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daretosnoop · 4 years

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The Final Scene Review:

Atmosphere/Layout:

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the Nancy Drew games do a stellar job at placing the player within the game. FIN is often given the due credit of being one of the best atmospheric games. The artists effectively portrayed a theater that is long past its prime. Everything is tattered and dusty. Things are old and rusty. How long has that popcorn been sitting there? Or that bubble gum? Who knows? It’s gorgeous! It’s incredible how they manage to make the theater so nostalgic to the player despite it being fictional. It really reminds you of old buildings that are destroyed to make way for corporate offices or businesses. It’s one of the few Nancy Drew games that sets the tone right from the start – dangerous and fast-paced. Maya’s kidnapping sets in the urgency, but right from the start players are required to navigate through an abandoned and creepy backroom only to pop out of a closet. It’s these two scenes that really hammer into the reader that this game is playing no nonsense. It’s like that moment in all horror movies/games where the characters realize this is for real. It really makes sense for the stage rooms to have a bunch of junk lying around here and there because it’s been abandoned. Allowing Nancy to look at them just continues to hammer that in. I mean, did anyone else feel slightly grossed out at the sink with a plunger in it? You really resonate with Nick Falcone’s commitment of protecting America from becoming Generica. Despite its dilapidated state, I’m pretty sure we all can agree that the theater commanded a presence. This game reminded me of the old Scooby Doo episode where they go to the puppet theater and are haunted by that creepy puppet master. And just like the Scooby doo gang, you always felt like someone was watching you—especially in areas like the underground basement and the main theater room.

Music:

Another stellar masterpiece. I don’t think there is a single track I hated. Each title retained the jazzy elements of the theater’s ritzy days, yet there is always something creepy intermixed within it. It really set in the feeling that someone was following you around. Tracks like “Lobby” and “Maya” really brought this feeling home, especially at end game when the danger music is playing and it intermixes with Maya’s theme. OMG, when that music started playing, I really got chills and started to become frantic. I forgot that the axe and hammer don’t work on the ice cube cupboard, which made me waste time. I actually finished this game with seconds to spare because I didn’t know that time didn’t stop when you read the letters.

In terms of little noises, I loved the sound of the doors as you opened it and the rustle of the curtains as you moved them aside. The noise the key make makes and the papers on Nick Falcone’s desk!

Characters:

Nancy: I think everyone agrees that FIN Nancy is a Nancy we rarely ever see. She is taking no crap from anyone. Not only does it reinstate the sense of urgency, but it also shows a Nancy who refuses to be pushed around by others. I mean, not one character dumps their chores onto Nancy! Well Nick Falcone sort of does, but Nancy has the option of calling him out on this!

Simone Muller: Ah, who can forget the best introduction lines ever, “I’m going to have to call you back, someone just stepped out of my closet”. That one line gives you everything you need to know about Simone. She’s busy, has no time for strange occurrences, and doesn’t let anything get in the way of her plans. I love her rudeness, especially when you combine it with Brady and the book he’s reading on “being your own self”. The fact that she refuses to talk to Nancy until the end of day one enforces that “I’ve got no time for you” managerial, Hollywood attitude. One thing this game does well is in making each character suspicious. There is no object or goal the characters are trying to attain, but rather, the game focuses on the lengths they would go to in order to satisfy their desires. Simone wants to make Brady famous because that would make her rich. Thus, from her dealings with Brady’s fans and the floral card, it makes sense that she might kidnap Maya. BTW, I just want to say how amazing this game is by making all the suspicious evidence be everyday items. For Simone, it’s messages and a floral business card. In other words, the suspicion is put on the character’s motives and their personality, as in, how they would achieve said goals.

Brady Armstrong: Total Hottie, am I right? Oh wait, wrong game. Out of the 4 suspects, Brady is the weakest because he really has no reason to kidnap Maya. Even if it was a publicity stunt it wouldn’t be him doing the kidnapping, Simone would make sure of that! But the plot twist they gave to his character was really cool and unexpected. It did bring some new questions, but within the context of the game, it was really great because it took the character with the lowest suspicion rate and made him super suspicious! I know some people might feel like it’s random and came out of nowhere, but I disagree. Brady is shown to have qualms with the amount of control Simone has over his life, not to mention his own fears of a waning career (which btw, nicely ties in with a theater past its prime theme). After Joseph, he shows the most amount of concern for Maya but it feels superficial, like it’s for a press. Later you see him reading the assert yourself book which builds his confidence not only to get out of Simone’s grasps but to go down a different path. Finally, he keeps everything in an office briefcase. It’s a subtle growth, but it’s there.

