Cheap Nancy Drew: Danger by Design (Video Games) (Windows Me, Windows 98, Windows XP, Windows 2000) Price

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Customer Reviews of Nancy Drew: Danger by Design

There Is No "Danger" By Design
Nancy Drew: Danger By Design (14) <
> <
>-Before I Begin... <
>My review will be spilt up into sections and have a in-depth look at that topic. If you hate reading medium/long reviews or just don't have the patience I would not continue reading, but if you want to learn the most about the product before you buy it you'll continue. <
> <
>-Gameplay & Interface <
>This series uses a simple and easy to use point-and-click interface. Your cursor will change to an appropriate arrow when you reach a hotspot to move to. Also when manipulating items or playing games we get a white hand (sometimes its blue) and then a hand with a toolbox icon to add stuff to our inventory. On the bottom panel of the screen we have a Menu button, Toolbox, Journal, Coin Purse and Help button. This interface is very easy so you should have no troubles waltzing around Paris and retrieving items. The Main Menu has been the same in this series for a long time. It includes basic options which are easy to navigate to. The Save/Load page is still just a little clunky. You can't delete your saved games and the prompts get annoying but not to much when you are Saving/Loading/Rewriting a game. A new way to tutorial has been introduced too. You finally see Nancy's Room and her desk. She has some memorabilia form past games, a how-to guidebook, a case file, and your plane ticket which asks for Senior or Junior Detective Levels. I enjoyed this disguised tutorial idea, but Her Interactive should sooner or later find out a way to fix that Save/Load page. <
>**** <
> <
>-Plot <
>The main plot was very interesting. Minette is falling behind on her Spring Fashion Collection because of threatening notes and phone calls. Not only is she falling behind but she is firing people left and right and throwing strange tantrums. And somehow all of this has put herself behind a mask. Nancy Drew is recruited as an intern by Amy Grunhild(Minette's financial advisor) to go undercover to find out what is really going on behind that mask wearing fashion designer. The problem is you don't really feel undercover at all because you don't get any Second Chance options (where you goof up) to show what you're really up to. This game would have better if this plot tied into this next sub-plot. While Nancy is uncovering clues on who is getting revenge on Minette, she learns about Noisette Tornarde. This woman was of the French Resistance and fell in love with a German solider, the French enemy at the time. She supposedly stole works of art from France and hid them during the war. She also was looked down on for fraternizing with the enemy on both sides of the war. Before she died she claimed she hid the works of art somewhere in her beloved city. The connection between Minette and Noisette? Noisette lived in the Moulin that Minette now calls her "House Of Design". I liked the sub-plot as well, but did we really need it to be in this game? I can understand that Her Interactive probably wanted you to learn a little background of France while you're "there", but it really doesn't connect with the fantastic Minette plot. Not only does it barely connect but I felt like I was finding out more about Noisette than getting farther in the mystery. This game did not have a climax. There was no "break in the case" or "Oh this clue has got me two steps closer to who is threatening Minette!" or "I better watch my back because the culprit knows I'm on to something!". Her Interactive used one great plot but totally ruined it by not including a climax and trying to merge another plot into it. It's still worth giving credit for it though because of how creative the plots were, interesting and mostly-fun the plots were. <
>*** <
> <
>-Characters <
>There was a good variety of characters in this game. They were all interesting (especially Minette). There is Heather McKay, a young intern working for Minette. I can't tell if she is a teen or a college student but either way this is the second time Her Interactive has brought in a younger character (The first time was in ND 11 with Jane Penvellyn). She is confident and obviously good at her job because Minette hasn't fired her...yet. I wish we could talk to her more though (Unfortunately, this game doesn't have that much character interaction) and learn some more stuff about her. I only know that she is an intern who is hopeful to be a famous fashion designer who doesn't really have a motive to threaten Minette. Minette has a ex-boyfriend that is one of the characters, named Dieter von Schwesterkrank. He is a famous fashion photographer who may still have a nasty grudge on Minette. We do some tasks for him, find a secret passage in his office and talk to him every once in a while. But most of the time he is in his darkroom developing photos, probably more like hiding the truth from Nancy. Its hard to say if you'll enjoy this character, you really just talk about anything but himself. Nancy stays with one of Minette's fitting models, Jing-Jing Ling (That's an interesting name). She is an Australian who apparently