Nancy Drew: Sea of Darkness takes place in Iceland which I thought was neat since I went to Iceland last year. I don’t think I have had this experience yet where I play a Nancy Drew game and I have actually visited the place that Nancy visits. I feel a bit biased when it comes to writing an honest review for Nancy Drew: Sea of Darkness because I loved this game, but I’m wondering if it’s partially because Iceland is the setting for this installment in the Nancy Drew PC game franchise. Nancy Drew: Sea of Darkness is definitely one of my favorite games and I think the mystery itself was intriguing.

Nancy is called to Iceland to investigate the disappearance of Captain Magnus Kiljansson who is leading the efforts to historically preserve a famous ship called the Heerlijkheid. There are rumors that there is buried treasure somewhere in the glaciers and that Captain Magnus not only found the treasure but escaped with it. Nancy isn’t fully convinced and she sets off to investigate whether Captain Magnus disappeared on his own free will or if something more sinister happened to him.

The first thing I noticed while playing Nancy Drew: Sea of Darkness was how pretty the game is. In the above screenshot, there’s an aura of darkness in the town that Nancy is wandering around in. I think the darkness adds a certain level of uncertainty which I think makes the Nancy Drew games more enjoyable. I liked how Nancy could also board the ship besides walking around the small town. I thought there was a lot to see and unlock as the game unfolded. I ended up playing this game during Superbowl weekend which was perfect considering the wintery setting of the game.

One thing that’s worth noting is this Nancy Drew game is puzzle-heavy. Every locked box has some sort of contraption that Nancy has to solve for. There are several things that Nancy has to collect which are found in many of the locations Nancy can explore. I found most of these puzzles to be fair, meaning that the solutions weren’t frustrating and could easily be obtained by reading all the material Nancy collects. There’s nothing more aggravating than trying to solve a puzzle and it feels like there’s no way to interpret the solution unless you use a walkthrough. I didn’t think this game fell into that at all.

Nancy Drew: Sea of Darkness was a memorable and notable adventure. I liked how Iceland was the backdrop to the game and I thought this game was well-balanced between being challenging, but also satisfying when a solution to a puzzle was achieved. I’d rate Nancy Drew: Sea of Darkness five stars as I think this would be one of the first Nancy Drew games I’d recommend to someone new to the franchise.

I haven’t talked much about the Dungeons & Dragons campaign that I play in on Mondays. It’s not that I haven’t wanted to because there has been so much that has happened since we started. I wanted to take the time to get to know my character and find a balance in roleplaying as her. In the meantime, I asked Bad Wolf Adventure Studios to commission art based on my character. I did this with Levinia from Curse of Strahd, so it’s no surprise that I would do this with my new character. I am so excited to introduce to you; Vesper Henshawe, my Human Sorcerer.

I wanted to give a little bit more of a description of Vesper. Vesper Henshawe is a general. Three of the player characters are underneath her hierarchy. Vesper is a student at the Academy where she has been trained as a battle mage. She has graduated from the Academy and upon graduation, she received a Ring of Spell Storing. She is looking to progress through her professional career as a military strategist. From a personality standpoint, Vesper is a hard person to get to know. She can be abrasive and difficult to work with. Her personality comes from the backstory that I built for her. I’m not going to reveal all of that yet because some of it I have kept secret from the other players, so I want to keep that secrecy now.

Roleplaying as Vesper has been entertaining. When I originally played her, I made her purposefully abrasive. She had an attitude and didn’t share much about herself with others. As the events have unfolded in our campaign, she has started to open up to the other players. One of our original players was killed by a hobgoblin which I think shook Vesper mentally. She is realizing that the more closed off she is, it may not gain her allies in the harsh world that she lives in.

Bad Wolf did such an amazing job with designing Vesper. I am obsessed with this picture as I think it captures Vesper’s personality and also the experiences she’s had throughout the campaign. I hope to write more campaign recap sessions here because there has been so much going on that our party has had to work through.

When I purchased all my new Steam games, I knew I wanted to play the Nancy Drew games first. One of my long-term goals is to play every single Nancy Drew PC game and I’m on my way there. Out of the five Nancy Drew games I purchased, I decided to play Nancy Drew: The Silent Spy first. Nancy Drew: The Silent Spy had an intriguing plot, and while I didn’t like this game as much as the others I played previously, this might be a good game for those who are new to the Nancy Drew PC games.

