Reviews for Nancy Drew: Shadow at the Water's Edge

Hey Fishies! What do you think of Nancy Drew: Shadow at the Water's Edge? We value your reviews, as do many of the other fishies in our pond, so feel free to post your thoughts about the game in this thread! You can also add a note stating if you played the trial or full version and how far you have gotten in the game so other players can get more out of your review!

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Happy gaming!

bfgImbrium

It's not possible to review a game unless there is a one-hour trial available. Why is there never a trial for the Nancy Drew games? Please don't even ask what we think of a game if we can't try it.

I bought this one directly from the developer, so I've played it all the way through already--It's really a great entry in the series! One of the best Nancy Drew games in a while, actually. Lots of interesting places to explore, challenging puzzles, and not too many tedious chores to complete.

I would warn people, though, that it's pretty scary in comparison with the other games...I definitely kept the lights on while I played it!

I love the Nancy Drew games to the point I don't wait for them to become available on this site. I don't normally review games, but as you can't try them first I thought I'd give it a go.

The Story -
After successfully solving the case in the last game, Mr Krolmeister is sending her on an all paid vacation to Japan. Luckily Bess and George will be in Japan at the same time for a convention, so she can still count on their help. Not long after arriving at the ryokan Nancy realises that there is something wrong, a ghost is scaring guests away from the beautiful little inn, a ghost connected with an incident that no one will talk about.
Can Nancy find out who, or what, is scaring the guests away before the ryokan has to close?

The Characters -
Bess and George are contactable by telephone as always, and there is a lot more interaction with them in this game than previously.
As for the mystery specific characters:
Yumi - Fun-loving owner of a bento stand and eventual heir to the ryokan. Only she doesn't want it. Either way though, Yumi is sweet, funny and completely mad. You have to love her. Is she sabotaging the ryokan to avoid having to run it in the future?
Takae - The traditional Japanese grandmother, she abides by long set customs which rarely gives her much more modern granddaughters what they want. Is she trying to bring them together and into line by creating conflict?
Miwako - The obedient granddaughter who runs the ryokan, which she will never own. She's sweet but very restrained and doesn't seem able to have fun. Then again maybe she's having fun at the guests' expense in revenge?
Rentaro - Miwako's boyfriend, the handy man who is obsessed with puzzles. He's cute, funny and determined to succeed in the tech industry. Is he trying to drive the guests away in order to make Miwako leave?

The Puzzles -

This game has a lot of Japanese number puzzles, so if you don't like them it might not be for you. However walkthroughs are available so if you want to just use that to skip through you can, as there is no skipping option. This game is moderately difficult, a little tricky in areas, but I got through it in average time so it isn't too bad.

Overall - This game is scary at times, it's the first time I have actually screamed at a game. The puzzles are good, the characters are lively and the atmosphere is there with great graphics and music. If you like adventure games and don't mind number puzzles this is the game for you! HIH!

Spoiler Alert: this game has a lot of twists and turns like another game and its subways. Grrrrrrrrr.

Also , someone posted the developers website to get the trial mode version. A bit of a spoiler alert warning. it downloads to your document file and it took me over an hour to delete all the doubled and tripled parts to this game. best to delete 10 or less at a time. A no buy for me.Otherwise have fun.

Excellent review Cosmoscos

good job Cosmoscos

ghstmyst wrote:It's not possible to review a game unless there is a one-hour trial available. Why is there never a trial for the Nancy Drew games? Please don't even ask what we think of a game if we can't try it.

This thread is for reviews. A review can be of the actual game, not just a demo.

I agree with the others - great review, Cosmoscos! Buying this as soon as my monthly credit arrives.

I prefer reviews based on the whole game, not just the demo- i can play that myself.

anyway, thanks Cosmoscos! I hate Japanese number puzzles so your review helped me a lot.

good job!

My only comment is that I buy every Nancy Drew that comes out here at BFG since I have been a member. I figure I can wait but never hesitate to buy once BFG has it because I know EVERY Nancy Drew game is going to be a good game (I personally own about 15 of them now with half coming from BFG). You always get at least 12 to 20 hours of play to complete so for my $6.99 (or coupon) it is ALWAYS good value. JMHO

Lean

Edit: I had NO problem with download or install Windows 7 on my laptop done while I wrote my comment above (2 minutes) So sorry for those of you who had trouble!

This is an absolute MUST for Nancy Drew fans. My daughter and I couldn't wait so we bought it over a month ago from the developer's website. It is by far the scariest of them all. I even screamed out loud in one part. We couldn't play it at night because it was so scary.