was tricked into a contract that forces her to stay in Paris and be a fitting model. She can't wait to get out of Paris, is that because she is afraid she will be arrested for the threats to Minette? She may not be your favorite character because she lies to make her life seem more interesting, she's certainly not trustworthy, we may not know what she is lying about or not. Again, you won't learn that much about her. And there is Jean-Michel Traquenard, a gossip columnist. He is not interesting at all, and barely has no motive and very small role in the game. I could not see how he was a suspect. We finally have gotten to the best character of all in this game, Minette. The bad-tempered, eccentric, fashion designer. She is very interesting to watch and listen to. She is quite unpredictable and one of my favorite characters in this series. Could she be making the threats up herself just to gain publicity in the fashion world? These characters would have been a lot more fun if we actually got to know them better, enough said. <
>*** <
> <
>-Setting & Graphics <
>The graphics in this game were wonderful. It was a feast for the eye! Her Interactive did a great job on these graphics I must say. The park was very realistic and the Moulin had a eerie sense. Jing-Jing Ling's apartment is full of light and charm, and the underwater (and underground) passages were very realistic. The music in this game was spectacular as always and made the setting more real. Although Her Interactive made me feel like I was in Paris, it would have been nice to see the Eiffel Tower (or visit it). <
>***** <
> <
>-Puzzles/Activities <
>The puzzles were not as exciting and connected as they could have been. You mainly run errands for Minette (although it is understandable because Nancy is an intern) and the other characters. There seemed to be a lot "If you do this for me, I'll give you this". Its okay to that once or three times but it gets annoying after a while. Errands and trading were the bulk of this game, it was disappointing. I loved searching through the underwater tunnels, translating French, and baking cookies. Her Interactive definitely needs to work on their puzzles. In fact, opening Minette's "dodo" box is a similar puzzle used in The Secret Of Shadow Ranch (10), and The Final Scene (5). <
>*** <
> <
>-Ending <
>Some people seemed to complain on how this ending did not make sense and did not relate to the game at all. But I found the actual ending (meaning confronting the culprit) suspenseful and exciting. Her Interactive has never done an ending like this before (Maybe that's why people don't like it as much) and I thought it was quite entertaining. You don't catch the culprit, as you have in previous games, you have to fight the culprit. The person they choose as the culprit was a good choice, and I thought the motive to whatever they did was good. I think that the game ended rather abruptly though. One minute you find out an exciting secret about Noisette and the next your accidentally overhearing the culprit talk. I think there should have been suspense leading up to the ending instead, somewhat like the ending in Danger On Deception Island (9). <
>**** <
> <
>-Overall <
>This game was fun at points but was definitely not as good as some of the earlier games. It lacked suspense that the plot needed. The character interaction seems to be lessening and the puzzles are starting to get unoriginal and repetitive. Sure every game needs some repetitive chores to keep the game alive, but when almost all the puzzles are like that you start to get bored. I'll admit the game was enjoyable, give it a try because it's a decent game. I would recommend buying this on sale because it is worth about $17 not exactly $20. Good game, although lacking it's predecessors' qualities, but still a fun game. <
> <
>Add all these up and divide by 6... <
>4 *'s (Gameplay & Interface) <
>3 *'s (Plot) <
>3 *'s (Characters) <
>5 *'s (Setting & Graphics) <
>3 *'s (Puzzles) <
>4 *'s (Ending) <
>= 22 Stars Divide By 6 (Categories) = About 3 Stars <
> <
>-Recommended Nancy Drew Games <
>Danger On Deception Island <
>The Curse Of Blackmoor Manor <
>Last Train To Blue Moon Canyon

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Superb, just like the rest!
As with all Nancy Drew games, this one is refreshing, fun and all-around wholesome entertainment. Each Nancy Drew game offers up something different; it'd be super boring and SO predictable if each one was exactly alike. Great graphics, humorous scenes and stuff to make your brain actually THINK instead of go numb are included in every game. So, DEFinitely go out and buy this game--all the other ones, too!! You'll be so glad you did!

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Danger by design an ok ND game
this game takes place in paris(france) You are working under cover for fashion designer,Minnet as nancy drew. This game is real easy to beat(for me) The ending was NOTHING like I expected.(and kind of STUPID) The point of this game is to find out why minnet wares a full face white mask. But you really don't have much to do in this game that has to do with fashion(1 activity and that's IT) You're mostly running errends for minnet. Well hope you like my review. And enjoy this ND game