Nancy Drew: Message in a Haunted Mansion Review
Nancy is called to the stormy streets of San Francisco to help Rose Green, a friend of the Drew Family’s housekeeper Hannah, in her efforts to flip an old hotel into a functioning Bed and Breakfast. Reportedly, strange things have been hindering Rose’s efforts, such as scaffolding collapses, gas leaks and, worst of all, a fire! Can Nancy uncover who is behind these or are there more supernatural forces at work here? Can the house be saved or is it headed for deadly disaster and flaming failure?
This was one of my first games, as in one of the first games I played when i was just starting out, though not THE first, that one will come later. I remember, as befitting my dunderheaded childhood self, I needed a LOT of help, though not as much as I would in later games. I would get to certain parts and be completely lost on what to do next. Thankfully, I’ve since been able to solve it myself and I feel significantly less stupid now. What’s more, it scared the ever loving daylights out of me! You only need to hear “I see you!” Whispered from around a corner once to get your knees knocking and getting the heck away from there as quickly as your shaking shoes can carry you! Still, as I’ve gotten older, I still find myself going back to it just to take in the look of the game. I was pretty interested (read: obsessed) with the Victorian period and this book harkens back to that period a lot of time, as well as incorporating others. It strikes an interesting balance that keeps your interest through the whole game. If the themes don’t grab your attention, then the characters will never let you go.
On the subject of the characters, it’s quite a mixed bag. The first person you can meet is Abby, , Rose’s business partner and local psychic who believes the spirits of the house, of which there seem to be innumerable, are able to speak with her. She puts on an enigmatic show with a seance in the basement, a creepy air that leaves you wondering if she knows more than she’s telling. Rose is perpetually on edge about the renovations and timelines, and give how much she sank into this project. Lewis is a friendly looking antique dealer who knows a lot about the Victorian era where the building is from, providing valuable know how in the case. Finally there is Charlie the handyman, voiced by the same actor who would later voice Ned as I’d be remised to neglect mentioning. First impressions tell you that he’s in over his head with all these accidents but there’s something else about him, something he mentions at the beginning that raise suspicions. Of course, you have the usual suspects helping you over the phone like Bess and George, not to mention Hannah’s other friend, the globetrotting journalist Emily Foxworth,
The animation for these characters is still fairly jerky and the art is still fairly rough around the edges. But, as always, that’s a part of the charm. You just can’t hate these characters, not when the writing is keeping you so intrigued by all the goings on. As for the house itself, each of the environments is richly decorated, especially Nancy’s room which is covered, top to bottom in gorgeous red and gold, fitting the Chinese theme running through the whole game. Speaking of theme, the whole game has a lovely mix of old vs new, from the Wild West foundations of the city to China’s influence to the people of newer generations trying to make a life amongst the history. Something I have to mention about this game is the atmosphere, it is soaked in a sense of an off kilter something that follows you through the whole game. What’s more, this is one of the spookiest games in the series, getting the scares off to a strong start with the appearance of Abby. As you progress through the game, you’ll hear voices whispering to you, see strange phenomena that can’t be explained, discover hidden passageways and realise that a few characters are hiding secrets they don’t want discovered.
When you get a peek into Abby’s room, provided you can get in and out before she busts you, you see that has settled herself very comfortably into what is now known as the ‘Whimsigoth’ aesthetic with purples, golds, stars and moons all over the place. I won’t lie, there was a time that I wish I could have decorated my room like that. I wish that we could have gotten a look into what Rose’s dwelling looked like, but I want to imagine that it’s full of flowers given her name or maybe I could indulge in a little private theory and see her taking a ‘nap’ in Abby’s room. Yeah, there’s no point beating around the bush here. I’m convinced that if Abby and Rose weren’t dating already before they go here, they’d be dating afterwards with Rose acting as the straight man to Abby’s Phoebe-esque airy demeanour. Honestly, given the naming, this game does give a very FRIENDS vibe, though with substantially less sarcasm. Lewis, given his last name, brings to mind Chandler, Charlie’s ‘Good ol’ boy’ manner reminds me of Joey, Abby has Phoebe’s faith in the unseen and Rose’s serious yet supportive personality gives off huge Monica vibes.
As for the story, it reaches back into the far past for a long lost treasure of stolen Gold, hidden by secrets and puzzles. The clues are all there, you just have to not be like me and miss them. Most of the puzzles are pretty classic slider puzzles or finding hidden keys or entrances, without anything super complicated this early in the series and I’m, honestly, glad for it. It would have been a big turn off if I had to stumble my way through puzzles too advanced for me. Most of the puzzles are a case of gathering info from around the place and working out the order, as well as a fair few logic puzzles that can still get your braincells firing. It’s not what I would call a short game like Secrets can Kill where most of the playtime was taken up by navigating, but it’s got a pretty cozy run time at 1 hour and 25 minutes.
Once you’ve met all the characters, you have your full suspect list and there’s not much in the way of twists, as this is a story focused more on history and discovering treasure. There are revelations about characters that get hinted at through the story but none of them are particularly devastating. Most of the puzzles are kept towards the end where Nancy has to solve 3 in a row to get the final key to the treasure. For a while, this stumped the ever loving day lights out of me as I stumbled into the endgame almost by accident. I was just so lost when I was younger that I would latch onto any chance I could find to progress. Of course, that’s a personal issue that I’m still doing my best to overcome. If I’m actually making any progress is debatable, of course.
If the first two games didn’t grab you, this game may not be where it hits its stride but it is clearly where the developers were getting comfortable. If you scare easy or not, you’ll find a fun time here that may just teach you a few things. I genuinely recommend this game for all beginners, both to the series and the genre.
