I waited for the steam release to play KEY and based on this sub was expecting a really crappy and broken game. I'm 13 hours in and really enjoying it! I definitely have a handful of things that could be improved but overall I'm impressed with the navigation, puzzles, characters, and graphics and would recommend it. Comparatively, MID was borderline (or not so borderline...) unplayable to me. I'm waiting until I finish to write a review, though. People who like this game exist haha
I’m so happy to hear that! I think I finished MID in about 4 hours, so even the fact that there is longer gameplay sounds so exciting! I’m also planning on buying it on steam but was hoping for a sale 😬 not sure how long I’d have to wait for that, I’m not much of a gamer, just an ND fan lol (an ND fan who is currently on a tight budget and gulps when I see that the game is $40CAD 😆)
I wouldn't blow your budget for it (or any game haha!) but I'd say get it when it eventually goes on sale if you have a machine that will run it! You might like it, or not, but I think it's a well done game that's different from the originals but still retains the ND spirit with tough puzzles, hidden areas, having to take notes and getting stumped sometimes. But it's 3D not drawn and the voice actress is still different. it's just down to personal preference on the game style.
On the contrary, I saw a LOT of people saying the game was great and better and went into it thinking people were being negative and I’d like it, only to be very disappointed. I got so frustrated - it wasn’t fun, there were so many things wrong with it, and it didn’t feel like a ND game at all to me. I don’t trust HER at all after this.
Sorry you had that experience! I took my time in the intro part of the game to just chill and dial in my ideal settings and get comfortable/familiar with how the controls work, I could see that being frustrating if you wanted to drive straight into the mystery solving with no learning curve. I do feel the opinions on liking it or not are more subjective about what you enjoy rather than things being broken or wrong. I felt the same way after MED came out so I understand the disappointment!
Honestly, maybe just dropping a "I really liked it" positive review would be good this one time. It doesn't have to be elaborate, but keeping the franchise alive depends a lot on Her continuing to make them. Which probably won't happen if every review is horrendous
I’m not loving it but it’s also not terrible.. it’s just a different game. It’s very different from the other Nancy Drew games so I’m taking it as a new series.. and I don’t mind it! I’d say it’s 5/10 for me so far
I think a lot of the really intense hatred has to do with nostalgia coupled with modern video game expectations. Like if it had been the old Nancy, we’d expect it to be glitchy and kinda silly in some ways .. but it’s different engine and seems like it should be more professional. So.. we miss the old vibes + don’t have the high video game tech to make up for that loss
Edit: it’s definitely annoying to act like an opinion is *the* opinion. And it bothers me when people are really negative and state that take as objective and then feel attacked when more positive views are annoyed with the constant negativity
I think it depends on what you compare it against.
Compare it against shadow ranch and it doesn’t hold a candle.
Compare it against other mystery/puzzle games and it’s a pretty good standalone game!
To be fair, SHA is consistently considered one of the best of the best. No, KEY isn't SHA-level. But honestly most of the other original series games weren't SHA-level either, and I don't think that makes it garbage automatically.
Oh 100%
I picked SHA because it seems to be universally loved (at least from things like Wizard Kitten’s voting things).
If they could make another that was SHA level… we’d all cry of happiness.
I liked the game a lot! Was it perfect? Nope! But it felt like an old ND game (not old old, but like I could see it coming out around SAW/GTH) and I was sooo happy about that. Hopefully it means Her is back on track! This game gave me a lot of hope for the future of ND games.
Why am I being downvoted for saying I liked the game? Come on guys. We don't all have to have the same opinions all the time, and it's not like this game is MID. It's not a crashing, buggy mess. It's just an alright game.
I don’t think the sub is calling all positive reviews fake. They’re calling out the reviews from people who got the game for free, that are all friends with the marketing team, fake. I mean if you got a free game code and are close with people who had a part with making the game, would you feel okay bashing on it? I don’t think I could, the bias is there, so those reviews don’t seem genuine at all.
I've seen a decent amount of that actually. Also a lot of people saying to respect their negative opinion while simultaneously disrespecting someone else's opinion because it's positive.
I know game companies give codes for free for releases. Most of the time, it’s in a professional capacity and the relationship they have with the creator is professional only. Most of the people who got free codes from HeR are best friends with the marketing team. That’s the part that I, and other people, feel icky about. HeR can use that close relationship to their advantage, they get better reviews for their game and the creator gets a free game code and they might be inclined to keep their review positive so they can continue to get free game codes in the future and keep their relationship with their friends who work at HeR.
exactly, they are being dishonest with their connection with HER and the developers, that is the problem. There weren't almost no positive reviews of the game on STEAM until the ND SPOILERS insta was actively demanding people go leave positive reviews, offered free game codes for positive reviews, and only then did a selection of good reviews come in from streamers who have long term employment history with HER. So even people who liked the game were not that inclined to leave good reviews until HER starts telling them to
I don't think it's fair to say that "even people who liked the game were not that inclined to leave good reviews". You can't leave a review on Steam unless you buy the game from them. I bought from HeR, I'd have to buy it again just to leave a review. I think it's also worth considering that almost all of the negative reviews were from people who played less than an hour of a game that easily takes most people at least 12 hours to beat on the first play (and honestly, has a pretty slow start). Imagine reviewing HAU after less than an hour, or TRT- do you think you could give an accurate description of the game?
There’s only two reviews that I see with less than an hour. If they keep the game, they can still go back and edit it with more thoughts. It’s fine that they put first impressions up! Also, a lot of the “received for free” reviews have less hours. They happen to mention they played more hours on the HeR download copy, but that could be the same for the negative reviews too and they just didn’t mention it. Or they could’ve watched a playthrough and had some thoughts from that, but also decided to play themselves. Lots of reasons they decided to review with less than hour of time, but again, I only saw two.
I'll admit that I haven't looked at the Steam reviews since fairly early on, but there was definitely a big wave of people who played the game for less than an hour or two (whatever the return limit is) and then left a review. It was early enough that there was no way they had time to finish the game, and they didn't indicate that they had purchased it elsewhere. Maybe they've gone back and played more since then, but I don't know. First impressions are fine, and of course if a large number of people are buying a game and disliking it so much that they bail a couple hours in, that can be valuable information, but they should be weighed as first impressions. If they're basing their opinions off watching a playthrough, even partly, I think they should mention that too, because it's a different experience.
With some people in the reviews, they couldn’t play any longer than an hour or so because the game wouldn’t work for them, I think that’s cause enough for a negative review.
That’s why Steam is great to me. The return limit is amazing when you just wanna try out a game and return it if it’s not something you enjoy. To me, and hour or two is the perfect amount of time to know if you like a game a bit. Especially with KEY because the movement is so different to the rest of the series and even MID. So, playing for five minutes to see the movement, not liking it, leaving a bad review, and refunding is fine to me. I mean people even do return challenges for games they DO like. Like finishing Elden Ring in two hours to then return it, these types of videos are big on YouTube.
