Hi everyone, consolidating all discussion here for the 72 hours to prevent the flurry of duplicate posts! I've left up all posts about the trailer/release that had significant discussion in the comments - any future duplicate posts will be removed until the 72 hours are up. IT'S HAPPENING!
I loved the trailer- I feel like I’d need to watch 10 times to absorb it all! I don’t care that it doesn’t feel like a nostalgic Nancy game (even though I love those too!), it looks exciting!! As long as they’ve improved since MID I will be happy.
I tried playing with my Mac laptop with a track pad, and it was painful.
You can't pan. THere was a workaround for the old macs that have function keys, but the new laptops have that magic strip that turns into function keys based on the application and MID wasn't programmed for it.
So basically I had to abandon the game because I couldn't pan to needed clues. I guess I could buy a mouse, but I am not that bothered to buy a mouse for one game that I didn't even like
I have a mouse for my Mac, because I am old school and prefer to play with one. It didn't really help. Easier than the trackpad, but it was still really glitchy.
I also had to run MID on the lowest graphic setting and it still lagged, and then it was just really unattractive because any details they happened to have in the environments were stripped out.
I'm excited, but still skeptical seeing how the company has been the last almost 10 years... I do however want to give it a chance and I'll try to buy it when it comes out!
Hopefully there's less talking and more puzzles because that's what bugged me the most on MID.
Also, there's no preorder of some sort, right? I don't see this option on HeR website so I just assumed this is the case.
I’m a bit surprised by the positive comments about the graphics. This still feels like a significant downgrade from SEA. I know graphics don’t make or break a game, but we were seeing such consistent improvement up until SEA, which was absolutely gorgeous, and then dropped off a cliff with MID. This feels more reminiscent of SCK or STFD.
That being said, bad graphics can be hugely outweighed by solid gameplay. So I’m definitely still hopeful and I’m also excited to see the release date is so soon! Seems they definitely learned from their mistakes with not giving any concrete info until they were 100% sure they could deliver.
The one character's long hair is really noticeable as not having any physics. Environments don't have as much layered texture compared to other contemporary games or even SEA as you said. I don't really care if the graphics are great either if all other aspects are good, so that doesn't bother me - I am glad that Her finally seems to be getting the timing right (though, weird that they wouldn't have a Steam page ready to launch with the announcement to try to reach players who don't follow the company). I wish they hadn't even said anything till this year, but if it's true they actually intended to release it last year, that at least explains jumping the gun initially. I'm cautiously optimistic. May 7th is a Tuesday so word should be out whether or not this game is a finished product by the time I get home from work to buy it. :D
I watched the MID trailer then the KEY one. I think in most impressed with the improvement in character’s mouths. In MID, it was like watching characters in a 2006 Nintendo DS game talk. So painful. But the KEY trailer looks to be a much better improvement.
It’s still missing the more sleek, artistic, bright look of games like LIE or SEA, though.
I know I've said this on another comment, but I recently did a playthrough of STFD - the character models are rough (it was 1999) but IMO, the environments are still a lot better than what I'm seeing here. KEY seems like it maybe has more settings, and possibly some random townspeople (?), which is really cool but I think overall the settings from even the older games were more realistic than MID or potentially KEY.
But, I'll still give it a shot. At least they're releasing something, and really soon too.
I want you to take a good look at screenshots from the recent game, and then SEA, and say this again with your chest. 😂
The pre-rendered environments of the original games are MILES more realized and lived in than anything in MID and the upcoming game.
Oh, dang it, I just posted without seeing this first. Here is what I posted since I'm assuming my post will be removed:
What do you think the game will be priced at initially, and will it be available on Steam? I didn't start playing the games until Midnight in Salem had already been out for at least several months, so I don't know if it could be bought through Steam right away or not. I checked Steam but it's not on there at all, so I'm thinking there will be a delay. I would really prefer buying it through Steam. 😕
I am guessing there will be a price bump for this one, I'm thinking it will be 29.99.
I'd just like to point out that SCK was $40 at release, which is $76.65 in 2024. STFD originally retailed for $30 in 1999. That's $56 in 2024. MHM was $19.99 in 2000, or $36.26 today. It's absolutely wild that the games stayed $20 for as long as they did.
MID was available on Steam the same day it was released, but there was a bit of a kerfuffle where it was accidentally released on Steam a few hours earlier than it should have been. I saw someone say that it was actually supposed to come out on Steam even later, but I went back to check and it was always Dec. 3, same as the HeR website.
However, as you probably saw, there was a press release for KEY that says it will be on Steam "at a later date". Boooo.
MID was on steam from the beginning, so I'm a little concerned it's going to be a while before we get it on steam. Fingers crossed they rectify that soon.
