Secret of the Scarlet Hand is my all time favorite ND game, which I know I kind of an unpopular opinion, but I’m an art and art history major and this game really tickles my museum loving fancy!!
I just want to say thank you. I'm a fellow detective who's been going through a really hard time lately where my stress level has been astronomical, but your videos have really been helping me keep it under control.
I was a little surprised by this! Some of my favourites ranked a lot lower than I thought. But as always so happy blue moon is appreciated 🫶 love that game! X
@WizardKittenYT alibi by ashes was the biggest surprise for me, everyone i talk to loves it! But then again I can understand people not getting over the changing characters all the time 🤣 Silent Spy is another I was surprised by!!! Those two are firmly in my top 5 🫶
This was such a fun video, and awesome editing work! 🥳 Binge rewatched a few of your older videos after watching this one, and that gave me a video idea: you could make an analysis of Mystery of the Seven Keys based on the analyses/rankings you've done over the years of different games of the series, like how would you evaluate the culprit and their motive (evil, not evil, etc), the love language of the characters, stuff like that 🧐 I think lots of us fellow detectives will be excited to see where you place the new game in the context of your older videos on the series, and also will fit in perfectly in the current "revisiting older content" season we're having
I was listening to this list and thinking “where did HeR go wrong?” If we’re being honest, beside GTH and SEA, most of the new were considered the worst. I think with those games we tend to have a hard time seeing the forest through the trees. They tend to get picked apart and, as I’ve said before, we are harder on certain flaws than the games we love. For example, elements such as character design, clunky movements, lack of things to do… etc will get graded harshly in those games and will not in games we love. I say this because I want to know where the real issues are. What is it that makes those games so bad and where does HeR need to focus their efforts? This list helped that so much because what I saw in ratings are the characters and story line (story line includes things to do as well as interact with). It seems that people prefer likable, well developed characters and a well developed story line that includes good playability to anything else. We see this because games like MHM are beloved unlike others. It seems that all the little quirks are forgivable if the game is executed correctly. I think HeR probably needs to focus on their writing above all else. We don’t need hyper realistic and large environments. We need good and well developed story lines and characters. Okay, I’ll get off my soapbox.
I really appreciate how much work must have gone into this! It was really fun to see the comparisons between your rankings and the fellow detectives. One that was really low that I rank high is STFD. It's a lot because of nostalgia as it was the second game I played, but there is more too it. Sure it has limited puzzles, but I love what's there. Some scenes like the bomb scene are really tense. The location is fun with an amazing soundtrack. The dialogue is strong, and there is so much detail! I really like the day to night mechanism too. It really shows how even with so much consensus, there can still be a lot of variation in taste.
I wish GTH was a bit higher, but I’m so happy it made the top ten! Definitely one of the best modern era games! That spook factor mixed in with the soundtrack, chills. All I can say.
I have 4 top-tier untouchable ND games, two of which are overwhelming fan faves (TRT, TRN), and two of which are… not (CAP, SPY). I’m glad to see that CAP is getting more appreciation now, bc I have never understood the dislike for it- great characters, decent story, solid puzzles. On the other hand, I do get why a lot of people don’t love SPY. But I love it 🤷🏻♀️ On the flip side, I’m always surprised at how beloved DDI and CAR are. They never quite grabbed me in the nostalgia like the other classic era games.
@@NicheReferences I appreciate Spy and rank it higher than most. The spy thriller vibes, adventure and emotional connection to Nancy's mom sell it for me. Captive Curse I'm not a huge fan of because it revolves so much around a monster than doesn't really exist, and I prefer some reality in the games. Now I thought if they had ended it with Nancy being driven away in a car with a monster lurking out of the trees growling as the car drives off I would probably rank it higher because then you don't know when the monster was real or when it was Anya dressed up, and it would make for an interesting ending.
I'm replaying CAP and for me it's suuuper dialogue heavy. I also get lost in the halls and the forest, so I'd rate it lower down. But I agree on DDI. It's just okay for me.
I really enjoyed participating in this survey & feel like most of the rankings are spot on! One difference I noticed with myself is I may have ranked Deadly Device, Tomb of the Lost Queen and Labyrinth of Lies higher for their immersive environments and challenging puzzles possibly over characters / plot...
I'm surprised Mystery of the Seven Keys was so low. I wish HER would just have the common sense to go back to making new games in the style of the old ones from the early 2000s. It would probably be cheaper too unless somehow its more expensive than rendering full 3d environments. They could even use the old engine. It's clear that the only people interested in these games are the long time fans, who would buy them regardless of how dated they would look.
I think just sadly the old engine is just well too… old! While not my all time fav, KEY was solid to me and made me more optimistic about future games, so I’m excited to see where the company goes from here!
I actually preferred Midnight in Salem to Mystery of the 7 keys 😅. Don't get me wrong, it's still bad, (and wouldn't even run at first for me) but there was just so much frustration with KEY and so many glitches. The puzzles were insanely hard at times (I'm looking at you gemstones and any puzzle in the alchemy room).