In Nancy Drew: The Silent Spy, this game focuses on Nancy’s back story and what happened to her mom. Nancy receives a letter regarding her mother’s car accident. It’s made clear to Nancy that her mom was a government agent and she was investigating a potential terrorist attack in Scotland. The terrorist group responsible went dark and Nancy’s mother died shortly after that. Nancy flies to Scotland to finally figure out what happened to her mother all those years ago.

Nancy Drew: The Silent Spy has one of the best stories out of all the games. It’s hard to beat a game that goes back into Nancy’s personal history. I liked the setting of this game. Set in Scotland, Nancy finds herself in and out of a train station, jetting off to various locations including a safe house with access to spy gear. From a story perspective, I think that was easily the best part about this game in particular.

That said, I think Nancy Drew: The Silent Spy was a bit underwhelming. The main reveal of who was responsible wasn’t exciting. This is a big deal, this is finding out who was involved in Nancy’s mom’s death, but I felt like I didn’t get any real answers. Why was this person involved in terrorist activity? What did Nancy’s mom know that made her a liability? These may have been revealed and I wasn’t paying attention, but I felt there was more that could have been done to make this more satisfying.

Another thing with this game, I felt the puzzles were convoluted. There was one puzzle that involved unlocking the phone of a suspect that Nancy was looking into. It involved finding a flag of a particular region. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out the clue and after getting some help from a walkthrough, I realized that the book I needed was at another suspect’s house which I missed. If that wasn’t enough, this puzzle was timed since Nancy was breaking into the hotel room. I don’t like timed puzzles to begin with as I prefer to take my time figuring out the solution. It feels more satisfying when I can figure it out myself than trying to race against time before Nancy is caught.

Nancy Drew: The Silent Spy is essential to play since it covers Nancy’s backstory. I wish that this game was more satisfying, I think it ended up being a bit of a letdown. That said, I already have the next Nancy Drew game installed on my computer and can’t wait to play it. I would rate Nancy Drew: The Silent Spy three stars. It was fun and I liked the game, but it wasn’t my favorite.

Is there any better way to kick off a new year than to buy new video games? I don’t think there is. I haven’t purchased any new games on Steam in a long time. I saw the Winter Sale was still going on, so now is the time to get stocked up to kick off 2024 with a bang. I wanted to share all the new games I bought on Steam because my haul is actually pretty massive.

All the Nancy Drew!

I bought five new Nancy Drew games. They are: Nancy Drew: The Silent Spy, Nancy Drew: Legend of the Crystal Skull, Nancy Drew: Midnight in Salem, Nancy Drew: Sea of Darkness, and, Nancy Drew: The Haunting of Castle Malloy. I don’t know what I will do with myself if I ever get to the point where I have played every single Nancy Drew game. I love the Nancy Drew PC games as I think they are a fun challenge. It’s become a routine where I sit upstairs in our loft, break out the note pad and a pen, and load up the newest Nancy Drew game. I think this should keep me busy for a bit.

Arcade Spirits

Arcade Spirits is a visual novel game taking place in the 1980s. As the player, you start your job at the Funplex game arcade. Who will you meet throughout your day at the arcade? I liked the art in this game and this feels like a chill game to play during the week.

Beacon Pines

Beacon Pines is an adventure game that’s set in a mystery book. This is definitely up my alley. I’ll be curious to see how this runs on PC. I see that it is on the Switch as well. I don’t have a well established game set up as I play solely on my laptop. I could see myself liking this game then buying it on the Switch depending on how it runs on my laptop.

Bear & Breakfast

Bear & Breakfast is a simulation game in which players play as a Bear as they open a Bed and Breakfast. I was envisioning this to be a Diner Dash except more campground themed. If that’s the case, I will love this game.

Zodiacats

Zodiacats is a cat puzzle jigsaw game where players solve puzzles to unlock the zodiac wheel. This should be no surprise that I bought another cat themed video game.

With the Steam haul, I picked up nine games in total. I believe every game was discounted in some amount. I actually made a big dent in my Steam wishlist which I felt was a long time coming. I’m excited to take some time and play through some of these new games. I’m sure there will be a lot of video game reviews upcoming.

As someone who finished unlocking all the trophies in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, I love seeing superheroes getting their own video games. While Marvel’s Spider-Man has been my primary focus, I remember the joy I felt playing through Rocksteady’s Batman games. When I saw Bethesda’s announcement about the new Blade game, I didn’t need to hear anything else. I could see myself pre-ordering Marvel’s Blade when a release date is announced. It’s about time that Microsoft hopped on the superhero bandwagon.