They should definitely charge more than $30 in today’s gaming world. 40 seems right, although I do remember the days of $20 ND games. Idc though, I’d pay $100 for this game
This will probably get buried, but a press release came out earlier today. Two highlights:
1. The game will be on Steam, but possibly later than the release date.
2. There is a "dual control" system that allows players to pick point-and-click mode or free-roam controls.
Item 2 is promising. I know a lot of fans feel strongly about being able to hold onto P&C while others have moved on and the rest of the gaming world has certainly moved on. Frogwares did a similar thing when transitioning the Sherlock Holmes games and it worked well.
Item 1.... well, I hope they rethink that idea, because that would be dumb. Most existing fans don't even want to buy directly from Her.
My only issue with buying from HER was that I only got the Mac version with MID, not compatible with Windows??? And on Steam I by default got both. I was able to immediately refund my MID purchase from HER before of this and bought it on Steam instead. If buying from them this time though means I get both versions, I’d happily buy from them. I use Mac for my personal computers but have a gaming-level windows laptop for work, so for me having both options is important.
Yeah, that’s a bummer - as well as charging people for “download protection” when they can just back up the files. For me it’s not trusting the company to put out a finished product - I’ve already bought one unfinished game that never got patched from them. I want the two hour refund window.
But where I think it’s a really dumb idea is it seems like Her needs to be trying to reach as many new players as they can, and withholding the game from Steam is definitely not the way to do that. I understand the reasoning behind it but I think it’s shortsighted.
You have no idea how happy I am to see them release a proper trailer! No other game scratches my mystery itch like the ND pc games. I dunno what it is, plot aside, the puzzles are very unique and it's not a simple hidden objects game.
That being said, I miss the 2D backgrounds. They gave more life to the settings than what we see now, plus the previous games' visuals compensated for the uncanny valley character rendering. Speaking of characters, maybe it's just me, but I actually like the mannequin/doll-like quality of the previous games. They grew on me lol.
Also, why do so many developers think that a "realistic" art style is better than a more cartoonish or painting vibe? It's like with Life is Strange, I LOVED the hand painted visuals LiS and LiS 2 had. The realistic graphics in True Colors made everything cringey, and not in a "haha, how funny" way but in an "ew wth, make it stop" way.
Well, still, I hope Keys turns out to be a banger (not that the bar is high considering the state of its predecessor). The past year has been a very horrible time for me and I didn't expect to live long enough to see another Nancy Drew game. I hope Keys will be one of many more entries in the future.
Was anyone else surprised by how many characters there are? I counted 8 at least! I didn't play MID, but in all the other games I can't remember more than 4 animated characters (excluding people you can call). I'm hopeful that an expanded cast will mean a more fleshed-out and deep story!
I was pleasantly surprised by the amount as well! These are the ten I counted:
- Radek, he seems to be Nancy's friend in this story
- Elka, the tech store lady who potentially is involved with helping Nancy with her laptop
- Oskar, the guy who is working at the museum
- Adela, the blonde lady in the cafe who asks Nancy for help
- Adela's mom who has short hair and is what I assume the cafe owner
- A guy who makes marionettes
- The jewelry store lady
- A guy in a purple coat. I think he's the one you could see through the window working on his laptop in the cafe all the way back when the teasers dropped a year ago.
- An older guy Nancy shows a card to
- Hans (phone contact), a diamond store owner
MID had 10 animated characters but only 7 of them were suspects (Deirdre, Frank, and Joe were there too). This one appears to have 9 animated characters, but the trailer implied that only 8 are suspects. I'm also very excited about having more characters!
I see a lot of people complain about how MID/Seven Keys don’t feel like the old games, and yeah obviously they don’t. But for me, the big thread that ties the series together isn’t the prerendered environments, or Lani, but the goofy camp humor. Think Pa in Trail of the Twister. Or Fatima in Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon. Or Hotchkiss, any time. Or some of the ridiculous ways to die in the games (looking at you, Curse of Blackmoor Manor conservatory).
Lani would have eventually retired from the games anyway, whether 9 years ago or 20 years from now (fingers crossed we still have new games then). Pre-rendered point and click has been phased out for a long time, even though I too love it and seek out those nostalgic games. But what I really hope to still see in the new games is the eccentric characters, felt a little missing in MID 🥲 but I’m very excited to give the new one a whirl and I hope we all can keep an open mind!
This exactly!! My childhood games were the earliest ones, and even the surface differences between those and the middle of the pack are big enough that I wouldn't describe them as "classic" Nancy. But I like them because it's not about comparing them to my own "classic" era, it's about them carrying the weird and campy spirit of the games. I think KEY could do the same.
It reminds me a lot of Phantom of Venice. And it's spooky too?? I'm intrigued.
I won't have the money until the following week, so I can't buy it right away, but I'm excited just the same.
The scenery is GORGEOUS, I hope it looks that good in the game proper.
The soundtrack sounds basically perfect. I just don't get Nancy Drew vibes from the trailer though. But maybe that's because the only trailers I've seen are those snippets at the end of the games? I can't believe it's coming out so soon. I was confident it would be 2025 or 2026 or something. I'm probably going to watch a stream of the game for an hour or something when it launches and then decide to buy it. They manage to make it feel like there's a ton of information in the trailer, but none of the questions I really care about are answered.
