Nancy Drew: Midnight in Salem

 PC
User Score
3.9

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 23 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 23
  3. Negative: 14 out of 23

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  1. Cromee
    Dec 3, 2019
    2
    Nancy Drew Midnight in Salem is simply an incomplete game. I know that is hard to believe since it has been roughly 4.5 years since the last release in the series. Midnight in Salem has potential, but it misses the mark by a lot. I will start with the positives of the game. The soundtrack is good. It does a good job of setting the tone of the game. Another positive thing about this game isNancy Drew Midnight in Salem is simply an incomplete game. I know that is hard to believe since it has been roughly 4.5 years since the last release in the series. Midnight in Salem has potential, but it misses the mark by a lot. I will start with the positives of the game. The soundtrack is good. It does a good job of setting the tone of the game. Another positive thing about this game is the mystery itself. I love it when Nancy Drew games weave history within the story. This game does a great job of educating the player about the witch trials. Lastly, the voice actress for Nancy does a really solid job. I miss the old voice, but that does not mean the new one is bad. Now for the negatives. I have already experienced crashes within the game. This is something that can be fixed through patches in the future. The main issue I have with the game is on the technical side. It feels like there is no art direction, no detail on anything, textures on assets look like garbage, environments are bland, movement is choppy, animations are overall poor, lip movement does not match up at all with the words, assets do not look rendered at all. Also in many cutscenes (Deirdre driving for example), it looks like there is just one plane for the grass and a skybox. It just makes me think we are all floating. All of these things contribute to feeling like this game has no atmosphere. It just feels empty. Every part simply feels empty. Many trees are just floating in the air, and the backgrounds are empty in each scene. These technical things are too distracting for me. I know it's not the case, but it feels like the game was made in a month. I went in knowing that there would be some technical and graphical errors, but I can't look past them. They are so apparent it takes away all of my enjoyment for the game. I love the Nancy Drew games and wish HER the best moving forward. This game can be salvaged, but I would say just move on. The amount of time it would take to fix the game isn't worth it. I feel so much pain when I type this, but I do not recommend this game. I hope HER can turn this around.… Expand
  2. Pugletgamer
    Dec 6, 2019
    0
    Terrible graphics. Controls make the game unplayable. Significantly worse than even the original game. Zero redeemable qualities to the game.
  3. gold
    Jun 13, 2022
    9
    Мне понравилось! Да графика не очень но привыкнуть можно. Сюжет захватывающе хорош.
    Итог:9.899/10 из-за графики и возможно это не лучшая часть из последующих в новом поколении.
  4. dorsettribe
    Dec 4, 2019
    0
    Total shambles. So much potential wasted on an absolutely thoroughly lazy game. There is no way this has been worked on for nearly 5 years, unless it was a high school project?
  5. Bane343
    Dec 5, 2019
    8
    Honestly, the game is much better then people are giving it credit for. Yes it’s not the best in the series but it is also not even close to the worst. The graphics in some aspects are worse but in others they are better. With the world being more 3D HER bit off a lot more on that end. The overall gameplay is solid and has some potential for future games. HER miss handled the marketing andHonestly, the game is much better then people are giving it credit for. Yes it’s not the best in the series but it is also not even close to the worst. The graphics in some aspects are worse but in others they are better. With the world being more 3D HER bit off a lot more on that end. The overall gameplay is solid and has some potential for future games. HER miss handled the marketing and community out reach for sure. Over all though I enjoyed the game and would recommend you give it a shot before jumping to conclusions.… Expand
  6. ndenthusiast
    Dec 5, 2019
    2
    Honestly... I'm so disappointed. This is almost nothing like the old ND games. The graphics were pretty awful, so much so that speech was delayed. The story was pretty boring and incredibly predictable. There weren't nearly enough puzzles, and the ones that were in the game weren't challenging in the least. It's so sad because fans have been waiting so long and to give us this is almost aHonestly... I'm so disappointed. This is almost nothing like the old ND games. The graphics were pretty awful, so much so that speech was delayed. The story was pretty boring and incredibly predictable. There weren't nearly enough puzzles, and the ones that were in the game weren't challenging in the least. It's so sad because fans have been waiting so long and to give us this is almost a slap in the face. I honestly can't believe I paid $30 for this. It's really that bad.… Expand
  7. Seadamson
    Dec 6, 2019
    1
    What a gigantic let down. After five years the game is glitchy, the graphics are horrible and controlling the game is a giant mess. Do NOT waste your money at all. Bring back the old tried and true Nancy drew games not this garbage.
  8. ZooBuddyDoo
    Dec 6, 2019
    1
    One of the many charms of the ND series is that it wasn't atypical. From game play, settings, characters and Nancys distinguished voice. This game, however, feels hollow and is too sharp a contrast, from the series I've grown to love over the years, to be enjoyable. Independently, this game wouldn't capture my attention. As a ND games, it's down right offensive. #NOTMYNANCY
  9. ChristyAshley
    Dec 10, 2019
    1
    I am so disappointed! I own every single one of these games and have waited so long for this one. It doesn’t even feel slightly similar to the old games and I’m really upset about it honestly. Why have you ruined everything HER interactive? #NotMyNancy
  10. Nancybuff
    Dec 11, 2019
    0
    I was so excited this was out that I bought two games for PC. I own all of Nancy Drew games they are challenging and well done. However, this one was so bad that I had to uninstall it. I literally could not play it, and I spent over $50 for them!! I feel I should get my money back after waiting over 5 years. Nancy's voice seems too mature and wrong, I really miss the talent of the previousI was so excited this was out that I bought two games for PC. I own all of Nancy Drew games they are challenging and well done. However, this one was so bad that I had to uninstall it. I literally could not play it, and I spent over $50 for them!! I feel I should get my money back after waiting over 5 years. Nancy's voice seems too mature and wrong, I really miss the talent of the previous Nancy. The other character sounds just like Nancy is speaking both parts. There is soo much wrong and unplayable with this game I just took it off my PC and I never had to do this with the old games...there is far too much to correct that no "patch" is going to be able to fix it. The game has to be scraped and not sold as is. Such a shame!!… Expand
  11. archparch
    Dec 29, 2019
    3
    tldr: Cut the chatter and go back to more puzzles! Can't believe I dug my notebook out for this game. If there’s anything that stands out immediately that something went wrong with this game, it’s the fact that I’d finished it, and written notes on exactly 2 post it notes. TWO! Alas, there were maybe 5 puzzles in the entire game? The focus was definitely on dialogue which posed 2 bigtldr: Cut the chatter and go back to more puzzles! Can't believe I dug my notebook out for this game. If there’s anything that stands out immediately that something went wrong with this game, it’s the fact that I’d finished it, and written notes on exactly 2 post it notes. TWO! Alas, there were maybe 5 puzzles in the entire game? The focus was definitely on dialogue which posed 2 big issues for me. 1) I had to majorly crank down the graphics settings to get this game to flow properly. I’ve got a pretty new computer (that should be able to handle a lot more than a simple Nancy Drew game) and on normal settings, the dialogue was consistently a good 10 seconds behind. Ergo, talking was super annoying. Basically, I had to turn on subtitles, read quickly, and button click my way through the madness. 2) Nancy Drew games follow a predetermined plot. It’s not like you can mess up figuring out what happens, or pick the wrong bad guy, so making the gameplay dialogue based made no sense. Essentially, nothing you do matters. Her “verbal sleuthing” is a forgone conclusion, so you just sit there, mindlessly click through every conversation bubble, and you win. Congrats. The end.

