#looksaboutwrong

Hey, hi, how you doing? Woah, did you get a new haircut? Clothes? Is that a new... face you've got there? Idk, it's been so long since I've seen your virtual face. But I'm back after giving in and just buying a new CUR. But TODAY (which by that I mean a shit long time ago) we're playing Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake. So let's dive into all the spoilery wonder.

Started: 09/08/13 - 7:10 pm

Finished: 09/08/13 - 11:00 pm

Yeah, I Skyped a lot during the game so it can still be done shorter.

When I was younger the opening scared the crap out of me. When those dogs started banging against the door... yeah I refused to leave the house until I realized I had to. Now I'm a bit disappointed that we don't see much of the dogs. I mean we see them twice. And we only see all of them once. Once when spooky, and once when cute. I would have liked to have gotten more time with the ghost dogs.

That being said the plot of this game I feel is under appreciated. I mean, speakeasy? Gangsters? Baddie that loves his animals more than anything? And gold? C'mon, it's a fun plot.

That being said, the overall mystery plot wasn't too strong. I felt like we did more chores than actually snooping or trying to figure out the mystery. Yes, we looked for the gold but that's hardly the mystery Nancy was set on solving in the beginning.

Music is okay. My thing is it didn't always fit the atmosphere. I liked the majority of the puzzles, but not so keen on the tasks that made you go to one place (birds, bugs, speakeasy cemetery entrance) only to find out you had to go alllll the way back and do something really trivial to continue on with something you already KNEW you could do. I mean that cemetaey... you had to go there to learn you needed a key and stuff, she forgets to tell you the REAL password so you have to go back out to call her, then your battery dies and you have to go all the way back out to go get one... it was tedious.

I have the word "Togi" written down in my notes and I honest to Bess have no clue what the heck THAT is supposed to mean.

Why are Hotchkiss' boots in that shed?

"A face only a gnome could love." - oh Nancy...

Let's get to the meat of the game which is as always the characters.

Sally McDonald: Can we talk about how awesome a character she is? She's a photographer, apparently very successful considering she bought a whole plot of land and has the money to fix it up. That being said too, all by her lonesome she's fixing up that place. Yeah, she left it but she was scared and for good reason. I don't think she's given enough credit or talked about enough. Wouldn't it be cool to talk to her again in another case involving like photographs or how to use a camera or something?

Vivian Burnett Whitmore: I liked her. I liked that she wasn't like "He was my one true love! Eternal love!" Granted there are some really sweet and cute love stories in the Nancy Drew series, I'm glad they showed that you can have had a relationship with someone and it was just... good. It wasn't the most amazing thing ever, it wasn't perfection or the ideal love. She had fond memories. I truly liked the portrayal of her and Mickey's relationship.

Eustacia Andropov: "Nancy Drew - the snoopy one. You're not dead yet?" Omg I love this woman. I wish she showed up more for no apparent reason like in this one. I just... enjoy her so much.

Now on to the actual characters you interact with and the suspects. Which unfortunately there is more positive to say about your phone buddies than these ones.

Jeff Akers: Did anyone really think that it was him? Like seriously? First off the whole motive of getting Sally off the land makes no sense. That would not guarantee the park getting it and I mean c'mon. No way he'd go through all that trouble when he has like a squirrel to ticket for littering acorns. Even the connection to Malone he had. If anything I felt that gave him less reason to go through with this. He was also pretty dull. And not just in the "he's meant to be dull way" he just literally... you can go a big chunk of the game without talking with him and he's not much to talk to anyway.

Red Knott: Okay seriously if you believed that Red Knott at any point and time was the one who did it GO SIT IN THE CORNER NOW. Except for the ones out there who thought he could be it because the culprit was too obvious, you can sit and cuddle next to me. Seriously? He trains a pack of dogs to scary Sally off for birds? Hello, he even talks about how Sally is okay because she doesn't bother him or the birds. And since I'm sure he knew she was a photographer I am sure he'd be more willing to let her stay. And I mean that platform HAS to be part of her property and she's letting him stay there. He had more to lose in her leaving than staying. He was just... tedious. Like you HAD to talk to him and it HAD to be at night. Like c'mon? It's not like he gave you much information anyway. 

Emily Griffin: What I love about a lot of Nancy Drew females is the diversity. In most games girls all look the same. The stereotypical pretty girl that blends in with all the other girls and typically is thin and has big boobs and they all generally dress the same. I'm glad for Emily's design. That being said, entering in our second female villain I gotta say I'm not impressed. She certainly had more personality than the other two, but that's really not saying much. She was the only one with a LOGICAL and OBVIOUS motive. I mean c'mon she ADMITTED to still getting stuff and did ANYONE really think for a second that it was through legit ways? She's the only one that didn't have a dog and was more into the myth of it. But still it was still a tad boring, even though I did laugh about her and the bone. 