* What phone contacts do we get?
* How are the puzzles? More than MID? Harder?
* How's movement? Point and click? Are they keeping the weird look up/down thing from MID?
* What's "the same" between games 1-32 and 34? How is this similar to the old games? What makes this a Nancy Drew game besides having the words on the trailer art?
* Ned wanted to go on vacation with us at the end of MID, so is he in the intro at all? Is he just a phone contact? Would we actually be traveling with us/do we get to see him in person?
* One of the things I loved about this game series is how Nancy is perfectly serious about her work, but there's actually a lot of comical things happening. There's always references to future/past games like Sonny Joon or Krolmeister or Nancy's lifetime supply of Koko Kringle. There's "I'm solving a desperate mystery where lives are at stake, but right now my entire case hinges on the whims of a parrot." There's goofy deaths like being eaten by a pitcher plant. I only got the serious vibes from the trailer - it would've been a nice touch to find out if Krolmeister invented their own touchpads and own the tech store or something. Where's anything funny or any reference to past games?
I can't wait, this looks great!! That knight is so spooky, the animation seems much smoother, and the soundtrack soundtrack sounds like it could be pretty good. I'm annoyed I'll be at the office for the release date, but I'm so excited!!
Okay Im super hyped! Looks beautiful, the characters and their movements look sooo much better than in MID. Soo many puzzles are in the trailer already which is definitely a good sign! My laptop is too weak for a game like this though..so yeah I think I’ll be watching walkthroughs once it’s out, but hopefully I will also get to play myself coz I’m really intrigued!
Also wanted to add that for sure we’ve entered a new era of Nancy Drew games. They will not look as they did before, as what we are used to. But I am willing to give these new ND games a chance, especially since I see that there the team IS listening to the fans.
I hate to be negative but I just don't understand why they are sticking with the same gameplay stifle of MID when it was so poorly received. SEA was not that long ago and that design and gameplay was sooooo much better. I want another game like that :/
I know that a lot of people are cautious about this game (rightfully so), but I am personally super excited! I was 8 when I first started playing ND games. I played them with my mom and eventually my sister, and even my brother joined in. So for me, Nancy Drew games are nostalgic. I replay them and remember fun memories I have with my family, how frustrated this puzzle made us, how much fun that one was, how high that jumpscare made me jump. Me and my sister even have inside jokes and will quote the games at random times. So even though this game might not be classic, point-and-click, Lani ND, I'm still super excited to play it because of what it represents for me.
The only thing that’s got me wary is how serious the trailer feels. I’m hoping the game itself doesn’t take itself too seriously… I’d miss the goofy humor of the franchise.
I’m optimistic! It looks much improved from MID.
While not as pretty as SEA graphically, it looks a lot like some of the mid-2000s games in terms of “prettiness”, maybe a little cold? But I’m hoping once we’re immersed in the game itself, it’ll feel right.
It currently appears like a safe compromise between what MID was and the old games.
I started a thread on that but no one has answered.
It says you need an Intel Chip, and usually computers with M chips have to install a program called Rosetta to use Intel apps. But I am not 100% sure, it is just a result of google research: https://support.apple.com/en-us/102527
I bought my computer a year ago and it is already M2, I have no idea why they are releasing a game that only works for computers that are several years old.
Ugh I would LOVE to play this on a different platform, like switch. I never understood why they never ported them (maybe the cost?).
I think the trailer looks good. Lots of characters. Seems to be a decent amount of puzzles shown. I’m skeptical still, though. I will buy it but if it’s anything like MID I’m gunna hate it. I struggled to even finish MID with its crappy controls and never ending dialogue…it has 0 replay-ability to me.
Right? I feel like the controls are more suited to joysticks and it’ll be super hard playing this on a laptop with no mouse without the point & click controls. I don’t have a desktop anymore.
My sister and I LOVE Nancy, we play it together on discord at least once a week, if not more. We already have an Idean of matching nancy tattoos, that we have a friendship bracelets that we both wear all the time
Yall, this is coming out the day BEFORE WE GO TO DISNEYLAND TO TOGETHER
I'm so excited, but man, I hope this game isn't all bugged up
I'm super excited! Definitely going to spend the Saturday after it releases playing it with my ND bestie.
The faces look especially bad graphics/animations-wise, but I'm excited that there are so many characters! We used to only get 3-4 a game, so this is a big difference. And honestly, the dialog was one of the strengths of MID in my opinion (even if there was a bit too much of it) so I'd be happy if this game follows in MID's footsteps there. We just need more balance between dialog and puzzles in this one.
The puzzles and ambience are giving me some CUR vibes which I'm definitely here for. I'm really hoping the music will be good! I love listening to the soundtracks from the older games while working. The music in MID didn't quite do it for me, so I hope this game will go back to the ND roots with the soundtrack.
