Nancy Drew: The Final Scene
Platform: Windows
Haven't bad guys learned yet not to mess with plucky Girl Detective Nancy Drew? A minor scoop turns into a major crime when Nancy's student reporter friend Maya vanishes without a trace in an antique theater where Houdini once dazzled audiences. But as Nancy (pluckily) warns the kidnapper, "You're messing with the wrong girls! She's a reporter, and I'm a detective, and we don't scare easy." You'll need all the pluck you've got to snoop around and solve the case, because the police are worse than useless in Nancy Drew: The Final Scene.
Control for this adventure game is entirely with the mouse. It is highly advisable to complete the tutorial before playing a game, especially if you're not used to this style of navigation. Figuring out how to turn around and what the layout of the room is can be disorienting until you get the hang of it. Click on objects and people to interact with them. There are two modes: Junior Detective, suitable for younger or more inexperienced gamers, and Senior Detective, for people who want a challenge. There are two timed puzzles, but there is no penalty for trying again, and once you know exactly what you're doing the timer is more than ample.
Nancy Drew: The Final Scene first came out as a PC game for purchase on CD-ROM in 2001. This means that, yes, the graphics are just a tad dated. That being said, I would rather play a game that doesn't look that great but has a sparkling script, compelling plot, and fun gameplay than the plethora of shiny but vacuous games that I've seen lately both on consoles and for PC, so I was perfectly happy with The Final Scene.
Analysis: An adventure game lives and dies by its plot, and I really cannot think of any complaints to make about The Final Scene. I immediately cared about Maya and wanted to know what happened to her. Nancy is brave, cheeky, intuitive, admired, and clever, and by controlling her the player gets to be all these things vicariously. While the suspects fulfill certain stereotypes (the self-absorbed actor, the scheming Hollywood agent, the young radical, and the devoted old caretaker), they are all rounded, not one-track. Some of the red herrings and throwaway details pointed to surprising depths, in fact, and I'm still curious about who "Georgie-Bear" is. I'm also fascinated by vintage entertainment, so the forays into the tricky world of the early stage magicians were right up my street—there's even a magic trick Nancy reads about in the game that you can do in real life, with a bit of practice and some cheaply obtainable props.
This is all revealed through a vivacious and extensive script, performed by voice actors who are clearly having fun. The part that had me cracking up the most was the optional calls to Nancy's friends Ned and Bess. I'm a college student, and some of the lines were exactly the sort of things my friends might say to each other. I loved when Bess and George responded to Nancy's goodbye with a chorus of "Watch out for weird people!", and the flirting between Ned and Nancy was actually sweet and realistic instead of forced and saccharine. Even if you never get stuck, I recommend calling them a couple of times just for the fun of it.
I also liked having manual saves, enabling me to try a conversation or a puzzle more than once, and the "second chance" feature, which means that you can never get into an unwinnable situation. The mystery unfolds at a good pace, with a few twists to keep you on your toes. I thought I knew who the kidnapper was, then I thought it was someone else, then the first person, then someone else entirely, then maybe all of them working together! At the same time, I never thought the game was being unfair by making the case impossible to solve logically.
Given the manual saves, however, the non-skippability of some of the conversations becomes a real drag. If you decide you've made a mistake and you want to go back to an earlier save, you have to sit through lengthy conversations all over again. While in most conversations you can at least amuse yourself by choosing slightly different answers, some of the conversations are effectively cut scenes, with no player input. Being able to skip ahead would make things a lot easier. The puzzles all appear without instructions and are non-skippable too, which may send some players scrambling for a walkthrough, and the puzzles don't reset when backing out of them, so if you get truly stuck and the walkthrough you have assumes you're starting from scratch, you may need to go to an earlier save.
I also would have liked to have truly had a final cutscene instead of the "Dear Bess: Here is a letter where I talked about what happened while photographs and newspaper articles pop up on the screen" approach. Mostly because at that point I liked all the characters so much that I wanted to hear more about them. Although I had to laugh at the corner of a tabloid newspaper that popped up in the cutscene which read "Crime Follows Nancy Drew: COINCIDENCE?" Maybe for her next case Nancy can investigate herself.
Windows:
Download the demo
Get the full version
Mac OS X:
Not available.
Try Boot Camp or Parallels or CrossOver Games.