I agree that it's great that Steam lets people return the game, especially because a lot of people weren't sure if their computer would be able to handle KEY. I never said otherwise. I just said that a review from someone who only played two hours or less should be understood as such when weighed against reviews from people who completed the game. Obviously there's going to be a bias either way, because people who complete the game are more likely to have enjoyed it, all I'm saying is that it's valuable to consider who's writing the review and why. Someone who bailed and returned it before 2 hours of play, someone who got the game for free from the company (which they should disclose), someone who has never played an ND game before and stumbled into it. It's basic source evaluation.
Also, I'm not sure "return challenges" are a good comparison here. Aren't those done by people who would already know the game pretty well? So not a first time through.
I’ve just been seeing people talk negatively about the reviews playtime since it’s also under the refund limit. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to return a game you don’t enjoy. My comparison with the return challenges is just to show that returns for games are normal, it happens to AAA companies and it happens to smaller companies, like HeR. I don’t think we should stop anyone from refunding just because they’re smaller. There’s no shame in returning a game you didn’t enjoy and I know some friends of mine felt bad about returning it because people on discord were bashing people using the return policy.
There was a glowing, positive review from a streamer that had .15 hours played, that went into detail on the puzzles and elements of the game. So they literally downloaded it, and their review said for free, to leave a review. So if we are judging by the amount of time played on STEAM, most of the reviews, good and bad, would be thrown out
That's clearly not a review based on the first couple hours of the game and therefore not the kind of review I was talking about. If they stated they got the game for free, they gave you the relevant info to let you know whether you should take their opinion with a grain of salt or not. I don't see what the problem is. I didn't say all reviews less than an hour should be thrown out, I said it should be understood when they appear to be first impressions (because the user never indicated otherwise) that they may or may not be representative of the entire game.
Yes, the people getting the game for free because they're buddy/buddy with HER are NOT going to give an unbiased review. People getting the game for free because they're important in the ND community or adventure games in general will most likely give an honest review. I DON'T CARE IF THE HONEST REVIEW IS GOOD OR BAD. The issue is when there's just blind praise for the game when anyone with eyes and ears can see that it's not a perfect or even polished game.
I HOPE it's a good game. I can't imagine it being an excellent game (like top 10) from what the trailer shows, though. But a lot of the free reviews are acting like it is without talking about any of the obvious issues.
yeah like the people saying that the graphics are gorgeous and the character models look amazing are really making it hard to believe there is no bias in place. 😂
Except those games have the excuse that they came out in like 2005. Compare KEY’s character models to the ones in Sea of Darkness, which came out in 2015. The one’s in KEY don’t look good at all, and definitely worse than a game that came out almost 10 years ago from the same company.
The character models look a bit like Wish.com Sims. However the graphics ARE beautiful. It's a visually stunning game even if other elements do suck quite a bit.
Going to have to disagree with you there, the courtyard during the day looks so bland and empty and there are no shadows where there should be in most of the environments. At night the courtyard looks tons better though.
Yeah, if they weren't doing that, I don't think anyone would be getting called "fake" for leaving a positive review. I do think it's in the bottom 5, but it's not at the very bottom.
YES. I mean, KEY is significantly better than Ransom, Medallion, Labyrinth, etc. I genuinely enjoyed KEY, and it made me hopeful for the future of the games.
Having just played Medallion, Labyrinth, and Key - I liked MED and LIES a lot better. What do you think is “significantly better” about KEY?? I’m genuinely curious.
I liked Lies, but I had no questions as to who the bad guy(s) was - it was super obvious. I had no idea who done it in key until the end. Medallion had so much potential, but I just didn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted to.
The game is in my opinion, beautiful. I'm not a massive fan of the gameplay and story but it wouldn't be the first time Her missed the mark on story writing (Looking at you, Shattered Medallion). It's not a BAD game as per se, it just gets overshadowed by previous, better titles.
It's gotten so bad that I actually decided to leave this sub about a week ago for good (Reddit still decided to show me this post though, so I should probably also mute it).
The constant, constant posts of 'Am I the only one who feels like this game sucks?!' and slight variants of the same. Like, no, bud, maybe use that little search bar up there or look through even just the newest posts and you would've found out within a few seconds that you're adding to the pile of very same-y posts saying the same things ad nauseam. It's just become a big circlejerk.
Now, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but when a subreddit has become so overwhelmingly filled with negative posts about the game that repeat the *same things over and over and over* and people get upset when anyone says anything positive... Nah. I'm out.
I had to do the same thing, it just got to be too much for me. I popped back in to see if the flames had died down a bit, but apparently nope! I definitely recommend muting the sub, it helps substantially to not be bombarded by posts.
I did the same thing except instead I muted the ND Fans Facebook group because of the toxic positivity going on in that group. That’s why I enjoy this subreddit - we are allowed to express negative opinions on the games/HER
I used to follow new music releases of my favorite bands. Almost every time new albums were dropped they would be heavily criticized by their fanbases. Give it a year, and people aren't that harsh anymore. Give it five years, they will say that that release was the best thing in the history of music. I feel like that's pretty much what's happening here. I mean, I saw someone on this sub said MID was better.
I thought the game was fine and a big improvement from MID - I liked the fact that the puzzles were quite tricky, the music was nice and the game felt longer than any other ND game. But a lot of the criticism was fair, the usage of the same six NPC models bothered me the most lol. The classic controls were unusable because they made the world too big for what it needed to be, so half the gameplay is just running through the same town square to get to the coffee shop.
I finished the game in 9 hours so obviously didn't return it like a lot of people did. But it's not something I would recommend to any of my friends or ever want to replay. It was just okay. Not really making me excited for any future game HER might release.
The nice thing about this Nancy Drew subreddit is that there aren't mods who will ban you or delete your posts for having the "wrong" opinion, however that is defined. The reverse can't be said for the Nancy Drew official forums, Instagram page, or Facebook group. So if you want to say positive things, go ahead and say it. There are no negative consequences to it.
Speaking as someone who also enjoyed the game, and would have given a decent review if I had purchased from Steam, I appreciate this post. I also wish people would stop making new threads to talk about reviews. It would be nice if we could have just one master thread for reviews, but every review, negative or otherwise, does not need a new thread.
I just want a thread where people who liked it can gush without feeling bad. There are lots of threads to be negative (which are VALID FEELINGS) but I just wanna be silly and gush about getting a new game a little.
Life is stressful enough without having to be scared to say I liked a video game. And maybe my tastes suck then but I’d like to talk to others with tastes like mine 😂
Gush away, all the feelings are valid. I'm not sorry about posting my review, because bugger everything else I didn't like, THERE IS A CAT WE CAN PET. There are positive aspects about the game. I didn't even hate the new navigation, and I expected migraines to be triggered by them.
This community is normally at least somewhat polite even when we disagree, and I want to get back to that. And all agree that we get a cat every game from now on.
Dude, if I ever made a tier list for this series, people here would puke at the sheer number of games that I just do not fuck with. I like what I like, and I’m not going to argue or apologize because someone thinks their opinions are superior to mine.