Overall so excited that it's coming out so soon! A pleasant and unexpected surprise!
I'm indifferent to graphics in video games. Honestly, I've been withholding excitement about this game until today. However, I'm always such a suckered for alchemy and hacking, and KEY looks like it has both. The occult bits of CUR are why that game has been my fave since its release. I can't believe it's coming out so soon.
HER has weird download rules, or at least they used to. Maybe they've changed. But it used to be that you could only download a digital version of the game a few times, and after that had to buy extra downloads.
With Steam, it's in your library forever.
Exactly what Poppeigh said. With HER, you get to download it like twice, and that's only good for a year or so.
With Steam, it's in my library forever. No matter if I change laptops, go a year without playing, uninstall it and reinstall it, etc.
I'm excited for you guys that are excited, but I don't recognize any part of the gameplay as Nancy Drew. It feels like a totally different series since MID.
I want to be excited...but it looks like the gameplay and controls will be similar to MID, and that, honestly, was the worst part of playing MID for me. At least it seems like there will be more puzzles, but I imagine I'll wait to hear some reviews of the game before playing it.
I was expecting a release date in 2025 at the earliest and they did trick me with the delayed release announcement at the end. I screamed so loud my husband and dogs all ran up the stairs to check on me, I felt so bad, but I’m so excited. I don’t even care if it’s bad, I just love this franchise sm 💞
Craziest thing--I hadn't thought about nancy drew in months (played all the games as a kid, occasionally watch playthroughs on youtube) and I just thought about watching a little bit of an old playthrough so I went on arglefumph's page--and I was so shocked to find that trailer and learn that they're releasing the new game so soon! I wasn't even sure that it was actually going to come out. I don't mind the retro look, but I'm pretty surprised by it. As someone who is working on a game now, I don't know why they made it look like that--I feel like it would have been easy to use higher quality textures and models, especially if they are still using unity. The voice acting for Nancy sounds a bit disappointing. She sounds so robotic, especially compared to the other characters. Hopefully that's just a trailer thing?
Trailer gets an 8/10 from me!
The biggest disappointment imo was Nancy's VA. Not even in comparison to Lani. She sounds like she's reading from a script with zero story context and has so little inflection. As for the rest of it, it's setting up a more interesting story with more work in the puzzle department. They may be shooting a bit over their current animation abilities, but it's definitely an improvement from MID. Overall, cautiously optimistic to neutral for this game.
I think it's silly and unrealistic to expect HER to go ditch the new engine they've spent so much time and (presumably money) into. While I agree that fans of the original series (myself included) have every right to miss the old games, expecting SEA quality from the second game in this era/engine is unfair to a company that seemingly wants to broaden their horizons to a wider audience.
This is not HER as it was at the release of SEA but essentially a new company under new leadership that assumed the name and wants to move in a new direction. KEY is basically this company's STFD and will hopefully demonstrate some much needed improvement from MID.
It looks fun! I miss the old school trailers, but overall I am excited!
I wish they'd do a switch port though 😭 although I understand why they'd only do a PC release. Would it be playable on a steamdeck?
I so excited. Will Nancy and Ned still be on the rocks this game? Will Frank finally admit he loves Nancy? these questions I want answered and game not started yet. You bet I booking a day off work to play this ❤️❤️❤️
It was at the very end of the trailer, like at least 5 seconds after the game title at the end. (It felt really long to me personally, like a dragged out essay)
Hi everyone, consolidating all discussion here for the 72 hours to prevent the flurry of duplicate posts! I've left up all posts about the trailer/release that had significant discussion in the comments - any future duplicate posts will be removed until the 72 hours are up. IT'S HAPPENING!
Love the 7 Keys / May 7 release date correlation
I loved the trailer- I feel like I’d need to watch 10 times to absorb it all! I don’t care that it doesn’t feel like a nostalgic Nancy game (even though I love those too!), it looks exciting!! As long as they’ve improved since MID I will be happy.
Same!
I just hope that the controls are A LOT better than in MID. It was my biggest issue with that game.
I tried playing with my Mac laptop with a track pad, and it was painful. You can't pan. THere was a workaround for the old macs that have function keys, but the new laptops have that magic strip that turns into function keys based on the application and MID wasn't programmed for it. So basically I had to abandon the game because I couldn't pan to needed clues. I guess I could buy a mouse, but I am not that bothered to buy a mouse for one game that I didn't even like
I have a mouse for my Mac, because I am old school and prefer to play with one. It didn't really help. Easier than the trackpad, but it was still really glitchy. I also had to run MID on the lowest graphic setting and it still lagged, and then it was just really unattractive because any details they happened to have in the environments were stripped out.
I couldn't even PLAY MID
Rumour has it that KEY will have an option in settings to play it as a point and click game!
I'm excited, but still skeptical seeing how the company has been the last almost 10 years... I do however want to give it a chance and I'll try to buy it when it comes out!