Nancy Drew: The Final Scene Walkthrough
General Tips:
When you are talking to someone, remember to think like a detective. The more information you get out of someone, the better; therefore, try to choose the answer choice that will keep the person talking.
You have multiple save slots, so save frequently. If you think a conversation didn't go too well, try it again. Since the game is manual save, saving frequently is a must in any case.
Don't get nervous about messing up, because it's impossible to get into an unwinnable game state. If you do something that would make you lose, you get bumped back to the menu. Simply select "second chance" to revert the game to just before your fatal mistake. In fact, if you've got a macabre sense of humor, you might try to make mistakes, just to see what perils will befall poor Nancy and Maya!
The game is not entirely linear. It is not necessary to do exactly what I did in this order to beat the game. My walkthrough assumes you've done the tutorial and understand the mechanics of movement and so on.
In general in order to back out of a scene where you've manipulated something (opened a cupboard for instance) you have to close it before the game will let you back out. Very tidy girl, our Nancy. I won't be mentioning that in the walkthrough, so if you can't back out, see if you have to close something.
DAY ONE
Click on the doorknob and enter the room. Do a full 360 of the room and the phone will start to ring. Zoom in on it and click on the phone to have a conversation with the kidnapper--you can't make any choices during this phone call.
Back out twice, and the phone will ring again. This time, it's the caretaker. Whatever conversation choices you make, you'll get across to him that Maya is kidnapped, and he'll mention a secret passageway. The phone call cuts right into a conversation with Brady Armstrong.
I recommend not mentioning the kidnapping as long as you can, and then not mentioning searching as long as you can, in order to get the most out of Brady.
After your conversation with Brady, scroll right til you see a large warddrobe and zoom in. Click on the right handle to open it and zoom in closer. At the top shelf, you can pick up a magician's wand.
Back all the way out and go left twice, then zoom all the way into the laughing man's picture. Click on him and there's a lever behind him! Pull it.
Back out and go left until you see a lot of clothes hanging on a rack. Zoom in and click to move the clothes out of the way, revealing a secret passageway.
Follow the secret passageway all the way to the other door, and open it. Meet Simone. Simone is not sympathetic to your problems. Nothing more to do here--you can hardly search her room with her in it. So exit through the normal door.
After going through the door, keep going forward towards a fire extinguisher on the wall of the backstage area. When you get to the fire extinguisher, go right through the red curtain onto the stage. Go down the stairs and turn right to go down the center aisle. Walk down the center aisle until you get to the last row, where on the left you should see some bubble gum on a seat. Zoom in and use the magician's wand on the gum.
eep walking out of the theater and into the lobby. Look around and you should see a man in a camo shirt (Nicholas). Go talk to him. He'll tell you where a phone is--the ticket booth.
Back out from Nicholas and turn right. You should see an old-fashioned machine in the corner. Zoom in on for your first puzzle!
JAZZ PUZZLE
The object of the game:
is to get the note from the upper left hand corner to the upper right hand corner without getting caught by the other notes. No, it doesn't make a lot of sense, but whatever, go with it.
Here's a solution if you can't solve it yourself:
R, L, D, R, R, R, D, R, D, D, R, U, R, U, R, U, L, U, R
Your reward is a gear! Hmm, wonder where this will go...
Go back, turn around, and go through the center back door to enter the ticket booth. Above the phone is a listing of various numbers. The number for the police is 314 555 1422. When you dial the number, you only need the last seven digits.
After your conversation with the unhelpful police officer, you can call Bess for moral support if you want; you'll only get Ned's voice mail. Exit the ticket booth.
Go up the left hand stairs to the balcony. Walk down to the bottom and notice that one of the decorations on the wall is missing. Hover your cursor over the wall and it will change into a down arrow. In addition to some popcorn and dropped trash, there's a gear-shaped thing! You can't reach it yourself, but you can use the gum on the wand to get it. Hurray! A large gear is your reward.
Exit the balcony but don't go back down the stairs. Instead, turn left to go to the center where the projectionist's booth is, and talk to the man in the green shirt (Joseph) behind a machine on the left. After talking to him, turn to the right and zoom in on the table with the film on it to pick up a slide. Then talk to Joseph again, asking him about all the topics.