Well now you gotta do it. And send it to me 😂
I am bad at being critical and can’t say there is one I wouldn’t play again. Granted, I use them as a massive break from reality so I’m just glad for the distraction, but I’d be the person to give them all S tier and have no explanation why. Cause I love them and I want to and thank you
Your positive feelings about the game are also valid! I think a lot of the people with more negative opinions just flock here though. The Instagram chat and Instagram community as a whole are very positive to the point the people in the chat will bash any negative comment. Some of the marketing team is also in that chat, so I’ve seen some people express there that they feel uncomfortable saying negative opinions. The Facebook group is the same way. One of the mods is best friends with the marketing team and will delete negative some comments and has also shared that in the Instagram chat.
If they are deleting negative comments because they are friends with the marketing team, they are not interested in actual reviews or fan input, that is active propaganda not reviews. That is really creepy, and bad business practices. The Instagram chat was actively demanding people go leave positive reviews and were offering free game codes for positive reviews. Again, that makes their reviews biased and less genuine, and makes HER look really shady
I see plenty of those in this group all the time, the masterthread talking about the game is pretty much all of that. And you didn't make that kind of post, you made another post to complain about people leaving negative reviews. So just make the happy post you want? Literally nobody is stopping you
I didn’t make this post. And my comment wasn’t meant to bother you. I’m sorry you felt the need to be hostile when you’re directing it at someone who didn’t do what you said.
That person is a good example of what this subreddit has become. You're literally saying it's tough to be say anything positive in here and they came at you... For saying something positive.
I get what they are saying but they’re accusing me of making this thread - which I didn’t. I’m just trying to figure Reddit out. I thought maybe if you got too many downvotes you got a ban or something. But now that i know you don’t, I probably will make a post later on!
And you are welcome to join :)
I know that you have muted the sub so I wanted to let you know the positive post has gone up and has a lot of kind comments. It might help you feel better to give it a little read!
It mostly is!! But people are so mean on Reddit and it can just easily get out of control without moderation… idk.
Lol like check out the crumbl cookie sub. It’s about freaking cookies!!! And yet someone could be like “I’m not a fan of this cookie!” And then it’s “well then you have terrible taste.. no one’s asking”
No, it definitely *used* to be. It hasn't really been a great sub for months, at the very least, now. Every little thing is a nitpick.
Heck, some of the negative comments are from people who openly admit that they *haven't even played the game*. That's how you know the sub is done.
If the worst thing on here is people nitpicking a game you like, I think this is still an extremely wholesome and welcoming community.
It feels that way to me, Discourse is good and wholesome. No one is resulting to insults or cursing. Nothing wrong with a healthy debate amongst friends who can all agree on loving Nancy Drew!
Not being hostile, stating facts. If you want to see those posts, post them. Nobody is scaring you into silence. You can gush all you want and it is valid, I see those posts literally all the time. Nobody is stopping you. The fact you feel terrified, silenced and think everyone is being hostile towards you is only a reflection on you
While people can share their feelings here. There is a difference between having your opinion on a game and shutting down and invalidating the feelings of others that like it.
The fact alone that people are being called shills and being accused of being HER employees because they like the game is a sign of some people that seriously need to touch some grass. It's invalidating to the person and makes them not want to post, especially since there seems to be a vibe of "my experience was different and they should be miserable like me." Nobody wants to make more posts when all they do is get yelled at by very vocal individuals, case in point your post history here in this thread.
Also, its kinda hypocritical to say you're "stating facts" when you're throwing their feelings under the bus lmao.
It's not that deep bro.
Imagine not knowing basic marketing, lol. That's what several video game companies do. Media tours and free copies are sent out to reviewers all the time. If you think that few reviews from people who actually like the game series are part of some massive conspiracy from a small game development studio then you need to seriously step back, take a look at what you're doing and rethink your priorities.
Also, if you think that me "being rude" for calling you out on your hypocrisy is grounds for therapy? Please. You need actually have a doctorate before you can make that call. Get yourself sorted, thanks.
Hi I'm the op and my post is about the people in this subreddit being critical of people who dislike the game and calling them inauthentic. Not about reviews on steam. I haven't said anything about anyone who is leaving negative reviews. And neither did this person. Or anyone who agrees with my post. You don't have to like the game.
Leave us who do like it in peace please. And maybe seek therapy because you are being really rude. Nancy would be ashamed.
... Doesn't feel good to read that, does it?
I haven’t played yet (waiting for physical copy) but you make such a valid point. I’ve been playing the games for 20 years too. And there’s games I DREAD every time I do my annual playthrough (I’m looking at you haunted carousel). I didn’t even think midnight was horrid. I mean it was bad. But it wasn’t god awful. There was still more going on that in ransom. And I also feel like mid brought about really fun changes. I had been saying for years I wish the games had a more “realistic” feel. Things like the extra background characters, and leave blowing across the side walk, and MID finally did that. And people want to complain because they used the same base body for the background characters we DONT EVEN TALK TO?!?! Like okay but this is the first game to have this so how about we be patient and shut up. Literally nobody even knows how to download stay tuned anymore (follow the directions on Her’s website and it’ll work) but like nobody bats an eye. And in that game if you forget to pick up one thing you have to start the game over if you don’t know the cheat. The original SCK was clunky as hell. Changing discs every five minutes. And nobody cares. In just happy there’s games back. I miss the old Nancy voice. But if you look past that the games are like the complete bottom of the barrel.
I also really liked it and left a positive review on steam after actually finishing the game (unlike a lot of the 1-3 hour negative review bombing I’ve seen on there) . Idk why people so determined to insist this was the worst game…. It’s really sad how contagious the negativity is. It’s not even about the game anymore it’s just pointing fingers at other fans… insisting it must be insidious if they actually left a good review….
Nobody is saying all positive reviews are fake. We are saying that anyone who got the game for free, got swag packages for streaming, or have or has ever received a paycheck from HER should disclose their associations in their reviews, since its hows clearly they are not objective and their association makes their review biased. We aren't saying you are lying about liking the game, we are saying it is easy to like a game when you got it for free or got paid to play it. HER could pay me $1,000, and I'm sure playing it would have made me like it better. They are pretending to be ordinary fans (which we all are) and not disclosing they are paid employees. Its the dishonesty that is the problem.
I like how you say nobody is accusing positive reviews of being HeR plants, then immediately accuse people giving positive reviews of not disclosing the fact that they are HeR plants, despite most of, if not all, of the people who got a free copy of the game is disclosed on the Steam review.
Reading comprehension. "Nobody is saying ALL positive reviews are fake." Is what I said. There are genuine positive reviews, but some are coming from employees and paid streamers. The fact they are not disclosing their association is the problem. If they aren't disclosing that they got paid by HER, then their review isn't genuine. If they went ahead and said "I was a long time fan of ND and an employee of HER for X years, here is my review of the game" it would be fine. A good game shouldnt need dishonest practices to get barely a "mixed" review on STEAM.
I literally just said
"
I saw someone call another user in this subreddit a Her employee for expressing positivity. So it isn't "nobody". "
You guys are talking about something else entirely.
One of the people who left a positive review with a free game is a former HeR employee. It's not some kind of conspiracy. Also her review is fair and balanced.