Overall, I enjoyed this game, but not as much as I did when I was younger. The phone characters were the best part really.

Oh yeah, preview to CAR at the end is just a telephone call but it's actually far creepier than the actual game was.

Leah: Beeeeeennny! Noooooo. Well, I guess he always still has a chance of coming back. Unless he gets killed in purgatory in which case... wait, what happens if he dies in purgatory? Does he just get sent to...purgatory again? Or is that like...the end end end ennnd? Well anywho, we were like rooting for that hug because seriously they needed that hug before their broness was lost to purgatory. I hope he comes back even though I'm sure that's the last we'll see of him.

Khristiana: Really? You just threw Tiger Momma away with an offhand comment? I am disappoint. She deserved something better than that and really, REALLY? She just kept the address on her phone? I honestly don't think Momma Tran is that stupid. DISAPPOINT.

Leah: FINALLY a very well done female. Tiger momma was excellent, though seriously that comment about who Kevin's "real" father was... That had better be important supercasual otherwise why you make such a stupid comment? |:

Khristiana: Can we just talk about tiger mama some more? Because damn. She just up and decides to go along with this hunt for the tablet in order to protect her baby. She gets her tattoo done like a boss. She sucker punches the demon king of hell. And, this lovely lady also attempts to make a genuine, non super stupid/redundant sacrifice. I am impressed by her more than I was by Charlie's first appearance. Tiger mama is a mama done right. Shame about her ending up catatonic (?).

Leah: At least she didn't die...for now.

Khristiana: Well done Dabb and Loflin. Well done.

Khristiana: Hi there followers, we're coming to you from the downstairs entertainment room which we have now renamed the Den of Iniquity. It's full of tasty snacks and stuff! :9

Leah: We'll be ranting about different elements and feels we'll have during the episodes so if you've not seen all of S8 then read at your own risk for spoilers. They will be rants and feels so they may not be in order and probably won't make complete sense. :D

Khristiana: First things first, Jensen's voice does in fact absolutely get deeper every season. He shows up and asks where he is and I wanted to answer; "You in the woods, Batman."

Leah: My firsts thoughts on the little interaction he has with his brotha vampy is that, God, I hope this means his mentality of "KILL ALL THE THINGS NO QUESTIONS ASKED-BANG BANG-" is going to be eradicated.

Khristiana: Also, we keep seeing Sam with cute doggies. WHEN DOES SAM GET TO KEEP THE CUTE DOGGY? THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO ME.

Leah: Khristiana... he's a hunter. He can't have a dog. Even if the dog is a hunter dog, you know it's going to die. Which do you REALLY want that for Sam? And don't forget that it's chances of survival are even less if it's a girl dog. Omigod... if it was a girl dog they'd probably over sexualize it and call her a bitch. D: DO NOT WANT SAM TO HAVE A DOG.

Khristiana: Speaking of Sam; MOOSE WHY YOU NO LOOK FOR YOUR BROTHER AND HIS ANGEL BOYFRAN? And seriously, you couldn't keep your phone for an extra week and go help out Kevin? You abandoned that poor little Asian sweetness. You mother fucker. > : |

Leah: Why must they make all the females so shallow and unimportant? I get that she was possessed by a demon but srsly, I don't even remember her name and the episode is barely over.

Khristiana: And the same thing with Amelia, she did not impress me but then the majority of the writing for female characters does not impress me. UNIMPRESSED. >:|

Leah: As for the writer (Carver) for the first episode my only thought so far is the first episode is always plot and the setups always cause a mixture of wariness and excitement of episodes to come.

Hey, hi, how ya doing. Now we're off to play Treasure in the Royal Tower. Now I know this is typically a fan favorite, but I do see where some people can find it to be boring. However, I love the shit out of this game so onward to my thoughts, feelings, blah blah blah blah! Spoilers will occur. Take another look at that sentence. It does not say may it says will occur.

Started: 09/01/13 - 4:30 pm

Finished: 09/01/13 - 7:20 pm

Why is it that when I'm doing nothing and hoping to hear from people to fill the void that is laziness that no one contacts me, but the minute I start getting into a Nancy Drew game everyone wants to talk. |: Anywho, the game case said this gave up to 20 hours of gameplay and I laughed. However I am aware if you're new to the game or series that it may indeed take that long. And though I so far have gone through the games pretty quick I do NOT encourage anyone to rush through them. It may not seem like it but I still am taking my time on these games; I just know what to do already. I make sure to explore everywhere even when I know I don't have to look at everything, I talk to everyone, especially on the phone, as much as I can, and though we haven't reached a game that does this I WILL spend endless amounts of time doing mini-games and tasks like filling out food orders and such. Because I find those to be fun and that's the only reason you should go into playing a Nancy Drew game: to have fun.

