History YMMV / NancyDrew

** The "GoodNewsBadNews" segments from ''The Phantom of Venice'' to ''The Deadly Device.'' Some fans liked them and thought they were funny. Others hated them because they felt like [[MoodDissonance it ruined the impact a death scene could have.]]

** Some fans complained about [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRZyDixfTmo the change to the Unity engine]] not being on par with the three-dimensional setting and too much of a departure from previous games. One reason for the complaints was that a number of players are understandably uncomfortable with FPS-style mouselook controls and virtual reality, as they get motion sickness easily compared to hardcore gamers accustomed to first-person shooters. Others are supportive of the change, however, due to the series' reliance on pre-rendered graphics and the overall gameplay style getting rather stale over time. Given the popularity of VR platforms as evidenced by ''[[VideoGame/LANoire L.A. Noire: The VR Case Files]]'' and mobile platforms, one can also understand as to why Her Interactive would want to move forward with this. And while the full retail release of ''Salem'' did stick to the point-and-click setting fans are accustomed to, complaints were levied against the game's graphics, which while it may have been watered down to better cater to casual gamers with low-end machines (*cough* Intel "HD" Graphics *cough*), made it seem like it came from a bargain-bin UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} or [[UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 [=PS2=]]] title. Granted, this is coming from a studio which has recently had some internal troubles, but even kids' games like ''VideoGame/LegoCityUndercover'' use moderate to advanced graphics effects and such. It's not hard for a casual game to scale well with a wide array of [=PCs=] (see ''VideoGame/TheSims'' as an example), and recent advances in technology have allowed for integrated graphics to be reasonably powerful like the built-in Radeon Vega that came with AMD Ryzen and Athlon [=APUs=]; all ''Nancy Drew'' fans got left quite disappointed.

** Believe it or not, people have hidden treasures and written cryptic riddles as to [[http://altereddimensions.net/2015/forrest-fenn-hidden-treasure-millions-dollars-hidden-gold-jewels-clues-treasure how to find it.]]

** Nancy's car and [[spoiler:Jane's]]. Yes, cars actually look like that. Or used to in the 30's. For those of you too young to remember, they actually didn't look the way they do ''now'' until the late 90's.

** The fact that Nancy Drew takes her own initiative and gets ''herself'' out of trouble is something that resonated with women of the thirties just as much as they do in the twenty-first century. If someone, i.e the Hardy Boys, comes to her rescue? Nancy's doing just as much work.

** ''Ransom of the Seven Ships'' is often the most constantly disparaged for it's lack of suspects or characters altogether. It also had a case of blackface, and it's actually been discontinued as of 2020.

** The discontinuation of ''Ransom of the Seven Ships'' by 2020 tends to bring a lot of discussion among fans. While not many particularly miss the game as it’s considered an infamous example of {{Sequelitis}} to most fans, whether or not it should have been outright discontinued is controversial. Many considering the reasoning behind it to be well-intention-ed but misguided at best. The reasoning behind the discontinuation was the alleged use of blackface by the game’s culprit, especially considering the hot topic of BLM at the time. However, some fans don’t even consider it blackface considering said culprit never changes his skin tone or acts in a stereotypical way, only wearing a curly wig and having a fake Jamaican accent, and it’s unfair for the developers to prevent new fans from buying this game just because they’re worried about being cancelled. Not to mention, he’s the villain of the game, so it’s clearly not portrayed positively if that was the actual intention of the developers. Others, even if they disagree that the game was offensive, still stand by Her Interactive’s decision and consider it the right move to avoid offending anybody, especially considering the current climate.