There isn’t much to be gathered from the announcement trailer. It shows Blade in a barbershop as alarms ring out from the shop. Blade quickly puts his gear on and it zooms in on Blade’s back as he draws one of his blades from its holster. The official Bethesda article mentions how Marvel’s Blade will take place in Paris during a supernatural emergency. That sounds neat. Playing as Blade while he annihilates vampires and other supernatural creatures with the Eiffel Tower as a backdrop.

I think it’s about time that Microsoft dips into superheroes. For those who aren’t familiar, Bethesda is owned by Microsoft, therefore Marvel’s Blade will more than likely be an Xbox exclusive. Insomniac Games has a winning combination with their Spider-Man games and the upcoming Wolverine game. As long as Marvel’s Blade is a well-made game, I don’t see a reason why Microsoft shouldn’t have an exclusive for Xbox. It’s been fun to see two of my favorite hobbies; comics and video games, come together.

I am looking forward to hearing more about Marvel’s Blade. As mentioned, I definitely want to pre-order this as soon as more information is announced.

I felt like it was a race against time as I played Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. I needed to finish the main story before having the story spoiled for me online. When I played Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, I found myself exploring downtown NYC and completing several side quests. I’d end up playing for hours without completing one of the story missions. I finally decided to get serious and I ended up playing Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 for close to 12 hours straight, but I completed the story without being spoiled. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 was nothing short of amazing and it’s easily the best game I played in 2023.

Spoilers Ahead – You Have Been Warned

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 takes place shortly after Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Peter was recently fired from his physics teaching position for abandoning the class to stop Sandman. Miles joins Peter and quickly the two despatch Sandman. From Sandman’s reasoning, it’s alluded to the fact that Sandman was being stalked by someone, but it’s not revealed who. Meanwhile, Harry Osborne, Peter’s childhood friend is revealed to be feeling better as he had an experimental exosuit put into his body that’s supposedly cured him. As Peter and Miles are overseeing a prison transfer, they meet Kraven and his followers who abduct Martin Li and Scorpion. If that wasn’t bad enough, Harry’s exosuit (aka. Venom) transfers to Peter which changes his entire demeanor. Peter and Miles team up to put an end to Kraven’s hunt along with trapping Venom for good.

The story for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is so good. Peter struggles with his Spider-Man persona especially when his relationship with Mary Jane is getting serious. Miles has his own battles especially when it comes to Martin Li. Martin Li is directly responsible for the death of Mile’s father and Miles ends up saving Martin Li in the game. While Miles doesn’t forgive him, Miles doesn’t let his anger get to him or let himself seek vengeance against Martin. Both Peter and Miles have their time to shine throughout the missions and side quests.

I can’t talk about the story of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 without addressing the villains. Kraven, in my opinion, was such a good idea to include in the game. Peter and Miles are powerful, but not from a physical strength perspective. I think Kraven keeps Peter and Miles on edge as I think they know that Kraven is a formidable opponent. Kraven’s boss battle was intensely challenging and I died a few times before I figured out how to get past him. I think the way the game handled Kraven’s story arc was awesome. Having Venom violently kill Kraven shifted the focus from Kraven to Venom being this formidable enemy. Speaking of Venom, being able to play as Venom was so cool. Venom being able to whack all of Kraven’s guards was satisfying. One of my favorite missions was when Venom (Harry Osborne regaining the suit) had to escape Oscorp after he injured Peter. Jumping from platform to platform, grabbing Oscorp guards, and unleashing havoc was so fun. The last mission that was a complete surprise to me was Mary Jane becoming Scream! I’m so glad that wasn’t spoiled for me. I read the Scream comics and I wasn’t anticipating to see Scream in the game.

Besides the story, there’s so much to do in NYC. In this game, there are more areas to explore which I liked. The side quests include Sandman’s memories, helping Mysterio with his virtual reality simulations, along with Kraven and Venom hideouts. I’m at 89% right now meaning I haven’t finished everything in the game, although, since I spent so much time on side quests earlier, I don’t have a whole lot to do. I am fully planning on unlocking every trophy in the game.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is everything I had hoped for and more. It’s the best game I played in 2023 and I can’t wait for Insomniac to make more Marvel games. I rate Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 5/5.