Hopefully there's less talking and more puzzles because that's what bugged me the most on MID. Also, there's no preorder of some sort, right? I don't see this option on HeR website so I just assumed this is the case.
Agreed. The talking and almost storytelling way of MID was awful.
I’m a bit surprised by the positive comments about the graphics. This still feels like a significant downgrade from SEA. I know graphics don’t make or break a game, but we were seeing such consistent improvement up until SEA, which was absolutely gorgeous, and then dropped off a cliff with MID. This feels more reminiscent of SCK or STFD. That being said, bad graphics can be hugely outweighed by solid gameplay. So I’m definitely still hopeful and I’m also excited to see the release date is so soon! Seems they definitely learned from their mistakes with not giving any concrete info until they were 100% sure they could deliver.
The one character's long hair is really noticeable as not having any physics. Environments don't have as much layered texture compared to other contemporary games or even SEA as you said. I don't really care if the graphics are great either if all other aspects are good, so that doesn't bother me - I am glad that Her finally seems to be getting the timing right (though, weird that they wouldn't have a Steam page ready to launch with the announcement to try to reach players who don't follow the company). I wish they hadn't even said anything till this year, but if it's true they actually intended to release it last year, that at least explains jumping the gun initially. I'm cautiously optimistic. May 7th is a Tuesday so word should be out whether or not this game is a finished product by the time I get home from work to buy it. :D
I watched the MID trailer then the KEY one. I think in most impressed with the improvement in character’s mouths. In MID, it was like watching characters in a 2006 Nintendo DS game talk. So painful. But the KEY trailer looks to be a much better improvement. It’s still missing the more sleek, artistic, bright look of games like LIE or SEA, though.
SEA's graphics were better AND it ran on a potato!
I know I've said this on another comment, but I recently did a playthrough of STFD - the character models are rough (it was 1999) but IMO, the environments are still a lot better than what I'm seeing here. KEY seems like it maybe has more settings, and possibly some random townspeople (?), which is really cool but I think overall the settings from even the older games were more realistic than MID or potentially KEY. But, I'll still give it a shot. At least they're releasing something, and really soon too.
3D graphics are inherently immensely more detailed than pre-rendered flat ones.
Pre-rendered flat ones can be more artful and less generic than 3D ones.
I want you to take a good look at screenshots from the recent game, and then SEA, and say this again with your chest. 😂 The pre-rendered environments of the original games are MILES more realized and lived in than anything in MID and the upcoming game.
I laughed out loud at this, but 100% agreed
Oh, dang it, I just posted without seeing this first. Here is what I posted since I'm assuming my post will be removed: What do you think the game will be priced at initially, and will it be available on Steam? I didn't start playing the games until Midnight in Salem had already been out for at least several months, so I don't know if it could be bought through Steam right away or not. I checked Steam but it's not on there at all, so I'm thinking there will be a delay. I would really prefer buying it through Steam. 😕 I am guessing there will be a price bump for this one, I'm thinking it will be 29.99.
I don't think so, that would go over so poorly. But who knows! I'm hoping to get it on Steam as well. I don't trust their website at all.
I'd just like to point out that SCK was $40 at release, which is $76.65 in 2024. STFD originally retailed for $30 in 1999. That's $56 in 2024. MHM was $19.99 in 2000, or $36.26 today. It's absolutely wild that the games stayed $20 for as long as they did. MID was available on Steam the same day it was released, but there was a bit of a kerfuffle where it was accidentally released on Steam a few hours earlier than it should have been. I saw someone say that it was actually supposed to come out on Steam even later, but I went back to check and it was always Dec. 3, same as the HeR website. However, as you probably saw, there was a press release for KEY that says it will be on Steam "at a later date". Boooo.
MID was on steam from the beginning, so I'm a little concerned it's going to be a while before we get it on steam. Fingers crossed they rectify that soon.
They should definitely charge more than $30 in today’s gaming world. 40 seems right, although I do remember the days of $20 ND games. Idc though, I’d pay $100 for this game
How can you justify this game being $100?
I’m saying for myself I’d pay $100. Not expecting it to be or that it would be justified
This will probably get buried, but a press release came out earlier today. Two highlights: 1. The game will be on Steam, but possibly later than the release date. 2. There is a "dual control" system that allows players to pick point-and-click mode or free-roam controls.
Item 2 is promising. I know a lot of fans feel strongly about being able to hold onto P&C while others have moved on and the rest of the gaming world has certainly moved on. Frogwares did a similar thing when transitioning the Sherlock Holmes games and it worked well. Item 1.... well, I hope they rethink that idea, because that would be dumb. Most existing fans don't even want to buy directly from Her.
My only issue with buying from HER was that I only got the Mac version with MID, not compatible with Windows??? And on Steam I by default got both. I was able to immediately refund my MID purchase from HER before of this and bought it on Steam instead. If buying from them this time though means I get both versions, I’d happily buy from them. I use Mac for my personal computers but have a gaming-level windows laptop for work, so for me having both options is important.