    I also kept expecting fun little side puzzles introduced early in the game to play larger roles later on. “Oooh, she gave me an advanced herb to use, bet I’ll need that later”. Nope. Or “oooh pancakes! Maybe I’ve got to make some suspect’s favorite shaped pancake to get them to talk!” Nope. Side puzzles are silly, but that’s part of what’s been fun about ND. Ok, last complaint: Navigation! Holy moly guys! Normally it takes a few turns about town to get a feel for where the arrows are in a ND game, and then you’re whizzing about from puzzle to puzzle. But this one just never clicked. The directional arrows never seemed to be in intuitive, nor in the right part of the screen. Lots of weirdly sharp angles and positions. I kept finding myself coming up on a turn, thinking I was at the junction, just to find myself turning into a portrait of a dead president. Sigh.    … Expand
  12. BriJ
    Dec 30, 2019
    7
    I was very excited for this game to come out. I played it as junior detective with ease (more ease than usual). I was skeptical of the new navigation at first but by the end of the game I was comfortable with the new format. Like other reviewers say, the graphics aren’t great - but this platform and style of game play was a huge feat. The way I look at it - the story line was good, II was very excited for this game to come out. I played it as junior detective with ease (more ease than usual). I was skeptical of the new navigation at first but by the end of the game I was comfortable with the new format. Like other reviewers say, the graphics aren’t great - but this platform and style of game play was a huge feat. The way I look at it - the story line was good, I enjoyed the case and characters, but it was lacking in some of the graphics and there were a few dialogue glitches. HOWEVER, it is a better (albeit different) style of game play and it can only improve from here. I really hope HerInteractive continues and does better next game! I was VERY disappointed not to have a preview of what the next game will be... but hopefully it’s coming BEFORE 2025... lol... seriously though please! But yea, I recommend the game for ND fans. If you haven’t played the other games or didn’t like them, you won’t like this.… Expand
  13. MamaofFive
    Oct 2, 2020
    0
    I own all of the games, and waited 4.5 years for this one to come out. I was very disappointed. This game is nothing like any of the other Nancy Drew games. The words didn't match up with the characters' mouths. Honestly, this couldn't have taken that long to develop. Please bring back games like the others. This one was very disappointing.
  14. Schwarzeneggers
    Feb 21, 2022
    10
    A greatest game among all I ever seen! Keep it on! Do a new one! Pretty please!

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
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No score yet - based on 3 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. GameSpace
    Jan 7, 2020
    60
    Midnight in Salem feels slightly rushed, and for a five year wait it really shouldn't have been, but it is still very enjoyable for both new and old players of the series.
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  2. Adventure Gamers
    Dec 30, 2019
    60
    Nancy Drew: Midnight in Salem trades in brainteasing puzzles for a greater focus on an interesting story and a large cast of characters, but is hampered by rough edges that even four years of development couldn’t smooth.
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  3. DarkStation
    Dec 16, 2019
    70
    Nancy Drew games are often considered as “girls’ games” but I think that conception is ancient and belongs to the past. Anyone who likes a good, relaxed crime story without excess violence is allowed to enjoy Nancy Drew: Midnight in Salem.
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