Nick Falcone: Probably the person the game wanted you to think is the most suspicious because Maya’s kidnapping falls right into his plans, and his past borderline illegal activates to preserve the theater. Honestly, even knowing the true criminal, I think the game did a good job at making Nick suspicious. He gives off the aura of one of those people who make you feel included and then next thing you know you helped someone out in a crime. One of those I’ll be nice and make you trust me, but I have ulterior motives and don’t trust you types. And yet, the game did something so clever with his character that connects him to the real criminal. You see, Nick is relatively nice to Nancy and actually works alongside her a bit, kind of like someone else we know. It’s a clever trick to make Joseph’s eventually reveal seem less jarring because the game has already shown a nice character who is extremely shady.

Joseph Huges: One of those tragic yet scary villains. You really sympathize with his desire to save the theater and his desperation. I felt really bad when the note about his brother’s death was discovered. He’s nice, but the game uses his niceness against you. He’s always there when you need help (he’s watching you). He tries to help you find Maya (he’s making sure you don’t find her before the demolition is due). He’s definitely one of the more dangerous villains because of his desire to be your friend. And yet, I kind of felt like they weren’t intentionally trying to hide this side of Joseph. One of the most obvious things about Maya’s kidnapping is that it would require someone to have intense knowledge of the theater’s layouts, and out of all the characters, Joseph has the most. So from the start, the finger was already on Joseph, but either his “kindness” makes you forget it or makes you deny it because it’s hard to believe. I still wonder if his denial confrontation is intentional or not, or a mix of both. It’s hard to say, he’s definitely a villain that’s exhausted. But it certainly made him one of the best, if not the best, villains in the series.

Puzzles: This game had a nice balance between the puzzles and game. The puzzles weren’t super complicated but they nicely integrated with the theater. I mean, it really wouldn’t make sense for a theater to have complicated puzzles here and there. I think the most complicated puzzle would be the one to get access to the magician’s room. The only puzzle that was a disappointment was using the keys in the attic to get past the door. There were so many keys and they were of similar colour which just made everything chaotic. The end game puzzle was hilarious because it wasn’t a puzzle at all. It was just a magic trick, yet it worked because of the setting! Simone’s phone was a little daunting because I didn’t know what the objective was. I knew you had to put the number from the lipstick card, but where and how wasn’t clear. I kind of guessed a few times then got it.

This game really hammered in the magical phrase “Appearances can be deceiving”.

One funny thing was with the electric door. I forgot to look into the chest to get the rubber gloves, so when I came to the electric door I started to improvise. Instead of going back to get the gloves, my brain went “Well, wood isn’t a good conductor of electricity so if we use the magic wand which is most likely made of wood as a stick and press the numbers with it, we should be good”….. I had to hear Nancy’s scream 3 times before I remembered the gloves.

There were a lot of phone calls, but I like talking to people and gathering bits of clues here and there and having to put everything together. Also, I loved Houdini’s cousin’s morbid humour, LOVED IT!

Graphics:

They show their age here and there, but like the theater, sometimes old is gold. This game doesn’t have little animations that are unique to the character. You could argue for Simone and Joseph as they both had something that was related to their work, but neither revealed much about their character. Graphics is something you can only talk about with the later games, but this game still provided unique angles like Joseph’s head peering into the trap door/magician’s room area.

Plot: It was fantastic. Everything is high stakes and instead of receiving help, Nancy receives reluctance and incompetence. No wonder she tags alongside the villain, he’s the only one who tries to help.

The only thing that I don’t completely get is why Brady felt threatened by Maya. So what if she exposes the fact that he’s the owner of the theater? How does that affect his popularity? If anything, planet Tinseltown would make a bigger dent in it.

Overall, loved this game. 10/10

#nancy drew #her interactive #clue crew #FIN review #The Final Scene #game review

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