Escape the Smoky Intrigue of a Hometown Inferno!
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Languages: English
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Alibi in Ashes is the 25th game in the Nancy Drew series. In this entry, Nancy is arrested for burning down a historic building in her hometown. She's obviously being framed, but she'll need to start her investigation from behind bars with the help of Bess, George and Ned. You'll use all four characters to free Nancy and uncover the real culprit. Although Nancy is blamed, she's sure the real culprit is one of the witnesses she saw at the scene. To take the blame off Nancy and figure out what's really going on, you'll have to gather evidence about the witnesses and their secrets. Nancy directs the investigation from the police station and is able to call other characters, test samples, and organize evidence. The other characters do the legwork of the investigation, talking to suspects, collecting evidence, and solving puzzles. In that way, the mechanics of this game are pretty similar to the previous ones, although this one was relatively light on puzzles. Most of the puzzles were the right amount of difficulty, a little tricky but solvable. There were a couple, though, that were super difficult and annoying. They didn't really give you enough direction and were pretty painstaking to solve (and one was timed!). I also had trouble finding a few things. I ended up needing a walkthrough a few times. The game relies really heavily on walking around and talking to suspects. The side characters were pretty interesting and had fun personalities. All of them have secrets, shaky alibis, and strong motives, and I enjoyed trying to figure out what their backstories were and what they were actually up to. The real arsonist wasn't the most obvious character, but wasn't terribly surprising either. This game stands out from the rest of the series for trying to shake up the formula a little bit, but unfortunately none of the changes actually work that well. Playing as four different characters was fun at first, but ended up just being tedious. There are a couple of places where you need one of the characters to discuss a specific topic with a specific NPC, but other than that, it doesn't matter who does what. If you want to switch between characters, you have to switch back to Nancy first. You'll end up having to try to talk to the characters over and over again. Sometimes, you'll have to talk to everyone to find the specific conversation you need to trigger other conversations that then lead to you having to make the rounds of talking to all of the characters AGAIN. The map is also huge for no reason. There only 5 locations you can explore, but they're all spread apart. There are a ton of other locations that you can also drive to that don't matter to the game. While I liked the characters and mystery in Alibi in Ashes, I was more annoyed than intrigued because of the irritating, repetitive gameplay. I appreciate that they tried to do something a little different with this game, but it just wasn't executed that well. 4/10
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This is my second Nancy Drew game after playing Danger on Deception Island as a kid, and unfortunately, it doesn't really compare. In Alibi, having to switch between characters was really tedious, there were repetitive interviews, and not as many puzzles/mini-games as I would've liked. I don't understand why there was a massive map with rabbit hole locations when you end up spending the whole game at 4 locations. Feels like an attempt to deliberately waste my time and make the game feel longer rather than having to add more content. Ultimately this game was more like a point-and-click, combing for hidden objects. Sad there wasn't more care taken on this since the premise was really interesting, taking place in Nancy's own hometown. Maybe I'm not familiar enough with the franchise to appreciate the references? oh well
I did enjoy this game even if it wasn't as groundbreaking as I thought it'd be after such a long wait for it's release. The graphics were marginally better. I still had a lot of fun with the puzzles, getting to know the different characters, seeing Bess and George in person, and exploring River Heights. The town was SO crazy to turn against Nancy like that. I would say scare factor was like 1/5 and overall game play 3/5.
одна из лучших частей спустя 18 лет прохождения на русском узнала, что джесс на самом деле джордж
This is an interesting approach to a Nancy Drew game that HerInteractive created. Although there were some funky game mechanics... the game is okay. For example, lets say Bess has a item and you are currently playing as Ned, it would make sense that Ned calls Bess and then you are able to play as Bess, but no. You have to call Nancy THEN hangup and call Bess. Why even give the option to call any other of the group then Nancy since I had no reason to talk to them. It's not like in the old games where they are giving you hints. Another gripe I had was trying to keep track of who has what and who talked or can talk to who is alot of trial and error until you lineup with the game expects you do. The reason its still a recommended game from me is becuase of the story itself is good and it is fun switching between the characters (with its flaws) and being in Nancy's hometown instead of some random place in the world. You should play this game, but don't put it down then try to pick it up months later or you will have no idea where to even start.
it one of my faverite games in the Lanni Minlla dubbed Nancy Drew series idid finish it onmy orginal disk hopefully i will on here i give it 8 out of 8 stars
Really fun story. Except how for some reason you need to body-swap to nancy to be able to swap between friends that was oddd.?
In my opinion, this is one of the better Nancy Drew games from the franchise's later era. My favorites are (and always will be) games 3-13, but this one really stands out as something unique. It is the first (and only) game to take place in River Heights, Nancy's hometown, and as such, we get a more intimate look at Nancy's personal life and a better understanding of the way the people in her community perceive her. Spoiler alert: it's not good! In fact, most of the townsfolk see her as a spoiled goody-two-shoes and would love nothing more than to see her get knocked down a few pegs. And someone attempts to do just that. The game begins with Nancy escaping a burning building, which she is then framed for starting. So not only are the stakes of the mystery pretty high, it's also VERY personal. I enjoyed exploring River Heights and getting to hear everyone talk about how much they hate Nancy (it's hilarious), the puzzles are super fun, AND you get to play as Nancy, Bess, George, and Ned, all of whom are working in tandem to prove Nancy's innocence. Is it perfect? No. Is it on my top ten list? Probably not. But it's still pretty great. Oh, and Deirdre and Alexei are fantastic characters, two of the best in the franchise, honestly.
It is not my favorite ND game, but the puzzles/games were pretty fun; I imagine if I hadn't played the swap-a-lot game continuously, I may have finished this quicker. The story is ok, but can't deny I felt really bad for Bess when I kept making her try ice cream (and then I didn't even get the ice cream award after eating them all!).
pretty entertaining and easy enough puzzles! enjoyed playing as others as well
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