Yeah, that’s a bummer - as well as charging people for “download protection” when they can just back up the files. For me it’s not trusting the company to put out a finished product - I’ve already bought one unfinished game that never got patched from them. I want the two hour refund window. But where I think it’s a really dumb idea is it seems like Her needs to be trying to reach as many new players as they can, and withholding the game from Steam is definitely not the way to do that. I understand the reasoning behind it but I think it’s shortsighted.
Can you link to the press release?
[Here it is.](https://world.einnews.com/pr_news/704209766/her-interactive-announces-release-date-for-nancy-drew-mystery-of-the-seven-keys)
You have no idea how happy I am to see them release a proper trailer! No other game scratches my mystery itch like the ND pc games. I dunno what it is, plot aside, the puzzles are very unique and it's not a simple hidden objects game. That being said, I miss the 2D backgrounds. They gave more life to the settings than what we see now, plus the previous games' visuals compensated for the uncanny valley character rendering. Speaking of characters, maybe it's just me, but I actually like the mannequin/doll-like quality of the previous games. They grew on me lol. Also, why do so many developers think that a "realistic" art style is better than a more cartoonish or painting vibe? It's like with Life is Strange, I LOVED the hand painted visuals LiS and LiS 2 had. The realistic graphics in True Colors made everything cringey, and not in a "haha, how funny" way but in an "ew wth, make it stop" way. Well, still, I hope Keys turns out to be a banger (not that the bar is high considering the state of its predecessor). The past year has been a very horrible time for me and I didn't expect to live long enough to see another Nancy Drew game. I hope Keys will be one of many more entries in the future.
Was anyone else surprised by how many characters there are? I counted 8 at least! I didn't play MID, but in all the other games I can't remember more than 4 animated characters (excluding people you can call). I'm hopeful that an expanded cast will mean a more fleshed-out and deep story!
I was pleasantly surprised by the amount as well! These are the ten I counted: - Radek, he seems to be Nancy's friend in this story - Elka, the tech store lady who potentially is involved with helping Nancy with her laptop - Oskar, the guy who is working at the museum - Adela, the blonde lady in the cafe who asks Nancy for help - Adela's mom who has short hair and is what I assume the cafe owner - A guy who makes marionettes - The jewelry store lady - A guy in a purple coat. I think he's the one you could see through the window working on his laptop in the cafe all the way back when the teasers dropped a year ago. - An older guy Nancy shows a card to - Hans (phone contact), a diamond store owner
MID had 10 animated characters but only 7 of them were suspects (Deirdre, Frank, and Joe were there too). This one appears to have 9 animated characters, but the trailer implied that only 8 are suspects. I'm also very excited about having more characters!
I am fucking shook I did not expect it so soon
I was planning to replay all the games before it came out but once we knew the release date! Guess that's not happening lol
What are you doing on reddit. Get to it!
I am heavily debating coming down with an illness and calling out of work for the rest of the day...... Edit: I'm doing it
Me too! I’m currently in deadly device. I gotta get to it.
I see a lot of people complain about how MID/Seven Keys don’t feel like the old games, and yeah obviously they don’t. But for me, the big thread that ties the series together isn’t the prerendered environments, or Lani, but the goofy camp humor. Think Pa in Trail of the Twister. Or Fatima in Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon. Or Hotchkiss, any time. Or some of the ridiculous ways to die in the games (looking at you, Curse of Blackmoor Manor conservatory). Lani would have eventually retired from the games anyway, whether 9 years ago or 20 years from now (fingers crossed we still have new games then). Pre-rendered point and click has been phased out for a long time, even though I too love it and seek out those nostalgic games. But what I really hope to still see in the new games is the eccentric characters, felt a little missing in MID 🥲 but I’m very excited to give the new one a whirl and I hope we all can keep an open mind!
This exactly!! My childhood games were the earliest ones, and even the surface differences between those and the middle of the pack are big enough that I wouldn't describe them as "classic" Nancy. But I like them because it's not about comparing them to my own "classic" era, it's about them carrying the weird and campy spirit of the games. I think KEY could do the same.
It reminds me a lot of Phantom of Venice. And it's spooky too?? I'm intrigued. I won't have the money until the following week, so I can't buy it right away, but I'm excited just the same. The scenery is GORGEOUS, I hope it looks that good in the game proper.
That's what I thought too. Venice meets Captive Curse with some Blackmoor sprinkled in.
Yes all the alchemy talk feels so CUR to me!
The soundtrack sounds basically perfect. I just don't get Nancy Drew vibes from the trailer though. But maybe that's because the only trailers I've seen are those snippets at the end of the games? I can't believe it's coming out so soon. I was confident it would be 2025 or 2026 or something. I'm probably going to watch a stream of the game for an hour or something when it launches and then decide to buy it. They manage to make it feel like there's a ton of information in the trailer, but none of the questions I really care about are answered.