This one is perhaps one of our favorites because we love learning about Japanese culture and the characters are wonderful. The additional Suduko, Renagrams, and Nonagrams were interesting and become games in and of themselves. DD especially loved making the Bento boxes. Gameplay is basically like all the other Nancy Drew games so it is wonderful as well. Graphics are awesome and the game is really long. The strategy guide isn't necessary as you can find the answer to any questions on the developer's website, but if you don't want to go through the extra effort of exiting the game, getting to the developer's website, searching for the answer for your question, it would be very helpful. For $6.99, this game is an awesome deal!

For those that like to play a demo before they purchase, there is an hour demo at the developers site for this game and other other Nancy Drew games that are offered at BF. All the ND games are pretty much the same type so you could play the demo there and see if you like it, then come back and purchase the game here for a lot less.

So this is copy and pasted from something I happened to write in another thread last night before I knew this game would be released.

"I bought this game from the developer's website on sale. It is a good game but some of the puzzles will frustrate you like crazy.
I actually could not finish the game because towards the end there is a puzzle that is timed and I'm just not fast enough. I tried so many times but it became a chore so I eventually gave up. "

I wish HER Interactive would do something about the dialogue. There is just way too much and you can't skip through it. Towards the end it gets to be too much.

Even though I could not finish the game I would still give the game 4 stars.

great review cosmoscos. sounds like it has a bit of the movie "The Grudge" theme going on. I loved that movie. I just may buy this one. Thanks to you and all reviews.

rosie28sammy wrote:This is an absolute MUST for Nancy Drew fans. My daughter and I couldn't wait so we bought it over a month ago from the developer's website. It is by far the scariest of them all. I even screamed out loud in one part. We couldn't play it at night because it was so scary.

This one is perhaps one of our favorites because we love learning about Japanese culture and the characters are wonderful. The additional Suduko, Renagrams, and Nonagrams were interesting and become games in and of themselves. DD especially loved making the Bento boxes. Gameplay is basically like all the other Nancy Drew games so it is wonderful as well. Graphics are awesome and the game is really long. The strategy guide isn't necessary as you can find the answer to any questions on the developer's website, but if you don't want to go through the extra effort of exiting the game, getting to the developer's website, searching for the answer for your question, it would be very helpful. For $6.99, this game is an awesome deal!

For those that like to play a demo before they purchase, there is an hour demo at the developers site for this game and other other Nancy Drew games that are offered at BF. All the ND games are pretty much the same type so you could play the demo there and see if you like it, then come back and purchase the game here for a lot less.

Great tip Rosie! I knew I had demo'ed some of the ND games but since I have been with BFG had forgotten we could do that at HER interactive! I do so love the ND games and any true "adventure" game. I also agree with you Crazybluegirl200 the dialog is a bit much & I would like to be able to FF (fast forward) with a click but alas ..... You can get a walkthrough if you google it (walkthrough for Nancy Drew : Shadow at the Water's Edge) and find several sites that will give it for FREE. That is my big complaint with BFG that they want us to pay for a "stratagey guide" when the complete wallkthroug WITH ALL PUZZLE'S SOLUTIONS is FREE..... Sorry BFG but I think that is a rip off big time..... JMHO

Lean

I can't believe I missed the day SAW came to BFG! Then again I thought we'd have to wait until at least the next 25th game comes out by Her Interactive.

Anyway, I am over the moon SAW is available here, because it is a wonderful game:

+
* There are huge areas to explore
* Lots of puzzles to do - and sorry, guys, but I do like sudokus and all that other stuff
* Really scary in two places (I had to close my eyes) and creepy
* Music is as wonderful as always - creepy and beautiful
* Interesting, funny characters
* Lots of snooping to do
* You get to learn about japanese culture - which I personally love, Japan is my second favourite country after UK
* There are 4! easter eggs to get
* All kinds of funny ways to earn awards at the end
* Lots of thigs to collect
* Lots of "cookies", items from other earlier games

-
* Well, there is this thing, you can't skip dialogue, BUT I must say I would be disappointed if they changed it - it's just a part of ND games as I love them.
* There are a few big, hard and frustrating puzzles (then again there are walkthroughs all over the internet)
* Metro system is a bit of a nuisance to figure out

Overall, I think SAW is one of the top ND games and definitely worth buying.



tuskel,
sincerely

From all of the new ND games, this one is my favorite.
To make things short, this is what I thought about it:

Pluses:
- Japanese feel to it: Yumi apartment is a spot on, really Japanese.
- Scary!! I love it!