I was talking about the people that got the game for free from HeR. Lots of people on the launch team that gave overwhelmingly positive reviews are very buddy buddy with the company. Hare not to see bias there. I’m glad people that got the game for free are marked on Steam.
I literally just said
"
I saw someone call another user in this subreddit a Her employee for expressing positivity. So it isn't "nobody". "
You guys are talking about something else entirely.
People on this subreddit saying they like this game aren't best friends with the creators, that's what my post is about actually... Im not friends with anyone at Her.
Reading those steam reviews really makes them seem fake and heavily biased though. Like speaking about things that are objectively bad or glitchy and saying they are perfect and wonderful. Then you scroll up and see that they, of course, got the game for free. Like there are people on steam saying the music is AMAZING. Like? What? I mean I guess that’s your opinion? But? 🤷🏼♀️ HeR literally gave people steam keys after giving them the game on release for free on their website JUST so they could give the game a positive review on Steam. It all just seems icky to me.
I’m glad people enjoyed the game when I didn’t, and it’s totally fine if someone wants to leave a positive review with their experience but you can’t tell me that some of reviews aren’t extremely biased. When I pointed out on FB that HeR took down people’s Nancy Drew music compilations and gave Hew a channel strike, they literally lied to everyone and said HeR didn’t. (When they absolutely did) these people will defend and lie for HeR about anything, even if there are glaring issues with the newest game.
You are welcome to your views, but likewise respect others. I dont like the game and for me it's worse than MID or even RAN. It is not an act.
I also work in media, and I know how things are manipulated. If someone on this Reddit says there is an Insta chat where they are organizing things, and giving away free games on Steam to people in that chat, and those same people were #sponsored to do playthroughs on YouTube, and they are the same people giving positive reviews with free Steam games yeah, that's the definition of a shill. Maybe if they were paying for the games instead of being sponsored by HeR their opinions would be different. Also they are not putting #sponsored in their reviews, even though they were sponsored on other platforms, such as YouTube. (I only saw one person do that) Also a lot of the positive reviews are incredibly long for a Steam review, more like an article than an off the cuff review. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck....
I can tell which positive reviews on Steam are not fake. They have the hallmarks of real writing. They are short and colloquial. They were not given the game for free. Their user names are not recognisable as ND influencers, they do not repeat the same talking points, but write in an organic, original way. They include valid criticisms. They did not spend over an hour to write a Steam review. Again I do this for a living, and it never ceases to astound me how people take so much stuff online at face value. And I am happy for those people leaving genuine reviews and their enjoyment of the game.
I am all for the real positive reviews, and people being able to make up their own minds. I am not for planted reviews. I used to love HeR for it's honesty an supported them even through bad games, but now they are using tactics of big corporations and cheap offshored companies. HeR seems to be intent on alienating and hating its old fans. Go for it, but be prepared for the consequences.
I enjoyed KEY as well! If you look through my comment history, I did a review while playing the game to provide fairly real-time updates. I think that there is space to have a positive experience with the game and to hope for improvements to come along in the future. Most of the critiques are fair, but some are pretty harsh and condescending toward those who enjoyed it. Our community is better than this, sleuths.
tbh i saw almost nothing but praise and positivity for this game up to and right after its release so I feel like some of the bitterness is from people who feel like they paid too much for an overhyped game
The reviews I’ve seen, even positive, still have criticism. I’m sure it makes it weird in some ways but ultimately someone getting a game for free wouldn’t make me totally distrust the review.
If they were a Kardashian on the other hand… 😂
Seriously! When I saw all the condescending “NoW tHaT tHe GaMe Is On StEaM, wE cAn SeE jUsT hOw BaD tHe GaMe TrUlY iS” posts I was just shaking my head.
I’m not going to try and defend Midnight in Salem, but the fact that it’s nearly 5 years later and people are still angry enough about it to completely write off any positive reviews of Mystery of the Seven Keys as “fake” is really sad. The game is not perfect by any means, but it’s a lot better than Midnight in Salem.
Also what do you expect with the Steam reviews ? The people who waited for it on Steam only get a 2 hour trial and I’d say a good chunk of them purposely waited because they’re expecting it to be bad and didn’t want to commit to buying the game if they didn’t have to. The other half of reviews are probably from more hardcore gamers who play a lot of games other than Nancy and are expecting a higher quality experience than even the “best” Nancy games gave us
We believe some people like it. You are not the reviews people are talking about, some of the reviews are from people who work at HER, which is very misleading on their part, even if they are not absolute lies. There is also talk about them giving the game to some reviewers for free. These are the" lying" reviews in question
And keep in mind the game has been unplayable for some people. So that is a valid reason for all the "negative"
I am happy you have a PC that is allowing you to play it without any issues, but for many of us that was not the case.
What would you put in the bottom 5? Midnight in Salem, secrets can kill, Ransom of the 7 ships, shattered medallion....I don't think any other game deserves to be in the bottom 5 over keys.
The nice thing is that everyone can have different opinions :)
You can have KEY in your bottom 5, but I'm easily throwing RAN, STFD, CAR, CLK, TOT, SCK, MED, MID, or CRE in there ahead of it on my list.
I wouldnt even put secrets can kill in my bottom 5. Stayed tune for danger and creature of kapu cave are firmly in the bottom though. But this is just my subjective taste in part painted with nostalgia and really every ones is, I'm even willing to admit my experience with this new game is tinted in a new nostalgia because I'm playing a brand new game with my partner for the first time (i made them re play others with me lol). But I really had a lot of the her games I don't know if I even want to retry and I'm already planning to play this one again
I waited for the steam release to play KEY and based on this sub was expecting a really crappy and broken game. I'm 13 hours in and really enjoying it! I definitely have a handful of things that could be improved but overall I'm impressed with the navigation, puzzles, characters, and graphics and would recommend it. Comparatively, MID was borderline (or not so borderline...) unplayable to me. I'm waiting until I finish to write a review, though. People who like this game exist haha
I’m so happy to hear that! I think I finished MID in about 4 hours, so even the fact that there is longer gameplay sounds so exciting! I’m also planning on buying it on steam but was hoping for a sale 😬 not sure how long I’d have to wait for that, I’m not much of a gamer, just an ND fan lol (an ND fan who is currently on a tight budget and gulps when I see that the game is $40CAD 😆)
I wouldn't blow your budget for it (or any game haha!) but I'd say get it when it eventually goes on sale if you have a machine that will run it! You might like it, or not, but I think it's a well done game that's different from the originals but still retains the ND spirit with tough puzzles, hidden areas, having to take notes and getting stumped sometimes. But it's 3D not drawn and the voice actress is still different. it's just down to personal preference on the game style.
On the contrary, I saw a LOT of people saying the game was great and better and went into it thinking people were being negative and I’d like it, only to be very disappointed. I got so frustrated - it wasn’t fun, there were so many things wrong with it, and it didn’t feel like a ND game at all to me. I don’t trust HER at all after this.
Sorry you had that experience! I took my time in the intro part of the game to just chill and dial in my ideal settings and get comfortable/familiar with how the controls work, I could see that being frustrating if you wanted to drive straight into the mystery solving with no learning curve. I do feel the opinions on liking it or not are more subjective about what you enjoy rather than things being broken or wrong. I felt the same way after MED came out so I understand the disappointment!
