Nancy Drew: Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake

released on Nov 01, 2002

Hunt for Clues on the Trail of a Pack of Phantom Hounds!


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I don't know what to say about this one. I didn't finish the game because it can get super frustrating. The game is old, I'll give it that, and it's extremely confusing at local rotations. I couldn't understand where to go simply because the game's system was confusing.
I love hidden objects games and I'll admit that this was the oldest I've tried - I wasn't expecting it to be so odd since the images look quite neat and Nancy Drew is very famous in these type of games but meh...

Also, the dub was weird. Too theatrical

Love love love it. Love the setting, love (most of) the puzzles, the characters, the atmosphere.

I got the same chills from Emily saying "Yodle-eh hee-hoo!" as I do during the Hannibal Lecter scenes in Silence of the Lambs.

pretty alright but the forest maze gives me a headache

I'm just going start by saying that outside of the books series which I have never read, I don't know much about Nancy Drew other than the fact she is a young female detective that solves various mysteries. I didn't even know they made Nancy Drew video games until I saw the Game Grumps Animated: Shot and Missed by Oryozema on Youtube. After laugh crying through the entire skit, I had to know what this was and if this game really existed, so I went to Arin and Dan's (The Game Grumps) channel to watch them play Nancy Drew: The White Wolf of Icicle Creek. After watching an episode, I was sold on the game's cheesy lines and bad graphics. So, it was an easy buy when I found a bundle that went on sale on Steam.

Nancy Drew: Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake is a point-and-click game much like the Artifex games where you point at objects to interact with them or to pick up the objects for later to be able to progress in the game like for instance a water bottle or pile boards. The game also has puzzles for the player to solve to be able to progress with the game and story, but unlike the Artifex games there is no skip option, so you have to solve them either by yourself or with a guide. I found some puzzles enjoyable and others very annoying. Of course, it didn't help that some of the puzzles reset like a puzzle that unlocks a secret door meaning you have to solve it every time you need to go through which is a very poor design choice. The game does provide you with ways to get hints by either calling some of Nancy's friends or by using an item that looks like a tablet which is kind of strange because I didn't think they made tablets back then. I found the tablet more useful than calling by phone because you always had it in your inventory, rather than going back to the cabin to use the rotary phone.

You also explore the world in the same way as other point and clicks; by moving the cursor on certain parts of the screen to either move closer to inspect an object closer, or to move to the next area. I thought controls in this game felt like tank controls which felt out of place in a point and click game. The controls are very hard to get use to and it made moving through the woods especially bad because that area in itself is already confusing without having to deal with bad controls on top of it.

I guess since I brought it up, the woods are probably the worst thing about this game because of how hard it is to navigate in that particular area. They give you a shitty map and some poorly placed landmarks but believe me it doesn't help. I have to wonder if they had testers when they designed that part because who in their right mind would play that and be like "Yeah, this is fun!". What's worse is the game constantly has you go through the woods over and over again sometimes for the stupidest things like collecting bugs because Nancy, this amazing detective, wasn't smart enough to bring her wallet even though she can solve a mystery about a bunch ghost dogs.

The story in the game is pretty decent though, but nothing mind blowing. I did enjoy solving the mystery, though I felt that the reveal and confrontation with the criminal was a bit anti-climactic. I also didn't find the story to be that suspenseful, except for a couple of times in the game. I think it's because I never felt like Nancy was ever in danger. The game lets you switch the game from day to night, by having Nancy go upstairs to bed and by being able to switch between the time of day, you can actively avoid ever encountering the dogs which only appear at night as mentioned in the game. Outside of bug hunting in the forest and talking to one specific character, there really is no reason to ever explore at night making it almost seem pointless.

Overall:

Even though Nancy Drew: Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake definitely shows it age, it isn't a terrible point and click game. However, I don't think most modern gamers will have the patience for the cheesy dialogue, outdated graphics, or terrible controls. I do think that if you're someone who likes old PC games and/or is a fan of Nancy Drew than you'll probably like this game.

Pro:
+ decent characters
+ good story
+ game offers hints through phone calls and tablet.

Cons:
-world exploration is confusing
-the layout of the forest is terrible
-frustrating controls


much better than i remember, i think i just hated the layout of the forest maze (and still do)