** The discontinuation of ''Ransom of the Seven Ships'' by 2020 tends to bring a lot of discussion among fans. While not many particularly miss the game as it’s considered an infamous example of {{Sequelitis}} to most fans, whether or not it should have been outright discontinued is controversial. Many considering the reasoning behind it to be well-intentioned but misguided at best, [[PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad to blatant pandering to the PC crowd without researching what is actually offensive to POC groups at worst]]. The reasoning behind the discontinuation was the alleged use of blackface by the game’s culprit, especially considering the hot topic of BLM at the time. However, some fans don’t even consider it blackface considering said culprit never changes his skin tone or acts in a stereotypical way, only wearing a curly wig and having a fake Jamaican accent, and it’s unfair for the developers to prevent new fans from buying this game just because they’re worried about being cancelled. Not to mention, he’s the villain of the game, so it’s clearly not portrayed positively if that was the actual intention of the developers. Others, even if they disagree that the game was offensive, still stand by Her Interactive’s decision and consider it the right move to avoid offending anybody, especially considering the current climate.

** "Secrets Can Kill" - The original has you break into the teacher's lounge by cutting through a window with a box cutter.
** "Stay Tuned for Danger" - Where is the defusing-combination for the [[spoiler: bomb in Rick's dressing room?]] Try using the colors of highlighter used on the copy of the script you find in someone else's dressing room, clearly.
** "Treasure in the Royal Tower" - Debatably discovering the entrance to the Queen's tower. You need to [[spoiler: get trapped in the elevator, notice the vent hole above while escaping, later exit the elevator on a specific floor to enter the duct leading to the library, steal the caretaker's key, park the cab on a 'different' floor, enter the elevator duct from the library, and then climb down the elevator duct to discover a NEW exit.]] To it's credit, the game does encourage exploring the castle thoroughly, and the clues provided are logical, if sometimes vague.
** "Secret of the Scarlet Hand" - Finding the exact right triggers for all of the phone calls in the second half can be maddening without help.
** "The Haunted Carousel" - Ironically, the shorthand deciphering puzzles, which does have an in-game guide... if you ask Bess and George for help. Even so, a more difficult puzzle than most of the game offers.
** "Curse of Blackmoor Manor" -

*** Forging the final key requires you to notice a small, easy-to-dismiss clue. While well hidden, many fans find this particular example ingenious.
** "Danger by Design" -
*** The very first puzzle, the tea puzzle, is so complicated that one pair of Nancy Drew youtubers listed it as the worst puzzle in the whole franchise. [[note]]Jamie and Jamison of Vote 4 Holt, Specifically [[/note]]
*** The very "last" puzzle requires using a date-shift cypher AND a World War II decoder with vague instructions.
** "Creature of Kapu Cave" - Debatably the frass puzzle. While entirely logical, it is much more difficult than all the other puzzles in the game, and particularly unforgiving. If one cell of the spreadsheet is wrong, you won't be told which one.
** "White Wolf of Icicle Creek" - Fox and Geese, although [[ThatOnePuzzle a guide can only help you so far.]]
** "The Hauntings of Castle Malloy" -
*** The puzzle in Fiona's room has only nine pieces. One of them is fastened in place. It is much, much worse than it sounds.
*** Gathering flowers for Kyler's bouquet takes you to extremely specific screens, some of which are completely out of the way or only exist for the sake of this puzzle.
** "Ransom of the Seven Ships" -
*** You have several pages of cypher-coded journal messages you need to painstakingly translate one at a time. These contain absolutely necessary information to complete the game.
*** Solving pirate sudoku. Underwater. With a strict time limit that you need to constantly refill at the other side of the world map.
*** At the end, you need to flip 'seven' differently-timed hourglasses so they all stop at the exact same time. A guide can only tell you roughly when to flip each one. Expect to die, constantly..
** "Trail of the Twister" - If you're colorblind, the wire-detangling on Scott's truck is torture.
** "Shadow at the Water's Edge" - Good '''GOD'''.

*** Near the end of the game, you discover Kasumi has hidden her will behind a ''25x25 nonogram.''
*** Immediately followed by needing to cut an exit from a net with a very strict time limit and a [[spoiler: homicidal yurei staring at you and holding you down.]]
** "The Captive Curse" - Getting proof of the monster's existence. You must consult a map of monster sightings, move to one specific screen, hide on a screen you previously could not access, and discreetly take a photo of the monster with your cell phone. Logical on paper, but instructions are vague and obtuse.
** "Tomb of the Lost Queen" - Deciphering the names of Nefertari's children. While entirely logical, the game has presented decrypting hieroglyphs as a simple substitution cypher. This is the first time you are required to cross-check syllable across various sources and deduce the pronunciation of certain symbols. To this point, almost all other translations in the game offer a quick translate option.
** "The Deadly Device" -