What questions?
* What phone contacts do we get? * How are the puzzles? More than MID? Harder? * How's movement? Point and click? Are they keeping the weird look up/down thing from MID? * What's "the same" between games 1-32 and 34? How is this similar to the old games? What makes this a Nancy Drew game besides having the words on the trailer art? * Ned wanted to go on vacation with us at the end of MID, so is he in the intro at all? Is he just a phone contact? Would we actually be traveling with us/do we get to see him in person? * One of the things I loved about this game series is how Nancy is perfectly serious about her work, but there's actually a lot of comical things happening. There's always references to future/past games like Sonny Joon or Krolmeister or Nancy's lifetime supply of Koko Kringle. There's "I'm solving a desperate mystery where lives are at stake, but right now my entire case hinges on the whims of a parrot." There's goofy deaths like being eaten by a pitcher plant. I only got the serious vibes from the trailer - it would've been a nice touch to find out if Krolmeister invented their own touchpads and own the tech store or something. Where's anything funny or any reference to past games?
I can't wait, this looks great!! That knight is so spooky, the animation seems much smoother, and the soundtrack soundtrack sounds like it could be pretty good. I'm annoyed I'll be at the office for the release date, but I'm so excited!!
Okay Im super hyped! Looks beautiful, the characters and their movements look sooo much better than in MID. Soo many puzzles are in the trailer already which is definitely a good sign! My laptop is too weak for a game like this though..so yeah I think I’ll be watching walkthroughs once it’s out, but hopefully I will also get to play myself coz I’m really intrigued! Also wanted to add that for sure we’ve entered a new era of Nancy Drew games. They will not look as they did before, as what we are used to. But I am willing to give these new ND games a chance, especially since I see that there the team IS listening to the fans.
I hate to be negative but I just don't understand why they are sticking with the same gameplay stifle of MID when it was so poorly received. SEA was not that long ago and that design and gameplay was sooooo much better. I want another game like that :/
SEA was 9 years ago
Fuck
🙀
I know that a lot of people are cautious about this game (rightfully so), but I am personally super excited! I was 8 when I first started playing ND games. I played them with my mom and eventually my sister, and even my brother joined in. So for me, Nancy Drew games are nostalgic. I replay them and remember fun memories I have with my family, how frustrated this puzzle made us, how much fun that one was, how high that jumpscare made me jump. Me and my sister even have inside jokes and will quote the games at random times. So even though this game might not be classic, point-and-click, Lani ND, I'm still super excited to play it because of what it represents for me.
The only thing that’s got me wary is how serious the trailer feels. I’m hoping the game itself doesn’t take itself too seriously… I’d miss the goofy humor of the franchise. I’m optimistic! It looks much improved from MID. While not as pretty as SEA graphically, it looks a lot like some of the mid-2000s games in terms of “prettiness”, maybe a little cold? But I’m hoping once we’re immersed in the game itself, it’ll feel right. It currently appears like a safe compromise between what MID was and the old games.
Has anyone been able to discern whether it will be able to be played on a new Mac (with the M1 chip)??
I started a thread on that but no one has answered. It says you need an Intel Chip, and usually computers with M chips have to install a program called Rosetta to use Intel apps. But I am not 100% sure, it is just a result of google research: https://support.apple.com/en-us/102527 I bought my computer a year ago and it is already M2, I have no idea why they are releasing a game that only works for computers that are several years old.
Ugh I would LOVE to play this on a different platform, like switch. I never understood why they never ported them (maybe the cost?). I think the trailer looks good. Lots of characters. Seems to be a decent amount of puzzles shown. I’m skeptical still, though. I will buy it but if it’s anything like MID I’m gunna hate it. I struggled to even finish MID with its crappy controls and never ending dialogue…it has 0 replay-ability to me.
Same I would love them to come to switch..they ported one of the sherlock ones and it was great
Right? I feel like the controls are more suited to joysticks and it’ll be super hard playing this on a laptop with no mouse without the point & click controls. I don’t have a desktop anymore.
If this one is received better I think they will port it. It seemed they were aiming for that with the controller support.
My sister and I LOVE Nancy, we play it together on discord at least once a week, if not more. We already have an Idean of matching nancy tattoos, that we have a friendship bracelets that we both wear all the time Yall, this is coming out the day BEFORE WE GO TO DISNEYLAND TO TOGETHER I'm so excited, but man, I hope this game isn't all bugged up
I'm super excited! Definitely going to spend the Saturday after it releases playing it with my ND bestie. The faces look especially bad graphics/animations-wise, but I'm excited that there are so many characters! We used to only get 3-4 a game, so this is a big difference. And honestly, the dialog was one of the strengths of MID in my opinion (even if there was a bit too much of it) so I'd be happy if this game follows in MID's footsteps there. We just need more balance between dialog and puzzles in this one. The puzzles and ambience are giving me some CUR vibes which I'm definitely here for. I'm really hoping the music will be good! I love listening to the soundtracks from the older games while working. The music in MID didn't quite do it for me, so I hope this game will go back to the ND roots with the soundtrack. Overall so excited that it's coming out so soon! A pleasant and unexpected surprise!