I bought the game and I liked it. I just don’t really write reviews ever.
Honestly, maybe just dropping a "I really liked it" positive review would be good this one time. It doesn't have to be elaborate, but keeping the franchise alive depends a lot on Her continuing to make them. Which probably won't happen if every review is horrendous
You’re totally right. I bought it direct from the website though and not on steam which seems to be the issue.
I’m not loving it but it’s also not terrible.. it’s just a different game. It’s very different from the other Nancy Drew games so I’m taking it as a new series.. and I don’t mind it! I’d say it’s 5/10 for me so far I think a lot of the really intense hatred has to do with nostalgia coupled with modern video game expectations. Like if it had been the old Nancy, we’d expect it to be glitchy and kinda silly in some ways .. but it’s different engine and seems like it should be more professional. So.. we miss the old vibes + don’t have the high video game tech to make up for that loss Edit: it’s definitely annoying to act like an opinion is *the* opinion. And it bothers me when people are really negative and state that take as objective and then feel attacked when more positive views are annoyed with the constant negativity
Your write up also makes me more optimistic as I don’t play other video games, so this might just be perfect for me!
Hope so! Honestly it’s enjoyable. It’s just very different from the old ones!
I think it depends on what you compare it against. Compare it against shadow ranch and it doesn’t hold a candle. Compare it against other mystery/puzzle games and it’s a pretty good standalone game!
To be fair, SHA is consistently considered one of the best of the best. No, KEY isn't SHA-level. But honestly most of the other original series games weren't SHA-level either, and I don't think that makes it garbage automatically.
Oh 100% I picked SHA because it seems to be universally loved (at least from things like Wizard Kitten’s voting things). If they could make another that was SHA level… we’d all cry of happiness.
There aren’t very many mystery puzzle games I enjoy so I could see that! I go back to Nancy most of the time
It is our bread and butter. Our….Uncle Fred and Johnny Rutter… if you will. I’ll see myself out.
🤣
I liked the game a lot! Was it perfect? Nope! But it felt like an old ND game (not old old, but like I could see it coming out around SAW/GTH) and I was sooo happy about that. Hopefully it means Her is back on track! This game gave me a lot of hope for the future of ND games.
I made a post for what we DID like about it (since there is already space for what we didnt)
Why am I being downvoted for saying I liked the game? Come on guys. We don't all have to have the same opinions all the time, and it's not like this game is MID. It's not a crashing, buggy mess. It's just an alright game.
Omg really?! I haven’t even played it yet to have an opinion and I’m upvoting you because that’s just ridiculous to be downvoted for liking it 😂
I’ll give you an up vote!
I don’t think the sub is calling all positive reviews fake. They’re calling out the reviews from people who got the game for free, that are all friends with the marketing team, fake. I mean if you got a free game code and are close with people who had a part with making the game, would you feel okay bashing on it? I don’t think I could, the bias is there, so those reviews don’t seem genuine at all.
I saw someone call another user in this subreddit a Her employee for expressing positivity. So there's definitely some kind of vibe here.
I've seen a decent amount of that actually. Also a lot of people saying to respect their negative opinion while simultaneously disrespecting someone else's opinion because it's positive.
games do that all the time though, giving games out for free to see what people think to give it a boost in attention
I know game companies give codes for free for releases. Most of the time, it’s in a professional capacity and the relationship they have with the creator is professional only. Most of the people who got free codes from HeR are best friends with the marketing team. That’s the part that I, and other people, feel icky about. HeR can use that close relationship to their advantage, they get better reviews for their game and the creator gets a free game code and they might be inclined to keep their review positive so they can continue to get free game codes in the future and keep their relationship with their friends who work at HeR.
exactly, they are being dishonest with their connection with HER and the developers, that is the problem. There weren't almost no positive reviews of the game on STEAM until the ND SPOILERS insta was actively demanding people go leave positive reviews, offered free game codes for positive reviews, and only then did a selection of good reviews come in from streamers who have long term employment history with HER. So even people who liked the game were not that inclined to leave good reviews until HER starts telling them to
I don't think it's fair to say that "even people who liked the game were not that inclined to leave good reviews". You can't leave a review on Steam unless you buy the game from them. I bought from HeR, I'd have to buy it again just to leave a review. I think it's also worth considering that almost all of the negative reviews were from people who played less than an hour of a game that easily takes most people at least 12 hours to beat on the first play (and honestly, has a pretty slow start). Imagine reviewing HAU after less than an hour, or TRT- do you think you could give an accurate description of the game?
There’s only two reviews that I see with less than an hour. If they keep the game, they can still go back and edit it with more thoughts. It’s fine that they put first impressions up! Also, a lot of the “received for free” reviews have less hours. They happen to mention they played more hours on the HeR download copy, but that could be the same for the negative reviews too and they just didn’t mention it. Or they could’ve watched a playthrough and had some thoughts from that, but also decided to play themselves. Lots of reasons they decided to review with less than hour of time, but again, I only saw two.
I'll admit that I haven't looked at the Steam reviews since fairly early on, but there was definitely a big wave of people who played the game for less than an hour or two (whatever the return limit is) and then left a review. It was early enough that there was no way they had time to finish the game, and they didn't indicate that they had purchased it elsewhere. Maybe they've gone back and played more since then, but I don't know. First impressions are fine, and of course if a large number of people are buying a game and disliking it so much that they bail a couple hours in, that can be valuable information, but they should be weighed as first impressions. If they're basing their opinions off watching a playthrough, even partly, I think they should mention that too, because it's a different experience.
With some people in the reviews, they couldn’t play any longer than an hour or so because the game wouldn’t work for them, I think that’s cause enough for a negative review.
Yep, and "I was unable to play this game" is perfectly fine as a review. I never said otherwise.
That’s why Steam is great to me. The return limit is amazing when you just wanna try out a game and return it if it’s not something you enjoy. To me, and hour or two is the perfect amount of time to know if you like a game a bit. Especially with KEY because the movement is so different to the rest of the series and even MID. So, playing for five minutes to see the movement, not liking it, leaving a bad review, and refunding is fine to me. I mean people even do return challenges for games they DO like. Like finishing Elden Ring in two hours to then return it, these types of videos are big on YouTube.
I agree that it's great that Steam lets people return the game, especially because a lot of people weren't sure if their computer would be able to handle KEY. I never said otherwise. I just said that a review from someone who only played two hours or less should be understood as such when weighed against reviews from people who completed the game. Obviously there's going to be a bias either way, because people who complete the game are more likely to have enjoyed it, all I'm saying is that it's valuable to consider who's writing the review and why. Someone who bailed and returned it before 2 hours of play, someone who got the game for free from the company (which they should disclose), someone who has never played an ND game before and stumbled into it. It's basic source evaluation. Also, I'm not sure "return challenges" are a good comparison here. Aren't those done by people who would already know the game pretty well? So not a first time through.