Prioritizing an exciting story, lush environments and/or more adventure style games with very little character switching, I tried to make my list objective and subjective both. Also with the exception of Blackmoor, my top games also have my favorite endings. I don't include Salem or Keys because I haven't played them, but watching them on stream they would probably be at the very bottom. 32. The Shattered Medallion 31. Alibi in Ashes 30. The Deadly Device 29. Secrets Can Kill 28. Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake 27. Message in a Haunted Mansion 26. The Creature of Kapu Cave 25. Secret of the Old Clock 24. The Captive Curse 23. Tomb of the Lost Queen 22. Shadow at the Waters Edge 21. Stay Tuned for Danger 20. Random of the Seven Ships 19. Trail of the Twister 18. The Haunted Carousel 17. Secret of the Scarlet Hand 16. The Silent Spy 15. White Wolf of Icicle Creek 14. The Haunting of Castle Malloy 13. Labyrinth of Lies 12. Sea of Darkness 11. Curse of Blackmoor Manor 10. Treasure in the Royal Tower 9. The Final Scene 8. Danger on Deception Island 7. The Secret of Shadow Ranch 6. Ghost of Thornton Hall 5. Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon 4. Warnings at Waverly Academy 3. Danger by Design 2. Legend of the Crystal Skull 1. The Phantom of Venice
@ Yes I'm a fan! It took me several play throughs to master all the puzzles, but now I can enjoy it for the drama, fun plot and ending :) It's a high stakes game similar to Venice that's another bonus.
My top ten as of recently Wizard at waverly academy Final scene Shadow at the waters edge Curse of blackmoor manor Message in a haunted mansion Phantom of venice Ghost of thorton hall Alibi in Ashes The silent spy Danger by design
Some initial thoughts before posting my list separately: It's interesting Shadow Ranch swept the Oscars post this year, but Last Train won out here. Also in keeping with the Oscars results, Crystal Skull seems to be gaining in popularity which I love (it's my #2 game). Surprised Waters Edge ranks this high despite a good story and characters, to me it gets bogged down by some of the puzzles and the length/pacing of the game. Same with Alibi in Ashes, the character switching to me is annoying, disorganized, and the interactive town map with the fast track car gives me anxiety. Glad Phantom is a top 15, but for me it deserves top 10 status also, and Danger by Design at least top 15 that's an underrated game all around in my view. Both of those games I have in my top 3 as well🕵🏼♀️
All the things you list for why GTH is great I think it massively fails at, which is why it will always be in my bottom five and is comparable with MID. I started playing these games in my 20s, so have absolutely no nostalgia for any of them, but its clear to me that 9-13 and WAC/SAW are the pinnacle of ND games, generally speaking. Utterly astonished SPY did as well as it did too! Thank you for all the time and effort you put in to collating this information and making the video. I'm really chuffed for you that you got so many people taking part!
@@sophinda6292 I want Spy higher along with Design and Labyrinth! All exciting stories and adventure in my book. I can see why people may not like Twister though.
I am quite new to Nancy Drew games (I started playing a few years ago, not in my childhood) so I don't have any sentimental feelings attached to any game. And for me, the game I rank the lowest is Message in the Haunted Mansion... It was so boring to me and it was the only ND game I did not enjoy playing and just wanted it to end. Luckily it was short. I have to say, I didn't play the worst ranked ND games like Midnight in Salem or Shuttered Medalion, I played 19 of them so far. And the top 5 for me is: 1. Shadows at the water's edge, 2. Curse of Blackmoor Manor, 3. Sea of Darkness, 4. The secret of Shadow Ranch, 5. Ghost of Thornton Hall. I would rank Last Train at maybe 10th place.
I must be one of the only detectives who dislikes deception island and the Haunted carousel 🤣 but I did love stay tuned for danger and most of the very old games. Those are just so unique and nostalgic with amazing soundtracks compared to the newer games. Ghost of blackmoor and treasure in the royal tower will always be #1 for me!
I so appreciate that you played the corresponding soundtracks as you spoke about each game. Points for you. I must be in the minority-I would trade out TOT for CRE in the ranking. I would have put HAU higher and DAN lower, that’s just me. I can’t bear for iDED to be ranked so low. 🤷♀️ All that said, I mostly expected most of the rankings.
Some of it seems to be what you are willing to tolerate. I'd rather hate a game than be bored by it. So kapu cave, shattered medallion, and trail of the twister are at the bottom for me while midnight in salem is higher up
Games 4, 5, 7, and 23 are on my top 5 🤷🏻♀️ Captive Curse is underrated, as is Raid. The game opens with a Monty Python joke, what more could you want in an opening?
I'm not sure if going by points is the best way to do it, as it seems to blend exposure and quality, and games 1, 2, 20 and 34 are going to be handicapped. When I ran online Star Trek episode polls, it used the same system (1-5 stars), but every episode was given a straight average, followed by number of votes received. People could decide for themselves if a 4.2 rating based on 100 votes was better than a 4.1 rating based on 400 votes. Another thing I tried to do was run Standard Deviations to see how controversial an episode was. An episode with a hundred votes, all of them 3's is, of course, much less controversial than one with fifty 1 votes and fifty 5 votes, even though they would both have the same average. I'd also like to know things like how many games respondents had played, on average. A person who had played Secrets Can Kill and nothing else, might give it a 5 rating because they have nothing to compare it to. They'd probably have a different rating if they'd played a dozen games.
@GraemeCree fair points. As I started crunching the numbers, they started to pretty accurately reflect what I've anecdotally learned to be community opinions over the years. So for a fun little video, I deemed them sufficient 👍
@@sophinda6292 Well Venice should be high lol But yes Captive Curse is just okay for me. I'm a bigger fan of White Wolf again after another play through. It made my top 15.🕵🏼♀️ Where do you place them ?
Some initial thoughts before posting my list separately: It's interesting Shadow Ranch swept the Oscars post this year, but Last Train won out here. Also in keeping with the Oscars results, Crystal Skull seems to be gaining in popularity which I love (it's my #2 game). Surprised Waters Edge ranks this high despite a good story and characters, to me it gets bogged down by some of the puzzles and the length/pacing of the game. Same with Alibi in Ashes, the character switching is annoying, disorganized, and the interactive town map with the fast track car gives me anxiety. Glad Phantom is a top 15, but for me it deserves top 10 status also, and Danger by Design at least top 15 that's an underrated game all around in my view. Both of those games I have in my top 3 as well🕵🏼♀️