Minuses:
- We don't get to explore much. We're in Kyoto, the old capital of Japan, yet we are going to the expo and pachinko. I would love Nancy to explore old temples or shrines.
- I would love the characters to speak to each other in Japanese. Yumi doesn't sound Japanese at all, even when she says 'chan'.
- We only play at night.
- random puzzles that changes everytime and no skip button sometimes make it frustrating to solve.

I'm sorry that I write more 'minuses' than 'pluses' but this is a good game. And much cheaper too, in my opinion, than from the game developer (I bought it there a few months back when it was first released.). Those who want to try the demo can do so from the dev.

Those of us who have played ND in the past (sigh, yes, I used to pay full price for these games--thank goodness BFG has them now!) we know what to expect, so a lack of trial is no problem.

For those who have never played ND, perhaps this will give you an idea:

These are adventure games, no H0G scenes or sparkles, and you really need to look carefully around each scene. There is a LOT of conversation (which can get annoying), but you can often pick the right or wrong things to say. You have a checklist of things to get done. As you complete each task, you check them off.

These games also include Easter eggs and awards for completing certain games multiple times. If you get stuck in one place (which happens often), you can go play the games over again at different levels (and think about what you need to do next). In this one, you have Sudoku, Nonograms, Bento, Pachinko and one other game (I forget the name) that you can play multiple times. The puzzles get more challenging as you progress. If you get stuck, there is no "skip" but there are walk-throughs available online, so you can always go there. (By the way, you do NOT need to complete all the games--so basically you can skip them. You just won't get the award!)

You have a cell phone with which you can take photos, call people and set your alarm to wake up when everyone else is asleep so you can sleuth around.

There are two levels, Junior Detective and Senior Detective from which you can choose. I find Junior difficult! I always have to refer to a walk-through.

Often, you have to find ways to travel around. Once you figure out the proper routes, you are often given shortcuts to get to destinations.

As a side note, I find Nancy one of the worst voice actors ever in a game!!! Lol!! But I still enjoy these, and will continue to purchase them. Shadow at the Water's Edge is a longer game, and I appreciated that.

If you are curious about these games, the tornado game is one of the easiest (and, sadly, shortest) ND games I have ever played. It is, however, a great way to introduce yourself to the genre. It would be a credit well-spent.

Oooh, long review, but I hope this gives you some info on what type of game it is, and for some of us, these are very fun and rewarding!! Happy gaming!

Tremendous review, Waazzaa! I am a huge Nancy Drew fan. I have every game now except for the 4th one I think (most of which I also paid the $20 full price). I never need to trial these because at this point I plan to own every Nancy Drew game that comes out! I agree that Nancy's voice acting has always seemed very corny to me, too, but the game play is good enough that it makes up for it. I actually think Bess and George's voice acting is pretty good.

I have to admit that I got addicted to the puzzles in the game. It took me days to finish the whole thing because I kept wanting to solve another sudoku or nanogram puzzle. haha! I was glad that after figuring out how to get to each destination on the train, a shortcut was made which made it easy to go back and forth. The grandmother's dialogue was the only one that really annoyed me because she talked so slowly and you can't skip through it. Other than that, I loved the spooky atmosphere and challenging puzzles.

This is one of my favorites, but I still think the best are Legend of the Crystal Skull, Warnings at Waverly Academy, and Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon.

scarletgunn wrote:I prefer reviews based on the whole game, not just the demo- i can play that myself.

anyway, thanks Cosmoscos! I hate Japanese number puzzles so your review helped me a lot.

good job!

Yes, ditto what scarletgunn said. I can play the demo myself, but I'd rather not waste an hour if others don't like it. Typically, if a game gets good reviews *and* has a demo, I'll demo it for about 5-10 minutes just to confirm my own opinion, and then buy.

As for Nancy Drew games, there are enough followers who have played every single game, and give us a heads up, I don't need a demo. I know which ND games I didn't enjoy as much, so if somebody compares it to one of those, that's my warning not to bother.

Thanks for your reviews everybody, they are invaluable!

i really enjoy the ND games and wasnt disappointed with this one i did jump a couple of times and sat laughing to myself for doing this. I have to agree with previous comments on dialogue feel like your sat for ages waiting for them to finish talking all in all a good game (i did have to refer to walkthrough once or twice)