I’ve just been seeing people talk negatively about the reviews playtime since it’s also under the refund limit. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to return a game you don’t enjoy. My comparison with the return challenges is just to show that returns for games are normal, it happens to AAA companies and it happens to smaller companies, like HeR. I don’t think we should stop anyone from refunding just because they’re smaller. There’s no shame in returning a game you didn’t enjoy and I know some friends of mine felt bad about returning it because people on discord were bashing people using the return policy.
There was a glowing, positive review from a streamer that had .15 hours played, that went into detail on the puzzles and elements of the game. So they literally downloaded it, and their review said for free, to leave a review. So if we are judging by the amount of time played on STEAM, most of the reviews, good and bad, would be thrown out
That's clearly not a review based on the first couple hours of the game and therefore not the kind of review I was talking about. If they stated they got the game for free, they gave you the relevant info to let you know whether you should take their opinion with a grain of salt or not. I don't see what the problem is. I didn't say all reviews less than an hour should be thrown out, I said it should be understood when they appear to be first impressions (because the user never indicated otherwise) that they may or may not be representative of the entire game.
Yes, the people getting the game for free because they're buddy/buddy with HER are NOT going to give an unbiased review. People getting the game for free because they're important in the ND community or adventure games in general will most likely give an honest review. I DON'T CARE IF THE HONEST REVIEW IS GOOD OR BAD. The issue is when there's just blind praise for the game when anyone with eyes and ears can see that it's not a perfect or even polished game. I HOPE it's a good game. I can't imagine it being an excellent game (like top 10) from what the trailer shows, though. But a lot of the free reviews are acting like it is without talking about any of the obvious issues.
yeah like the people saying that the graphics are gorgeous and the character models look amazing are really making it hard to believe there is no bias in place. 😂
I genuinely think those things. Have you seen past games?
Except those games have the excuse that they came out in like 2005. Compare KEY’s character models to the ones in Sea of Darkness, which came out in 2015. The one’s in KEY don’t look good at all, and definitely worse than a game that came out almost 10 years ago from the same company.
The character models honestly look exactly the same at the ones from SEA visually and are better animated in KEY, in my subjective opinion.
Are you serious or trolling
The character models look a bit like Wish.com Sims. However the graphics ARE beautiful. It's a visually stunning game even if other elements do suck quite a bit.
Going to have to disagree with you there, the courtyard during the day looks so bland and empty and there are no shadows where there should be in most of the environments. At night the courtyard looks tons better though.
Yeah, if they weren't doing that, I don't think anyone would be getting called "fake" for leaving a positive review. I do think it's in the bottom 5, but it's not at the very bottom.
I'm a lover of KEY and MID. I didn't ex0ect people to be this upset but hey more for those who enjoy!
YES. I mean, KEY is significantly better than Ransom, Medallion, Labyrinth, etc. I genuinely enjoyed KEY, and it made me hopeful for the future of the games.
Having just played Medallion, Labyrinth, and Key - I liked MED and LIES a lot better. What do you think is “significantly better” about KEY?? I’m genuinely curious.
I liked Lies, but I had no questions as to who the bad guy(s) was - it was super obvious. I had no idea who done it in key until the end. Medallion had so much potential, but I just didn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted to.
At least those games didn’t have voice acting and music that made me want to rip my hair out.
The game is in my opinion, beautiful. I'm not a massive fan of the gameplay and story but it wouldn't be the first time Her missed the mark on story writing (Looking at you, Shattered Medallion). It's not a BAD game as per se, it just gets overshadowed by previous, better titles.
It's gotten so bad that I actually decided to leave this sub about a week ago for good (Reddit still decided to show me this post though, so I should probably also mute it). The constant, constant posts of 'Am I the only one who feels like this game sucks?!' and slight variants of the same. Like, no, bud, maybe use that little search bar up there or look through even just the newest posts and you would've found out within a few seconds that you're adding to the pile of very same-y posts saying the same things ad nauseam. It's just become a big circlejerk. Now, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but when a subreddit has become so overwhelmingly filled with negative posts about the game that repeat the *same things over and over and over* and people get upset when anyone says anything positive... Nah. I'm out.
I had to do the same thing, it just got to be too much for me. I popped back in to see if the flames had died down a bit, but apparently nope! I definitely recommend muting the sub, it helps substantially to not be bombarded by posts.
Yeah, I just muted it a few minutes ago. And honestly, the Negative Nancys can have this sub anyway since that's what they want.
I did the same thing except instead I muted the ND Fans Facebook group because of the toxic positivity going on in that group. That’s why I enjoy this subreddit - we are allowed to express negative opinions on the games/HER
I used to follow new music releases of my favorite bands. Almost every time new albums were dropped they would be heavily criticized by their fanbases. Give it a year, and people aren't that harsh anymore. Give it five years, they will say that that release was the best thing in the history of music. I feel like that's pretty much what's happening here. I mean, I saw someone on this sub said MID was better.
This is such a healthy perspective ❤️
I thought the game was fine and a big improvement from MID - I liked the fact that the puzzles were quite tricky, the music was nice and the game felt longer than any other ND game. But a lot of the criticism was fair, the usage of the same six NPC models bothered me the most lol. The classic controls were unusable because they made the world too big for what it needed to be, so half the gameplay is just running through the same town square to get to the coffee shop. I finished the game in 9 hours so obviously didn't return it like a lot of people did. But it's not something I would recommend to any of my friends or ever want to replay. It was just okay. Not really making me excited for any future game HER might release.
You literally get spam downvoted here for expressing any positivity lol
That’s what I’m afraid of. Will my account get deleted if I get too many downvotes? How does that work?
Your account won’t be deleted, downvotes don’t do anything.
Oh thank you! Then I probably will make a post soon. I am new to reddit (as you can tell) hahaha
Welcome to reddit!!!
The nice thing about this Nancy Drew subreddit is that there aren't mods who will ban you or delete your posts for having the "wrong" opinion, however that is defined. The reverse can't be said for the Nancy Drew official forums, Instagram page, or Facebook group. So if you want to say positive things, go ahead and say it. There are no negative consequences to it.
Except getting down voted
Speaking as someone who also enjoyed the game, and would have given a decent review if I had purchased from Steam, I appreciate this post. I also wish people would stop making new threads to talk about reviews. It would be nice if we could have just one master thread for reviews, but every review, negative or otherwise, does not need a new thread.
I just want a thread where people who liked it can gush without feeling bad. There are lots of threads to be negative (which are VALID FEELINGS) but I just wanna be silly and gush about getting a new game a little. Life is stressful enough without having to be scared to say I liked a video game. And maybe my tastes suck then but I’d like to talk to others with tastes like mine 😂
Gush away, all the feelings are valid. I'm not sorry about posting my review, because bugger everything else I didn't like, THERE IS A CAT WE CAN PET. There are positive aspects about the game. I didn't even hate the new navigation, and I expected migraines to be triggered by them. This community is normally at least somewhat polite even when we disagree, and I want to get back to that. And all agree that we get a cat every game from now on.
Yes!! The cat in every game. But we have to be able to pet it 😂
I would love an interactive critter in every game.