And fun I did have. Much more to do in this game than the previous, character graphics improved quite a bit, and the castle itself was still quite beautiful. I love the music as well. Especially when you get a medallion, something about that music just makes me feel all chipper.

I loved all the books you got to read some stuff in, and enjoyed doing random tasks. This one had some pretty fun puzzles. I always love the mixed up pictures and the little garden puzzle was cute.

Now let's talk about the characters because I feel that is the real meat of this game.

Dexter Egan: Oh boy... where to start. Now of course he comes off as rude and the "get off my lawn you young hooligans!" old man, but man I really liked Dexter. Even though I know what it says, and I see it coming, I still get really emotional when I read the poem that Ezra wrote to Dexter. And the photo albums get me too. It's a really tragic story honestly. Dexter just got lost and made some bad choices and as such lost touch with the only person who I think truly cared for him. And poor Ezra, just trying to be a good father and getting so crushed to see his little boy grow up into someone he couldn't be proud of. But to find that poem and learn that Ezra truly forgave him and just wanted his son to know that they were good, and that adopting him was the best thing he ever did... I literally the first time playing this game scratched Dexter off my list of suspects because he's a good man and I knew he didn't do it.

Hotchkiss: I love this woman. I love how eccentric she is, how driven she is, how passionate she is, how her everything is. And the more I got to know her, especially after she started wanting to talk with you and share her research, I knew she didn't do it. She could never tarnish anything related to Marie. I am looking forward to talking with you again professor.

Jacques Brunais: I'm sorry, I know that tons of people in the fandom love him but I found him very dull. His STORY is interesting, he is dull. His whole reason for being there, the medallion, his bride to be, the fact that he was going to be deported, his desperation... Yes, his storyline was good. I just didn't click with him. I felt that his personality could have really popped, but it stayed buried. Also, I love the scene where you catch him in the act, because first when I was younger it shocked and thrilled me. Then it disappointed me because I was like "no... the game is already over? I caught the guy already?" Thankfully the game didn't end there. Although after that whole ordeal I figured it wasn't him.

Lisa Ostrum: Or whatever her real name is. I know in the game you can be all buddy buddy with her, and Nancy comments on how she's nice, and how she even scoffs at Ned's suggestion she may be a liar.... but I never once trusted her. When I was younger I would chose the options to be nicer and stuff to her because I wanted her to believe I didn't think she was suspicious. This time around I was straightforward in my dislike and distrust. That being said as much as I disliked her, I disliked her for all the right reasons which in turn makes her a great character. Here's why: first she is the first FEMALE villain. And she was the kind of character who kept up with Nancy. She was obviously more than just a journalist, and she pretty much was solving stuff just like Nancy was. Faster than Nancy at one point. She knew that Nancy was snooping around and even could tell when she'd figured something out. She was the typical "I want money and to live in the lap of luxury" and it fit her well. Not only that she was really intense in getting Nancy out of the way. She locked her in the elevator, hit her over the head with something at the lockers, locked her outside to freeze to death, then sprayed shit in her eyes, all while still pretending to be your friend and wanting to help you. I'm not saying she was the BEST villain, but she was a good one and I feel she was also a good first introduction to female villains.

Ha, it seems everyone has a copy of that Mattie Jensen magazine.

"It's not logical, it's revenge!" - Bess: This is a great quote as I feel it really does tell a lot. Revenge is never about logic.

-Jacques sobbing and having a moment about how he embarrassed himself in front of his family! his country! the world! It's ruined his world!-

Nancy: -completely changes the subject, not giving a shit about his sob story-

Nancy tactless Drew strikes again!

Can I just say one of the best parts of this game is the fact that it actual made you have to do some critical thinking. You had to first find away inside the library, which was fun and pretty simple. You had to think fast and choose to get back into the duct otherwise Dexter would find you. You had to dust for fingerprints to get the code for the library. And THEN you had to figure out how to get the elevator away from the Queen's tower entrance. In which case it made you have to think about it until you came to the answer of, okay I need to leave the elevator on the higher level so the entrance isn't blocked, steal the key to the library, dust for fingerprints, figure out the code, go into the library, disarm the alarm, then head into the duct where you can climb all the way down to the now unblocked Queen's tower. |: I've never felt so smart and amazed at what I could do, especially when I was little. THIS is an aspect of the Nancy Drew game that I always adore.

Ahem... the end.

Well until I come back for The Final Scene