Nancy Drew®: The Shattered Medallion

This game was different than the others, but still fun!

Only the second Nancy Drew PC game I've played now (altough I pretty much know them all already) and it's been quite fun. Lots of puzzles in this one, altough i did get quite stuck on a few, particularly where you had to put names to the sheep, the hints made me be able to solve it but I still don't really know how I was supposed to find out. Btw, the hints are all pretty obvious so they don't often help at all. The last puzzle i also had to look up because I wasn't able to keep track of anything anymore and had basically tried every possible way to position the things already. The starship puzzle was really tricky but also rewarding too, so that was one of the cool ones but there were so many nice ones here!

I really liked this game. I've played nearly all of them at this point, and it is beyond me why so many people are critical of it. It's a shame too, because I almost didn't buy it because of all the negative ratings. I saw many people mentioning that the game seemed unfinished or lazily thrown together, I disagree! I think the plot was multi-faceted, the characters were fun to talk to, and the puzzles were satisfying. You also have a lot of control over the gameplay. I could see how it would go quickly if someone ignored the side quests and extra games, but that's part of the fun. Playing the mini-games and talking with the contestants as much as possible to perform well in the overall contest. I also think the game seems half-done to people because it ends on a cliff hanger of sorts. You're lead to believe that you'll run into Sonny again at some point (wink wink). I would recommend this game for sure. It's a fun environment and one of the cozier games in the Nancy Drew franchise.

I did not like this one. It's a lot of puzzles and they just aren't fun. Challenging but not fun. I don't mind getting stuck but these puzzles make me want to look up the answer, I don't care to solve them. Also, there is barely a mystery. Maybe it comes later after the 20th boring puzzle.

PROS: -Cool premise(s) -Interesting scenery and lots of places to go -Easy puzzles CONS: -Limited direction on gameplay/plot and "what next" moments -Dialogue with all characters completely stops early on in the game -Flat, boring characters (or insufferable, annoying characters; no in-between) -Unsatisfying ending -Poor execution, overall TLDR: I'm glad I waited for a sale; this game is easily skippable, in my opinion. Oh... What was this? I have been a player of Nancy Drew games since I was a child, when I mostly played for the stories. This remains true for me as an adult, but I have developed an equal appreciation for ND puzzles in recent years. Both of these elements were... strange in this one, to say the least. I have waited years to play Medallion; the concept was unique enough (by ND standards, in which Nancy finds herself in many out-of-pocket situations), but the execution was seriously lacking. The characters felt like an afterthought with limited conversation opportunities and zero motive. I learned NOTHING about any of them. Talking to Patrick, Sonny, and Bess was completely fruitless, confusing, and frankly, annoying. Bess contributed nothing to the storyline, besides serving as a distraction for Nancy quite literally one time. The other two characters provided no direction or valuable information. Even Nancy's own dialogue seemed strange and disconnected from her previously consistent personality. The multiple locations were cool, but limited in what could be explored. The puzzles felt repetitive and directionless at times. And worst of all? The plot. It genuinely felt like the game developers had multiple story ideas but couldn't come to a consensus on what to include, thus including...everything? I believe that the two (?) plot points could have been explored in separate games. I could have seen myself enjoying these stories separately, had they both been developed fully and given adequate attention. This game was not my cup of tea, but I can see how it could appeal to others.

In my opinion, this game isn't quite worthy of the negative votes it has received, BUT it is also by-far my least favorite Nancy game. I recommend you play it...but not until you can get it on sale!

Ah, I just replayed this game with friends and it was so much fun!! My friends and I have a semi-bi-monthly game night where we play video games together. For my birthday meeting, I got priority pick, as we had just finished our latest venture (the entire Phoenix Wright trilogy). And when I realized I had never introduced them to my childhood obsession—the Nancy Drew games!!—I knew I had to rectify that. Now, I own all the games, so I had to make a choice here, and while I remember a lot of games fondly, if not all of them, one of my immediate contenders was The Shattered Medallion, and ultimately it was the one I went for. Why? Well, there are several reasons, but mostly… [b]the characters are so damn insane in this one[/b]. They are utterly hilarious. Patrick? [i]love of my life[/i]. Bess and George? Utter gems. The mythological Sonny Joon? Lives up to his hype. They’re all so kooky and funny that I knew that, at the very least, my friends would enjoy that aspect of it. The setting is also one of the more unique and fun the ND games have ever gone for – a reality TV show, with Nancy and her friends as contestants. And of course, the aliens. The setting also gives more credibility to the many puzzles in the game (after all, sometimes you do wonder why this ship, school building, house, ranch, etc, etc, have so many secret nooks and crannies with hidden compartments and puzzles to open them. My house sure doesn’t come with any of those!). Speaking of the puzzles – I really like them. Their level of difficulty varied, but they all felt solvable to me, in a way some Nancy puzzles do not. I’m not going to lie, I am the type of gamer who, if stuck too long on a puzzle, will go to look for spoilers. I didn’t really need to do that with this one – we had all the information, and each one of us got to solve at least one puzzle on their own, so bonus points for feeling good about ourselves, lol. While I feel like the mystery element takes secondary importance in this one, I genuinely had so much fun with the game that I am likely to replay it again sooner rather than later!