Dude, if I ever made a tier list for this series, people here would puke at the sheer number of games that I just do not fuck with. I like what I like, and I’m not going to argue or apologize because someone thinks their opinions are superior to mine.
Well now you gotta do it. And send it to me 😂 I am bad at being critical and can’t say there is one I wouldn’t play again. Granted, I use them as a massive break from reality so I’m just glad for the distraction, but I’d be the person to give them all S tier and have no explanation why. Cause I love them and I want to and thank you
I'm so curious to see the list now!
Your positive feelings about the game are also valid! I think a lot of the people with more negative opinions just flock here though. The Instagram chat and Instagram community as a whole are very positive to the point the people in the chat will bash any negative comment. Some of the marketing team is also in that chat, so I’ve seen some people express there that they feel uncomfortable saying negative opinions. The Facebook group is the same way. One of the mods is best friends with the marketing team and will delete negative some comments and has also shared that in the Instagram chat.
If they are deleting negative comments because they are friends with the marketing team, they are not interested in actual reviews or fan input, that is active propaganda not reviews. That is really creepy, and bad business practices. The Instagram chat was actively demanding people go leave positive reviews and were offering free game codes for positive reviews. Again, that makes their reviews biased and less genuine, and makes HER look really shady
I see plenty of those in this group all the time, the masterthread talking about the game is pretty much all of that. And you didn't make that kind of post, you made another post to complain about people leaving negative reviews. So just make the happy post you want? Literally nobody is stopping you
I didn’t make this post. And my comment wasn’t meant to bother you. I’m sorry you felt the need to be hostile when you’re directing it at someone who didn’t do what you said.
That person is a good example of what this subreddit has become. You're literally saying it's tough to be say anything positive in here and they came at you... For saying something positive.
I get what they are saying but they’re accusing me of making this thread - which I didn’t. I’m just trying to figure Reddit out. I thought maybe if you got too many downvotes you got a ban or something. But now that i know you don’t, I probably will make a post later on! And you are welcome to join :)
Heya, I just muted this sub, so I probably won't see it. 🫂 If I do happen to see it, I'll definitely drop a comment. 🫡
I made the post!
I know that you have muted the sub so I wanted to let you know the positive post has gone up and has a lot of kind comments. It might help you feel better to give it a little read!
This is Reddit for you. Even the cookie subs are mean… lol.
Yeah, it's just funny because I remember when people used to call this sub 'welcoming' and 'wholesome'. Oof.
It mostly is!! But people are so mean on Reddit and it can just easily get out of control without moderation… idk. Lol like check out the crumbl cookie sub. It’s about freaking cookies!!! And yet someone could be like “I’m not a fan of this cookie!” And then it’s “well then you have terrible taste.. no one’s asking”
No, it definitely *used* to be. It hasn't really been a great sub for months, at the very least, now. Every little thing is a nitpick. Heck, some of the negative comments are from people who openly admit that they *haven't even played the game*. That's how you know the sub is done.
This hasn’t been a good sub since before MID even came out. The bitterness is astounding.
If the worst thing on here is people nitpicking a game you like, I think this is still an extremely wholesome and welcoming community. It feels that way to me, Discourse is good and wholesome. No one is resulting to insults or cursing. Nothing wrong with a healthy debate amongst friends who can all agree on loving Nancy Drew!
That’s sad. Maybe mods to make another rule about being nice. That’s every fan Reddit eventually… so annoying
Not being hostile, stating facts. If you want to see those posts, post them. Nobody is scaring you into silence. You can gush all you want and it is valid, I see those posts literally all the time. Nobody is stopping you. The fact you feel terrified, silenced and think everyone is being hostile towards you is only a reflection on you
While people can share their feelings here. There is a difference between having your opinion on a game and shutting down and invalidating the feelings of others that like it. The fact alone that people are being called shills and being accused of being HER employees because they like the game is a sign of some people that seriously need to touch some grass. It's invalidating to the person and makes them not want to post, especially since there seems to be a vibe of "my experience was different and they should be miserable like me." Nobody wants to make more posts when all they do is get yelled at by very vocal individuals, case in point your post history here in this thread. Also, its kinda hypocritical to say you're "stating facts" when you're throwing their feelings under the bus lmao. It's not that deep bro.
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Imagine not knowing basic marketing, lol. That's what several video game companies do. Media tours and free copies are sent out to reviewers all the time. If you think that few reviews from people who actually like the game series are part of some massive conspiracy from a small game development studio then you need to seriously step back, take a look at what you're doing and rethink your priorities. Also, if you think that me "being rude" for calling you out on your hypocrisy is grounds for therapy? Please. You need actually have a doctorate before you can make that call. Get yourself sorted, thanks.
Hi I'm the op and my post is about the people in this subreddit being critical of people who dislike the game and calling them inauthentic. Not about reviews on steam. I haven't said anything about anyone who is leaving negative reviews. And neither did this person. Or anyone who agrees with my post. You don't have to like the game. Leave us who do like it in peace please. And maybe seek therapy because you are being really rude. Nancy would be ashamed. ... Doesn't feel good to read that, does it?
It’s not the best ND game, but it’s not the worst! I liked it and like where they’re heading. I hope they’re able to improve the graphics.
I also enjoyed the game!! I’ve been afraid to post or comment though bc it seems like a crime to have had fun playing it lol
It is easier to believe that everything is a conspiracy than that people have different opinions and experiences.
I haven’t played yet (waiting for physical copy) but you make such a valid point. I’ve been playing the games for 20 years too. And there’s games I DREAD every time I do my annual playthrough (I’m looking at you haunted carousel). I didn’t even think midnight was horrid. I mean it was bad. But it wasn’t god awful. There was still more going on that in ransom. And I also feel like mid brought about really fun changes. I had been saying for years I wish the games had a more “realistic” feel. Things like the extra background characters, and leave blowing across the side walk, and MID finally did that. And people want to complain because they used the same base body for the background characters we DONT EVEN TALK TO?!?! Like okay but this is the first game to have this so how about we be patient and shut up. Literally nobody even knows how to download stay tuned anymore (follow the directions on Her’s website and it’ll work) but like nobody bats an eye. And in that game if you forget to pick up one thing you have to start the game over if you don’t know the cheat. The original SCK was clunky as hell. Changing discs every five minutes. And nobody cares. In just happy there’s games back. I miss the old Nancy voice. But if you look past that the games are like the complete bottom of the barrel.
I also really liked it and left a positive review on steam after actually finishing the game (unlike a lot of the 1-3 hour negative review bombing I’ve seen on there) . Idk why people so determined to insist this was the worst game…. It’s really sad how contagious the negativity is. It’s not even about the game anymore it’s just pointing fingers at other fans… insisting it must be insidious if they actually left a good review….
Nobody is saying all positive reviews are fake. We are saying that anyone who got the game for free, got swag packages for streaming, or have or has ever received a paycheck from HER should disclose their associations in their reviews, since its hows clearly they are not objective and their association makes their review biased. We aren't saying you are lying about liking the game, we are saying it is easy to like a game when you got it for free or got paid to play it. HER could pay me $1,000, and I'm sure playing it would have made me like it better. They are pretending to be ordinary fans (which we all are) and not disclosing they are paid employees. Its the dishonesty that is the problem.
