Review by Llama Mama

This game is super popular among ND fans. More than once Ive heard people say that its one of the best (if not the best) titles in the series. But it also has a reputation for being fairly scary and having very complicated puzzles. I guess it was that reputation that turned me off to this game, but I finally ended up buying it because I felt like I couldn’t call myself a true Nancy Drew fan without having played Curse of Blackmoor Manor. I’m going to split my review up into different sections so I can give the game a more accurate rating.

PLOT ⁵⁄₅: This was one of the most interesting plots Ive come across in a ND game. Nancy has been asked by her neighbor, Mrs. Petrov, to fly to England and help her daughter. Her daughter Linda recently married a British diplomat named Hugh Penvellyn, but since her wedding Lindas attitude has drastically changed. She has become short tempered and paranoid and constantly getting sick, and by the time Nancy gets to Blackmoor Manor Linda has hidden herself away in her bedroom and refuses to show her face to anyone. Blackmoor Manor has a storied reputation of secrets and witchcraft and for generations locals have believed it to be haunted by a werewolf-like monster called the Beast of Blackmoor. Its up to Nancy to get to the bottom of all of this to help Linda.

Like I said, I thought this plot was fascinating. There was so much detail put into the history of Blackmoor and the Penvellyn family history and I had so much fun unravelling it all as the plot went on. It was a great length and held my interest the whole time. I really have no complaints about the plot.

CHARACTERS 4.⁵⁄₅: There was a really great cast of characters in this game. There was Linda, who I thought was very interesting and I wished I could have interacted more with her. The other residents of the house were Jane, Lindas 12 year old step daughter (also one of my new favorite characters), Hugh Penvellyns aunt Mrs. Drake, and Nigel, a historian who is currently researching Blackmoor Manor for a book he is writing on the Penvellyn family. There was also Janes tutor Ethel, but Ethel was different because you could only talk to her a couple of times over the course of the game. There was also Loulou, the annoying hint parrot. I really enjoyed the voice acting work and impressed overall with the characters.

SETTING 4.⁵⁄₅: Blackmoor Manor was definitely an interesting place. It reminded me a lot of Wickford Castle from Treasure in the Royal Tower especially the main hall. Blackmoor Manor was excessively decorated so there was plenty to look at even if some parts of it were pretty gaudy. It was huge and there was a ton to explore, not to mention lots of areas unlocked over the course of the story. I also really enjoyed the music in this game.

PUZZLES - ⁴⁄₅: This was a puzzle heavy game. The puzzles ranged from ones that were quick and self-explanatory to ones that were incredibly complicated and took many different steps to complete. I used a walkthrough for most of it. I did appreciate how well thought out the puzzles were, however some of them were so long and complicated that it felt daunting having to complete them. There weren’t really any chores in this game, which was good. The only thing that could come close to counting as a chore was that Jane required you to play a game with her before she would do anything for you. This was a little annoying but luckily her games were easy.

IS IT CHALLENGING? Absolutely. There was no way I could have figured out some of those puzzles without a walkthrough. 4.5/5nnENDING - ⁴⁄₅: The ending was good, but not as strong as the other aspects of the game. The reveal at the end and the appearance of the culprit was kind of abrupt and a little underwhelming. The culprits motives made sense but I didn’t really like who they chose as the culprit. But catching them was exciting and I liked how everything was wrapped up in the epilogue.

FINAL SCORE:nPlot: 5nCharacters: 4.5nSetting: 4.5nPuzzles: 4nChallenge: 4.5nEnding: 4n= 26.5, divided by 6 = 4.41 rounded to 4 stars