, creaking and clattering and it was just too much when I wasnāt prepared for it! As for the gameplay, I found it repetitive, even pretty tiring at points because it felt like I was doing a lot of backtracking for very little progress. I had heard about how interesting the characters were, with their backstories and their personalities, but I found them lacking. Of them all, Iād heard the most about Professor Hotchkiss and how she became an icon of not only this game but the series overall. I found herā¦ boring. Her eccentricities werenāt entertaining, she was annoying. However, I donāt want you to base your thoughts on this game on just my opinion. Thatās all these reviews are, an opinion. Itās almost certain that Iām a minority here. If you want someone with a more positive view, then I would like to point you towards The Girl Detective, a creator over on YouTube who is working their way through the series.
Here is a link to their review on this game: https://youtu.be/7srm-_24yCg?si=FS8bN0s6Rzhm54ss
You start with Nancy in her room, a cozy locale that you donāt visit as much as others but still has a soft feel to it that makes me wish I could take a nap inside. You learn about fingerprinting number pads to learn codes and ask the caretaker, the curmudgeonly Dexter Egan. Along with him, you meet Lisa Ostrum, who proclaims yourself your immediate BFF in a way that reminds me all too much of a 90s mean girl being nice to your face only to be glaring daggers at your back. Dexter gives you a job that has you heading downstair to see Jacques Brunei, a hunky ski instructor and, finally, youāre tasked with getting a dinner order from the eccentric Professor Hotchkiss. After delivering her iconic order of 50 drumsticks (chicken that is, cluck cluck), youāre given free range of the castle. You can investigate the elevator, traversing the hallways, have an interesting though one-sided conversation with a wall and start getting hints about what is in store for you.
Now the plot kicks off properly when you āalley-oopā out of the stuck elevator, crawl through vents and find yourself investigating the library. Now something I have to put out there or I wonāt be able to sleep if that there is some basis in historical for the treasure of this game. Everyone and their mother who knows even a fraction about French history knows about the āAffair of the Diamond Necklaceā, in which a gorgeous necklace was supposedly commissioned by a courtier for Marie Antoinette but she refused it. Though she was famous for her exorbitant spending and lavish lifestyle, as it garnered her the moniker āMadame Deficitā during the Revolution, Marie was a woman of many shades.
The necklace itself was made for the mistress of Lous XV, Madame du Barry, but upon his death and her banishment, the jewellers hoped that Marie Antoinette would take possession of it. However, upon being offered it, she rejected the present each time that it was presented to her. A conwoman by the name of Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Remy, A.K.A Jeanne de la Motte, who had become the mistress of a French Cardinal, Cardinal de Rohan who previously worked as an ambassador to the Court of Vienna, ruled by Marieās mother, Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa, intended to use the necklace to elevate her own position in the court. In as simple as I can explain it, Jeanne de la Motte hired a woman who resembled the Queen to attend a secret rendezvous with Cardinal Rohan who had become obsessed with the Queen after Jeanne made him believe they were exchanging correspondence.
All the while, Jeanne de la Motte was stealing vast sums of money from the cardinal. After the meeting, the cardinal arranged to buy the necklace for 2 million livres, at a time when France was already massively deep in debt, whereas he delivered it to his mistress, believing she would, in turn, give it to the Queen only for it to be picked apart and each gem sold on the Black Market. Each of the perpetrators were arrested and brought to trial but the damage to Marie Antoinetteās reputation was done. This was, essentially, one of the signatures on her death warrant.
This reputation is one that Professor Hotchkiss wished and is working to repair. As such, she tasks you with finding the way to a tower supposedly taken to Wisconsin and the treasure within. This is where the backtracking and the step retracing appears and gets under my skin. I can only handle that goodness forsaken alarm and resetting the elevator before I start losing my mind. Still, the story is what saves this. You discover that so many characters have a history with this castle, first Dexter and his estranged adoptive father Ezra, not to mention the talk of his sordid past and attempts to make it right that have brought many, including myself, to tears. Jacques is trying to impress his sweetheart who is running out of patience for him, Lisa is not who she is pretending to be and Nancy is caught in the middle.
She traverses outside to secret gardens and gets trapped in the shed, all the while clues are changing hands, people are doubling down on their secrets and all Nancy can do is try and find the truth. Unsurprisingly, at the end, there are several puzzles set up in order, a secret room and a surprise reveal of the villain. I have to admit that this culprit was not one that I expected, had I not known about it earlier, as they just didnāt seem the type. One could point to the fact that they were previously found to be lying but hey, so is everyone else around here except for Hotchkiss! Though now Iām curious what a game like that could look like? Nancy could have the option to let her go and see Marieās reputation restored. All it would take was a run in with potential blindness and letting a thief run free.
Though I have a lot of sour feelings towards this game, I do love the historical element and the very strong story. Each of the culprits has their reason for doing what they do and maybe if I play it more often, preferably without incident, Iāll warm up to it. I genuinely suggest that you, my humble reader, make up your own mind. Enjoy!
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