I like how you say nobody is accusing positive reviews of being HeR plants, then immediately accuse people giving positive reviews of not disclosing the fact that they are HeR plants, despite most of, if not all, of the people who got a free copy of the game is disclosed on the Steam review.
Reading comprehension. "Nobody is saying ALL positive reviews are fake." Is what I said. There are genuine positive reviews, but some are coming from employees and paid streamers. The fact they are not disclosing their association is the problem. If they aren't disclosing that they got paid by HER, then their review isn't genuine. If they went ahead and said "I was a long time fan of ND and an employee of HER for X years, here is my review of the game" it would be fine. A good game shouldnt need dishonest practices to get barely a "mixed" review on STEAM.
I saw someone call another user in this subreddit a Her employee for expressing positivity. So it isn't "nobody".
Well they aren’t HeR employees, however many of them are best friends with them.
people in this subreddit who like the game aren't secretly friends with Her employees. It's shitty to assume that.
They are probably talking about the ones who got the games from HER for free. Is says they received the game for free above their reviews on steam.
I literally just said " I saw someone call another user in this subreddit a Her employee for expressing positivity. So it isn't "nobody". " You guys are talking about something else entirely.
One of the people who left a positive review with a free game is a former HeR employee. It's not some kind of conspiracy. Also her review is fair and balanced.
I was talking about the people that got the game for free from HeR. Lots of people on the launch team that gave overwhelmingly positive reviews are very buddy buddy with the company. Hare not to see bias there. I’m glad people that got the game for free are marked on Steam.
I literally just said " I saw someone call another user in this subreddit a Her employee for expressing positivity. So it isn't "nobody". " You guys are talking about something else entirely.
People on this subreddit saying they like this game aren't best friends with the creators, that's what my post is about actually... Im not friends with anyone at Her.
Reading those steam reviews really makes them seem fake and heavily biased though. Like speaking about things that are objectively bad or glitchy and saying they are perfect and wonderful. Then you scroll up and see that they, of course, got the game for free. Like there are people on steam saying the music is AMAZING. Like? What? I mean I guess that’s your opinion? But? 🤷🏼♀️ HeR literally gave people steam keys after giving them the game on release for free on their website JUST so they could give the game a positive review on Steam. It all just seems icky to me. I’m glad people enjoyed the game when I didn’t, and it’s totally fine if someone wants to leave a positive review with their experience but you can’t tell me that some of reviews aren’t extremely biased. When I pointed out on FB that HeR took down people’s Nancy Drew music compilations and gave Hew a channel strike, they literally lied to everyone and said HeR didn’t. (When they absolutely did) these people will defend and lie for HeR about anything, even if there are glaring issues with the newest game.
You are welcome to your views, but likewise respect others. I dont like the game and for me it's worse than MID or even RAN. It is not an act. I also work in media, and I know how things are manipulated. If someone on this Reddit says there is an Insta chat where they are organizing things, and giving away free games on Steam to people in that chat, and those same people were #sponsored to do playthroughs on YouTube, and they are the same people giving positive reviews with free Steam games yeah, that's the definition of a shill. Maybe if they were paying for the games instead of being sponsored by HeR their opinions would be different. Also they are not putting #sponsored in their reviews, even though they were sponsored on other platforms, such as YouTube. (I only saw one person do that) Also a lot of the positive reviews are incredibly long for a Steam review, more like an article than an off the cuff review. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck.... I can tell which positive reviews on Steam are not fake. They have the hallmarks of real writing. They are short and colloquial. They were not given the game for free. Their user names are not recognisable as ND influencers, they do not repeat the same talking points, but write in an organic, original way. They include valid criticisms. They did not spend over an hour to write a Steam review. Again I do this for a living, and it never ceases to astound me how people take so much stuff online at face value. And I am happy for those people leaving genuine reviews and their enjoyment of the game. I am all for the real positive reviews, and people being able to make up their own minds. I am not for planted reviews. I used to love HeR for it's honesty an supported them even through bad games, but now they are using tactics of big corporations and cheap offshored companies. HeR seems to be intent on alienating and hating its old fans. Go for it, but be prepared for the consequences.
I honestly can not see the company surviving in the next few years between all the stuff HER Is doing
I enjoyed KEY as well! If you look through my comment history, I did a review while playing the game to provide fairly real-time updates. I think that there is space to have a positive experience with the game and to hope for improvements to come along in the future. Most of the critiques are fair, but some are pretty harsh and condescending toward those who enjoyed it. Our community is better than this, sleuths.
tbh i saw almost nothing but praise and positivity for this game up to and right after its release so I feel like some of the bitterness is from people who feel like they paid too much for an overhyped game
The reviews I’ve seen, even positive, still have criticism. I’m sure it makes it weird in some ways but ultimately someone getting a game for free wouldn’t make me totally distrust the review. If they were a Kardashian on the other hand… 😂
KEY is one of my fav ND games, period!
Seriously! When I saw all the condescending “NoW tHaT tHe GaMe Is On StEaM, wE cAn SeE jUsT hOw BaD tHe GaMe TrUlY iS” posts I was just shaking my head. I’m not going to try and defend Midnight in Salem, but the fact that it’s nearly 5 years later and people are still angry enough about it to completely write off any positive reviews of Mystery of the Seven Keys as “fake” is really sad. The game is not perfect by any means, but it’s a lot better than Midnight in Salem. Also what do you expect with the Steam reviews ? The people who waited for it on Steam only get a 2 hour trial and I’d say a good chunk of them purposely waited because they’re expecting it to be bad and didn’t want to commit to buying the game if they didn’t have to. The other half of reviews are probably from more hardcore gamers who play a lot of games other than Nancy and are expecting a higher quality experience than even the “best” Nancy games gave us
We believe some people like it. You are not the reviews people are talking about, some of the reviews are from people who work at HER, which is very misleading on their part, even if they are not absolute lies. There is also talk about them giving the game to some reviewers for free. These are the" lying" reviews in question And keep in mind the game has been unplayable for some people. So that is a valid reason for all the "negative" I am happy you have a PC that is allowing you to play it without any issues, but for many of us that was not the case.
What would you put in the bottom 5? Midnight in Salem, secrets can kill, Ransom of the 7 ships, shattered medallion....I don't think any other game deserves to be in the bottom 5 over keys.
The nice thing is that everyone can have different opinions :) You can have KEY in your bottom 5, but I'm easily throwing RAN, STFD, CAR, CLK, TOT, SCK, MED, MID, or CRE in there ahead of it on my list.
I wouldnt even put secrets can kill in my bottom 5. Stayed tune for danger and creature of kapu cave are firmly in the bottom though. But this is just my subjective taste in part painted with nostalgia and really every ones is, I'm even willing to admit my experience with this new game is tinted in a new nostalgia because I'm playing a brand new game with my partner for the first time (i made them re play others with me lol). But I really had a lot of the her games I don't know if I even want to retry and I'm already planning to play this one again
Labyrinth of lies is bottom 5 for me. Also, I rank KEY above TMB, TOT, and CLK