** "Ghost of Thorton Hall" -
*** THE CLOCKS. All of the clocks on Charlotte's mantle need to hit midnight at the same time, but all run with different pacing. At one point, you need to do this with [[spoiler: the mansion burning around you and all the clocks set to NEW different pacings.]] Even with all its faults, this is a ''more forgiving'' version of the hourglasses from "Ransom."
*** Charlotte's safe in the underground passage. Not just a slider puzzle, but a slider puzzle with vague tile placement. Charlotte was either a puzzle expert or a masochist.
** "The Silent Spy" - Finding all of Zoe's tile fragments can come down to [[PixelHunting]] with a time limit. A limit that can be reset, at least.
** "The Shattered Medallion" - The planetary gears/alien machine Grandpa Jin has lead you to requires exact gear placement, hidden-object finding in the form of Sonny's notebook, and an emotional stake in the story of Shattered Medallion. Many fans find the latter the hardest to stomach. Your reward does not help encourage you along.
** "Labyrinth of Lies" - Certain documents are being hidden in one of the underworld sets in a large stone sliding puzzle. The pieces can only be moved to certain sections depending on which pieces match in a given fifth. This is much easier said than done.

** The final code door in "Danger by Design." To escape the "treasure room", you must take the message engraved above the door lock, apply a date shift cypher using the code name for the decoder you have in your pockets, set the decoder to the same set of digits, and then type the resulting string into the decoder. No other decoding puzzle requires this much extra work.
*** This puzzle falls somewhere between this and [[GuideDangIt]]. You do recieve instructions... but only if you play on junior detective, in which case they appear on your checklist. If you play senior detective? You're expected to deduce that *all on your own.*
** "White Wolf" has Fox and Geese, a board game scenario. Your opponent, Bill Kessler, moves a single fox token, with the goal of jumping your geese tokens to "eat" them. Your goal is to trap the fox so it cannot move. Doable. Then you need to use the [[ItMakesSenseInContext radioactive pig token to open the underground tunnels for the wolf.]] You need to win the game three times, trapping the fox at three specific parts of the board. Unlike most Nancy Drew puzzles, this one utilizes an AI playing as the fox, so walkthroughs only get you so far. This puzzle is particularly hated by fans.

** The chemical sorting from "Castle Malloy." Another fan un-favorite, this unskippable and explosive chore will kill you constantly, and take from 10-15 minutes, depending how butterfingered you happen to be. Hopefully, you can deduce the instructions.
** One of the final puzzles in "Ransom of the Seven Ships" involves seven hourglasses that must be flipped over at ''very'' specific times, and you only get two chances to do it correctly. Players will be using the Second Chance feature a ''lot'' for this challenge.

** "Shattered Medallion" has the tie-breaker challenge. Much like fox and geese, this puzzle can only be cheated so far, as the sliding tube moves on a strict timer. If you're playing windowed mode, you *can* click out of the window to give yourself a moment to think, but otherwise you are at the games mercy.

** Fox and Geese in ''White Wolf of Icicle Creek'' is notoriously difficult. Made worse by how tedious and arbitrary it feels seeing as you have to beat it ''several times'' for a fairly forced reason.

** The wire portrait puzzle in ''Shadow at the Water's Edge'', as well as the master Sudoku and the giant [[GridPuzzle Nonogram]] (particularly on Senior Detective mode). Not only that, but it's not limited to the harder level. You have to solve ''five connected sudoku puzzles'' on Junior Detective mode - a mode which is meant to be ''easy''.
** ''Stay Tuned for Danger'' had one of the most infamous final puzzles in the whole series.You have a panel with eight buttons, and you must figure out which sequence of buttons is the right one. Only it's a trial-and-error puzzle, so you don't know what the combination is. If you hit a wrong button, you have to start over. Sounds straightforward, right? Wrong! It's a ''time-limited puzzle,'' and if you don't solve it in time, you have to face a rather NightmareFuel inducing death scene as the culprit slowly approaches you with an horrifyingly devilish look. Okay, just use Second Chance and start the combination where you left off, right? Wrong again! The puzzle is '''RANDOMLY GENERATED.''' The entire thing almost completely boils down to if you're lucky enough to hit the right combination with only one or two mistakes, and if you mess up on the seventh button, just forget it. What's worse is that each difficulty decreases the amount of time you have to solve this puzzle. If you're on Master Detective mode, ''good luck.'' This puzzle frustrated so many players that Her Interactive actually released a patch that removed the time limit altogether.

