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one of the more challenging mysteries

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: September 09, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This was my favorite in the series yet. The graphics are stunning the whole Paris/ Fashion vibe is Tres chic! There are many fun puzzles, including a shopping district where you can haggle with the locals. Go underground Paris for your most challenging Nancy Drew maze yet! (be prepared to get wet!)at the end of your game, see the sneak preview for the next PC game! hint: think tropical! Note: you may want to try junior detective before advancing to senior, as some of the games seem almost too difficult in junior mode..

Mystery? What mystery?

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: August 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Even at the age of 15, I am still a big Nancy Drew fan, both the games and the books. I bought this game with the desperate hope that it would live up to the expectations brought around by its unbelievably fantastic predesecor, Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon. "Blue Moon Canyon" had been my favorite ND game of all time, and I was hoping that they were only going to get better from here. *sigh* How wrong I was!
First of all... what mystery? Nancy flies all the way out to Paris to go undercover as a fashion designer's assistant, to... solve a robbery? Investigate a killing? NO! Find out why this lady that Nancy doesn't even know is acting so weird! If Minette's friends wanted to know why she was acting so strangely, they should've called a therepist, not a world-famous detective. I know that they did the same thing in Curse of Blackmoor Manor: Nancy goes abroad to find out why a lady is acting weird. However, in Blackmoor Manor, the woman's behavoir is a lot more wild and alarming, and this one was more on a personal level.
And the solution to the so-called 'mystery' was so lame and outlandish that it made me wonder for a few moments if I'd dreamed it. Because it did not seem possible that HerInteractive (the makers of the fantastic Blue Moon Canyon game) could dare to use something so trivial as the solution to the mystery that I slaved for hours on. I could've accomplished the same thing in 20 seconds by tackling her and ripping the mask off. But, no, I had to go through many many hours of solving puzzles, earning money, making cookies, scaring away rabid squirrels.
Hang with me, the rant's almost over. Just one more thing: the climax.
The climax, to me, is the most important part of a Nancy Drew game. It is the time where you are inches from solving the mystery and finishing the game, when... BAM! One of the suspects shows up, identifies themselves as the culprit, and then you (as Nancy) have to face one last challenge in order to stop them from 'getting away'. (This challenge is usually the hardest part of the game). Then, once you finish that, the game is over and you get to sit back and relax for the epilouge.
However, the climax in this game... how shall I put this politely... stunk.
First of all, what culprit? All you're trying to do is figure out why Minette is wearing a mask all the time and throwing potted plants at her assistants (who sometimes rightly deserve it.. *cough* naughty Heather *cough*). The only thing the climax consists of is standing in Minette's studio while the two of you start kick-boxing each other. You have a stamina bar for the first time in Nancy Drew history, and all you have to do is block her punches until her stamina bar drops all the way down and she falls asleep/faints/dies or whatever she does at the end. If I wanted to see two people beating each other up, I'd watch my cousin play Grand Theft Auto, and at least they wouldn't water down the fights like HerInteractive did. (Well, the game does say 10 and up) And then the mask falls off and I go, "What's this, a joke?"
Ok, now that I'm finished ranting and raving, I'll talk about the good things.
The puzzles, as always, were challenging and time-consuming (in a good way). There were some pretty cool sub-plots about death threats and something about World War Two. The graphics quality had reached an all-time high. The characters were fun and exciting, and there was, as always, those classic lines that make you crack up every time you hear them.
However, all in all, I'm afraid the good things don't outweight the bad. If you've got your heart set on finishing every game in the series, go for it. However, if someone just bought you the game for Christmas or something, I'd definitly shove it under the bed and spend your time better by playing Blue Moon Canyon (which is a very good game).

I LOVE THIS GAME!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 6
Date: August 14, 2006
Author: Amazon User

To all people who say that this game stinks, CHILLL. I love this game. It was very good. It had many puzzles, it had plot, AND you got to ride the paris Metro and see Paris. The only bad part was that we should see the Eifell Tower, but still, we got to taste the food of France. CHILLLL people. and to those who haven't played, BUY IT N-O-W!!!!

Nancy Drew Danger by Design

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 6
Date: November 09, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This new Nancy Drew game was fun to play! It was shipped on time and arrived in good condition.

Must love this game.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: August 25, 2006
Author: Amazon User

My 13 year old daughter and I have been playing the Nancy Drew games since she was about 9. We LOVE them all. They are fun, challanging and worth the wait between games. Danger by Design is no exception. We now play our own game and compare where we are and will help each other when necessary. I highly recommended this series to anyone. Actually I have and more than a few friends are now as hooked as we are.

Awesome Game- H.E.'s best work

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: November 05, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I have played ALL the Nancy Drew games, and I have to say this one takes the cake. Sure, the plot might be just a teeny bit out there, but for a well- experienced girl, this game, I think, has the best graphics of all the games by far and a really awesome plot. The game goes at a nice, steady pace so you're not too bored at any one time.

Fun and Challenging

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: March 20, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I brought this game two days ago and I am hooked! I love Nancy Drew games, it makes me feel as if I am the one solving the puzzles. very fun...recommended for all those who love mind boggling , rhymes, and riddles

There Is No "Danger" By Design

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: June 09, 2007
Author: Amazon User

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

Another Classic

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 8
Date: July 22, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I just finished playing this game, and it was another great addition to the Nancy Drew line. It was challenging in parts, and definitely kept my interest. If you love ND mysteries, this one's for you!

fun fun fun!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: August 30, 2006
Author: Amazon User

this game is sweet! i gust got done beating it and it was so cool.me and my freind both agree that the only part we hated was calling people you had to dail 17 numbers to call one person (ONE PERSON!!!)I thougt the ending was......diferent,but still fun .i thought the graphics were awesome and the mystery was ok.i would deffently reconmend this game for ages 10 and up. PLAY THIS GAME!!!!!!!!!!

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