Go back downstairs and turn to the left, to the red curtain on the left wall. Walk through that hallway. Along the way, check out the posters. At the end of the hallway are two doors. First go through the double doors on the right, and pick up the coin on the floor. Then go through the other door to the backstage area. Turn left and interrogate Simone again. Then exit the women's dressing room.
CRATE PUZZLE
Go forward and zoom in on the large crate. If you hover your cursor above the crate, it will turn into a down arrow. Click to see there's a trap door! But the crate is blocking it, so it can't be opened.
Back out and go all the way across the backstage area to where the rope mechanism is. Zoom in and keep clicking on the rope where your cursor turns red until you hear a CLUNK. Back out, and go back to the crate, where you can attach a hook to the crate. Return to the rope and keep clicking on the rope until it is securely fastened--otherwise Nancy will get quite a bump on the head. Go back to the crate area and you can now open the trap door and descend.
Walk down the stairs and keep going right until you see a wall panel with card suits on a lock.
CARD SUIT PUZZLE
The object of this puzzle:
to have everything showing the same suit.
HINTS:
Have you noticed which suit is present on all five tiles?
Have you figured out which button effects the most amount of other tiles, and which one only affects one?
SOLUTION:
Turn the fourth block until it is a spade, then the first block, then the second, then the third, and finally the last.
ALPHONSE MUCHA'S ZODIAC PUZZLE
(The name of this famous piece of art is "Zodiac" by art nouveau illustrator Alphonse Mucha, if you are curious.)
HINT:
This is not a slider puzzle. You have to swap and rotate the pieces. Click the upper left corner of a piece to rotate it, and click anywhere else on the piece to swap.
SOLUTION:
Image.
Place the two gears in your inventory into the opened box, and click to wind out the contents. Read the paper and take the key. Shut everything up and back out. Go to the other side of the basement where the creepiest part of the game awaits.
AHHHH VENTRILOQUIST'S DUMMY KILL IT WITH FIRE. Sorry, that's just my own prejudices. Ahem.
Anyway.
THREE CARD MONTY PUZZLE:
This is mostly luck. Keep your eye on the card, but you can try again and again, as much as you like, so don't worry too much about it. Your reward is a flash paper ring, for "throwing people off your trail".
Get out of the basement and walk to the left, to the men's dressing room, and talk to Brady, making sure you run through all his topics. Walk out to the lobby to talk to Nicholas.
Before taking this next step, make sure you're satisfied with everything you've explored, and that you've talked through every option with everyone, because the next step is the end of day one.
Ready? Ok. Talk to Nicholas again to mention what you found in the basement. When he leaves, go forward and pick up the left brochure, and check out the number for the county administration. Then pick up the right brochure to read it.
Go up to talk to Joseph, then go back to the ticket office. First call the country administration (enjoy the muzak). You can call Ned and Bess if you want to talk about the suspects--it's not neccessary, but it might help you make some connections, and you can ask for a more obvious hint from them if you're stuck, and more importantly the writing is pretty hilarious ("Bland like a bar of soap… that's called… soap."). Finally, call the world's most unhelpful police department again, exit the booth, and the day will be over. Sleep well!
DAY TWO
Take a look at the flowers and the card attached. Go up the stairs to the projection room, pausing to look at the unconventional missing person's poster on the door.
Go in and talk to Joseph, and then go downstairs where Nick has reappared to talk to him.
Go down the hallway to the men's dressing room. Brady isn't here, but there's a very interesting book on the table next to the table with the phone on it. Go talk to Simone, and then talk to Nick again.
Go into the ticket booth and check the number to the right of the pad. Call that number, and the number that Eustacia gives you.
Exit the ticket booth and talk to Nick again. Then go back to the men's dressing room, where Brady has returned, and question him. When you come back out to the lobby, you'll hear the press conference going (if you want to hear Simone embarrass herself, go into the ticket booth). Use this time to search both Simone's and Brady's rooms. You should find a bobby pin in the drawer of Simone's desk. Then check out her purse for a wallet containing a PDA (the password "puzzle" is any center and four corners… 5 1379, 5 1739, etc). Go through the email and the calendar of the PDA, then check out the business cards in the wallet. Then check the digital camera and all the pictures on it.
Go to Brady's room now, and use the bobby pin to pick the lock of the locked drawer. Click on the blue book an take note of the writte security code in the margin: 121192. Then read the rest of the book to learn about trap doors, trick chairs, and a Magician's Room.