** The late 80s version (specifically the ''Nancy Drew Files'' spinoff) has its fanbase, and they don't take too kindly to the new ''Girl Detective'' reboot for going the other way and being too "kiddy" (usually, they like the original 30s/60s version, but feel like a certain amount of NostalgiaFilter might [[FirstInstallmentWins make them slightly biased toward everything afterwards.]]

** [[spoiler: Aihara Rentaro]] from ''Shadow at the Water’s Edge.'' [[spoiler: The game tries to portray him as a well-intentioned culprit who only wants to make Miwako happy, with his intention lying solely within shutting down the ryokan so she can live with the city with him, as he thinks it’s what’s best for her. However, this is deeply undercut when you consider the insanely manipulative and downright evil methods he uses to shut down the ryokan. If you really think about it, [[FridgeHorror Rentaro is essentially using the (fake) ghost of her girlfriend’s dead mother to emotionally torture the entire family and run the ryokan out of business]]. The only possible justification is that he didn’t realize how harmful his actions were due to his lack of social skills and possible Autism, which is still a bit hard to swallow. The fact that you can choose to forgive the culprit with a good ending only makes this worse, although he thankfully doesn’t end up back with Miwako in the end.]]

* RemadeAndImproved: "Secrets Can Kill remastered" is considered to be a pretty big improvement to the original game. While it wasn't seen as ''bad'' per se, it just [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny didn't age well]] and suffered from a ''lot'' of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness. One of the big improvements was the fact that the culprit has a much greater presence in the story [[spoiler: despite being DemotedToDragon]].

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: To modern readers, it can be hard to understand just how unusual a girl detective was when the first ''Nancy Drew'' books came out.

** Some fans complained about [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRZyDixfTmo the change to the Unity engine]] not being on par with the three-dimensional setting and too much of a departure from previous games. One reason for the complaints was that a number of players are understandably uncomfortable with FPS-style mouselook controls and VirtualReality, as they get motion sickness easily compared to hardcore gamers accustomed to first-person shooters. Others are supportive of the change, however, due to the series' reliance on pre-rendered graphics and the overall gameplay style getting rather stale over time. Given the popularity of VR platforms as evidenced by ''[[VideoGame/LANoire L.A. Noire: The VR Case Files]]'' and mobile platforms, one can also understand as to why Her Interactive would want to move forward with this. And while the full retail release of ''Salem'' did stick to the point-and-click setting fans are accustomed to, complaints were levied against the game's graphics, which while it may have been watered down to better cater to casual gamers with low-end machines (*cough* Intel "HD" Graphics *cough*), made it seem like it came from a bargain-bin UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} or [[UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 [=PS2=]]] title. Granted, this is coming from a studio which has recently had some internal troubles, but even kids' games like ''VideoGame/LegoCityUndercover'' use moderate to advanced graphics effects and such. It's not hard for a casual game to scale well with a wide array of [=PCs=] (see ''VideoGame/TheSims'' as an example), and recent advances in technology have allowed for integrated graphics to be reasonably powerful like the built-in Radeon Vega that came with AMD Ryzen and Athlon [=APUs=]; all ''Nancy Drew'' fans got left quite disappointed.

** The wire portrait puzzle in ''Shadow at the Water's Edge'', as well as the master Sudoku and the giant Nonogram (particularly on Senior Detective mode). Not only that, but it's not limited to the harder level. You have to solve ''five connected sudoku puzzles'' on Junior Detective mode - a mode which is meant to be ''easy''.