At Gen Con, I stopped by the Wyrd Game’s booth. As I walked around their booth, I kept looking at a game they had on display called Vagrant Song. The art on the board game instantly reminded me of Bioshock, one of my all-time favorite video games. I contemplated purchasing Vagrant Song solely on the art alone. One of the people working at the booth approached me and gave me a quick speech about what Vagrant Song was about. I bought the game shortly thereafter. Vagrant Song is a Spooky, Cooperative game I’m glad to have in my board game collection.

Vagrant Song is a cooperative game which means the players will work together to achieve an objective. Each character is a vagrant on a train called the Silver Ferryman. Vagrants will partner together to set free ghosts (called Haints). Once a Haint gains enough humanity, the Haint will be free to go into the afterlife. Each Haint has special abilities that impact how Vagrants can interact with it. Vagrants can gather items, use their skills, and gain material to aid them in their quest to stop the Haint. If the Vagrants are Westbound (meaning the Vagrants are killed by the Haint), they lose the game.

The art was what drew me to Vagrant Song in the first place. The rule book and the scenario book are beautifully illustrated. There are pictures of a gritty brown train car with the bright blue ethereal Haints flying out and about. The game board has this old-fashioned feeling to it with the way the train cars are designed. When I play board games, I don’t pay much attention to the art, but Vagrant Song was clearly an exception. The art is exquisite.

Another highlight for me was the characters. Each Vagrant has their own style which still falls into this old-fashioned cartoon look. For my first few playthroughs, I played as Empress The Driven who is supposed to be an army general of sorts. She is skilled in “busting” a ghost aka. giving it a good punch. Another character one of my family members played included a dog which had humanity benefits to help defeat the Haint. I’m curious to play as the other characters, so I can fully decide on which character I like the best.

The final thing I wanted to touch on with Vagrant Song is replayability. With some board games, there aren’t a lot of different gameplay options. If I play the same game over and over again, it might feel repetitive and I might need to take a break from playing that game. With Vagrant Song, there are a lot of options. This is partly due to the scenario book. The scenario book is separate from the rule book, but it lists all the different Haints that players can go up against. I love this! It creates a different gameplay experience every time. Plus, if I were to somehow have the time to defeat all the Haints as one Vagrant, I could do it again with a different Vagrant and that would change my gameplay experience. I’m not exactly sure how many scenarios there are, but the book is thick, so there has got to be more than 30 at least.

Vagrant Song is the first board game that I have reviewed using my new rating system. I would rate Vagrant Song 5/5. I would always be in the mood to break out this game and I love the aesthetic of the game itself. Wyrd Games is a board game company on my radar now and I would play another one of their games in the future.

I’m in a spring cleaning mindset even though it’s the beginning of winter. I recently dug through my closet and donated two big bags of clothes that I wasn’t wearing. I found myself staring at my board game shelf along with two boxes of unpacked video games in our spare bedroom. It got me thinking about how when I write board game or video game reviews, I never rate what I play. I write reviews on what I read, but that doesn’t translate to gaming. Going forward, I will be rating board games and video games that I play which I hope will help organize my gaming collection in the future.

Before I dive into my review scale, I wanted to share some backstory. I’m a collector. Being a collector, I tend to hold on to things if they provide any sentimental value. When I pick up that board game or a video game, I find that it prompts memories of where I was when I first discovered that game or where I was in my life when I was playing through the game. It’s more difficult for me to donate a board game than it is to donate clothing. I think part of the reason I feel this way is that gaming is a hobby that has stuck with me for a long time. It’s a hobby that’s gotten me through the toughest of times along with making me feel happy and content. I know for a fact that gaming will be a hobby that will stick around in the years to come.

With that said, I wanted to share how I will rate board games and video games in future posts. I will follow a five-point scale to help keep things consistent. If I rate a board game or a video game 5 out of 5, it means that it’s the best thing ever and I’m obsessed. For board games, I will want to bring it to every family or friend’s board game night. If it’s a video game, I know that I will replay the game again. If I rate something 4 out of 5, it means that I really liked it. It’s a board game that I’m glad that I own so I can play it whenever. For a video game, it means that it was great, but I probably don’t have to replay it until a significant amount of time has passed. If I rate something a 3 out of 5, it means I liked it, but I may have to be in the mood to play it. I think this applies to both board games and video games. If I rate something 2 or less, it means that I didn’t like it, it’s not for me, or I don’t see a reason to own it.

The first half of this post was more personal than I originally anticipated this post to be. I’m looking forward to my future gaming reviews and being more organized in writing gaming-related content. I have a board game review sitting in my drafts which will be the perfect way to kick off the new rating scale.