It's Turtlesmind, back with another review. Today we have Message in a Haunted Mansion, which is the third in the game series. This game is probably in the first five of games I played and I have to admit had a pretty solid plot.
The Basics: So Nancy Drew: Message in a Haunted Mansion takes place in San Francisco, California where a friend of Nancy's Housekeeper Hannah Gruen is renovating an old victorian mansion. Homeowners Rose and Abby are renovating the house to turn it into an old fashioned bed and breakfast. After some mysterious accidents with the project, Hannah sends Nancy out to help. Some accidents consist of collapsing scaffolding and other common construction mishaps. It's up to you as Nancy Drew to salvage the project and get behind the source of these incidents.
Although the puzzles made sense with the plot,the inlay puzzle for example or fixing the dumbwaiter, for the first part of the game you do spend a lot of time playing Errand Girl Nancy, this is a common aspect of many Nancy Drew Games.
The graphics of this game have improved slightly from Stay Tuned for Danger, especially in the Character design. The characters no longer look like they are made out of clay. Quality of character design, I would have to say my favorite is Abby. The design of her head, hair, and body are good and her outfit and overall design match her voice and personality perfectly.
The Suspects:
Rose Green:
Rose is the owner of the house and can be found in the Dinning Room during the day. She give some information about the other characters, but not too much about the house overall. This information can be obtained by talking to Louis or phoning Emily.
Abby:
Abby is Rose's resident Psychic as well as her business partner. Abby is immediately determined that a ghost named Valdez is haunting the house and wants Nancy to leave. Abby seems to be in the game mainly to link Valdez to the game, apart from that she is mainly a flashing filler character. Entertaining nonetheless.
Charlie:
Charlie proves to be an interesting character. He can be found in the basement working on various renovation projects. My only complaint with this character is that he is voiced by the same person who voices Ned in previous game. This took away from the character for me.
Louis Chandler:
Last of course we have Louis, owner of Chandler Interiors, he specializes in Victorian antiques. He is therefore a lot of help when it comes to information about the era. Also I love any game that includes a laptop to break into.
I lliked the game, the puzzles were relatable, they could have been a little more difficult, but not bad. However I dislike when games have ends that aren't tied up by the conclusion. As mentioned with the key in Stay Tuned for Danger. In this game there is a box of old papers that catch fire in the parlor. My issue with this is not only do you never find out who did it, but you never find out why.... The papers didn't really fit into the game as per their significance.
Overall I enjoyed this game, the puzzles were okay, the characters had believable voice acting, and the plot was strong. That's why I am rating this game a 3/5.
Marathon Update: I have finished The Final Scene and plan to start Secret of the Scarlet Hand as soon as I have time.
Turtlesmind
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