I've been a die-hard Nancy Drew game-player since day one. After looking at the negative reviews, I decided to purchase it anyway since I always enjoy them. Big mistake. I even tried giving it a second chance, but after about 30 mins.... nope. The new gameplay sucks (the navigation is frustrating, I can't play long without being forced to restart because of a glitch, the clues don't make sense, NPCs are sloppy)... even the mini-game is hard to figure out. I used to enjoy these games as something relaxing to do during my downtime but this was stressful to even play when nothing in the game has context. I was hoping this game would be a redemption of Midnight in Salem, but, don't bother.

I've been a fan of this series since I was a child. So I stuck with them when they've made past missteps, always hoping they would find their way back to making enjoyable games.

Seven Keys may have cured me of that patience.

You can tell they're proud they worked out the moving freely through the world with arrows mechanism. Know how? They built essentially a two and a half rectangle sized environment that LOOKS huge, but really contains about 3 destinations. And no, not three destinations with many rooms either. It's infuriating every time you run across the square in it's unjustifiably pointless nature.

Speaking of no fun at all. Let's talk about the puzzles. There's no explanation for most of them, or hint about them that makes sense. In fact, one such headache had hints that were so basic, they pointed to multiple correct solutions - don't worry, the game arbitrarily decided only one of them is real, there's just no rule whatsoever as to why. There was like one, maybe two in the whole game that were interesting at all.

Think you can save it by enjoying the characters cause at least the story is fun? Think again. Even by recent standards, these characters are half put together sketches at best. AND the game removed previously basic features - you cannot call anyone you do not have specific need to talk to. Including Ned, Carson - who does not pick up ONCE the ENTIRE game, and don't even get me started on the fact that Bess and George are just gone options.

The lack of fun puzzles, the barely sketched characters, the removal of previously staple features in what used to be a simple, formulaic but entirely enjoyable series... it's inexcusable. The only win here to be had is it may save you wasting money on hope for the next game.