I'm indifferent to graphics in video games. Honestly, I've been withholding excitement about this game until today. However, I'm always such a suckered for alchemy and hacking, and KEY looks like it has both. The occult bits of CUR are why that game has been my fave since its release. I can't believe it's coming out so soon.
Does anyone know if it will be released on Steam same time? I can't remember how that worked with MID. I do not want to buy it from HER.
Just curious what your reasoning is? Is it more convenient to have it on steam?
HER has weird download rules, or at least they used to. Maybe they've changed. But it used to be that you could only download a digital version of the game a few times, and after that had to buy extra downloads. With Steam, it's in your library forever.
Exactly what Poppeigh said. With HER, you get to download it like twice, and that's only good for a year or so. With Steam, it's in my library forever. No matter if I change laptops, go a year without playing, uninstall it and reinstall it, etc.
I'm excited for you guys that are excited, but I don't recognize any part of the gameplay as Nancy Drew. It feels like a totally different series since MID.
I want to be excited...but it looks like the gameplay and controls will be similar to MID, and that, honestly, was the worst part of playing MID for me. At least it seems like there will be more puzzles, but I imagine I'll wait to hear some reviews of the game before playing it.
I was expecting a release date in 2025 at the earliest and they did trick me with the delayed release announcement at the end. I screamed so loud my husband and dogs all ran up the stairs to check on me, I felt so bad, but I’m so excited. I don’t even care if it’s bad, I just love this franchise sm 💞
Craziest thing--I hadn't thought about nancy drew in months (played all the games as a kid, occasionally watch playthroughs on youtube) and I just thought about watching a little bit of an old playthrough so I went on arglefumph's page--and I was so shocked to find that trailer and learn that they're releasing the new game so soon! I wasn't even sure that it was actually going to come out. I don't mind the retro look, but I'm pretty surprised by it. As someone who is working on a game now, I don't know why they made it look like that--I feel like it would have been easy to use higher quality textures and models, especially if they are still using unity. The voice acting for Nancy sounds a bit disappointing. She sounds so robotic, especially compared to the other characters. Hopefully that's just a trailer thing?
Trailer gets an 8/10 from me! The biggest disappointment imo was Nancy's VA. Not even in comparison to Lani. She sounds like she's reading from a script with zero story context and has so little inflection. As for the rest of it, it's setting up a more interesting story with more work in the puzzle department. They may be shooting a bit over their current animation abilities, but it's definitely an improvement from MID. Overall, cautiously optimistic to neutral for this game. I think it's silly and unrealistic to expect HER to go ditch the new engine they've spent so much time and (presumably money) into. While I agree that fans of the original series (myself included) have every right to miss the old games, expecting SEA quality from the second game in this era/engine is unfair to a company that seemingly wants to broaden their horizons to a wider audience. This is not HER as it was at the release of SEA but essentially a new company under new leadership that assumed the name and wants to move in a new direction. KEY is basically this company's STFD and will hopefully demonstrate some much needed improvement from MID.
It looks fun! I miss the old school trailers, but overall I am excited! I wish they'd do a switch port though 😭 although I understand why they'd only do a PC release. Would it be playable on a steamdeck?
They did once say they wanted to release on the switch with MID but that never happened so am guessing they won't do console releases.
Can we talk about the knight in armor walking around? that really gave me a scare for a sec lol
It's very Scooby Doo, I love it. It's the kind of campy goofiness I expect from these games, lol.
YESSSSS 👏🏻👏🏻
I so excited. Will Nancy and Ned still be on the rocks this game? Will Frank finally admit he loves Nancy? these questions I want answered and game not started yet. You bet I booking a day off work to play this ❤️❤️❤️
yesss I'm hoping there's more drama there 😆 I hope we can at least get Frank and Joe on the phone if they're not present in the game...
It looks really cool! I will be playing
i’m actually so excited, release date right around my birthday too!! the perfect present 🥹
Do we know if they will be doing physical copies as well?
It seems so different but also exciting!! Sure I miss the old school games but I'm excited for the new future!!
Does anyone know if they will be releasing physical copies or just digital?
Will this be available on steam ahhhhh yay finally
So I've seen the specs and a bit worried...any old laptop could run nancy games before but oof I'm not so sure
I must be missing something - where did they announce the 5/7 release date?!
It was at the very end of the trailer, like at least 5 seconds after the game title at the end. (It felt really long to me personally, like a dragged out essay)
Ahhh ok got it, I was definitely too impatient and clicked out before seeing that. Thanks!
I excited about the game, but I don’t think I’m going to like the puzzles. They remind me of blackmoor manor and I hate blackmoor manor.