Exit Brady's room and start to walk across the back stage. When you hear "*SPLATTERING!*", don't move! A light will fall from the ceiling right in front of you, and you will hear a threatening voice over the PA!
Go up to the projectionist's room to check this out. Joseph isn't there. Zoom in to where he was standing before and read the paper on the table. Back out and click on the table with all the dials and buttons.
STAGE PUZZLE:
Follow the sequence from the book:
Turn on the power.
Enter 121192 on the keypad.
Press the left fader power button, then the right one.
Click on the left and right fader sliders five times each, until they are all the way at the bottom.
Click the magnet button.
Raise each fader slider one click.
Click the trap door button.
Press the switch for the lock.
Back out and look through the window if you like, to make sure the cages are there.
Back out and turn around. Open the gray cabinet and zoom in to get a bulb. Back out. Remember this cabinet's position as it will be important later.
Leave the projection booth and go all the way to the stage. Choose either cage to enter, it doesn't matter. Climb down, and look around. One of the bulbs is broken. Look through the hole where the bulb was.
Now don't panic when you're trapped. Would Nancy Drew panic? No she would not. Click on the floor to find a trap door, and go down the stairs.
When you get to the intersection, first go left and find the puzzle. Unfortunately, it's stuck. Turn around and go straight to where the chair is. Click the button to bring the chair down, then stand on the chair and click it again. Click on the ladder to go up, and then tell Joseph through the trap door about what you found. He'll give you some grease for the stuck puzzle.
Now, which puzzle you get depends on whether you are a junior or senior detective. It's the same basic puzzle, which I know of as a gridlock puzzle--you have to move pieces out of the way of another piece, but pieces are limited in whether they can move up and down, left and right, or both. The junior puzzle is smaller and easier.
RABBIT PUZZLE:
This puzzle is really easy, even in the senior version, and there are many ways to solve it.
Here are some images at various stages of me solving the senior puzzle. Each image contains a few moves difference from the previous one.
Starting.
Screenshot 1
Screenshot 2
Screenshot 3
Screenshot 4
Clear!
If anyone needs more step by step instructions, or a walkthrough for the junior puzzle, let me know and I'll be glad to make one.
And into the magician's room! Take a look around. Go towards the coffin thing on the wall and look down. Click on the evidence. Click left and go to the bookcase. Read a book there with a description of a magic trick (one you can really do in real life, if you're familiar with magic techniques like palming). Click on the chest and open it. Pick up the rubber gloves, and pay attention to what Nancy says about rubber.
Now go back to the coffin thing and click on it. It's a door! Go through it.
You're in the basement now, but the door up to the stage is not only locked but electrified. Use the rubber gloves when entering the code. This code is random for every game, so you have to brute force it. If the number is correct, it will stay down; if not, it will buzz and reset. So you hit five, and five sticks, you know five is the first number. Just keep trying, it's totally trial and error.
When you get to the top of the stairs, you'll talk with Brady. Then go to the ticket booth and call the police, who are finally going to get off their butts and help you. You know. Eventually. When they find a car.
Call Ned and Bess's numbers for hilarity if you like, then exit the ticket booth and go question Simone to get her to admit sending the wreath. Then talk to her again about Brady.
Finally, go upstairs and talk to Joseph, who will tell you to go to bed. Leave the room and you'll move into day three.
DAY THREE
Read the newspaper article and then back out. You're in the ticket booth. On the right is a sticky note from Joseph asking you to see him right away. So do that. Then talk to Brady and Simone briefly, in either order. Walk away and move around, then go back to Brady's room.
He's gone, but he left a briefcase next to the phone. Look inside it and get a pencil. Then read the purple notebook. For amusement, check out the "Progain Extra Strength: Results May Occur Eventually" and the tanning lotion.
Back up and Brady will come for a chat. "J'accuse!" says Nancy.
After that conversation, go see Nick. He says the package has arrived. Go to the ticket booth and examine the package and its contents.
o up to the projection booth and try to turn the projector on. The bulb burns out! Of all the rotten diabolus ex machina timing! And the machine is locked, too. No problem.
KEY MAKING PUZZLE
Go to the right table. At the end of it is a book about running the projector. On the last page is an impression of a key. Use the pencil to make the key impression stand out. I have no idea how you're supposed to memorize this pattern without drawing it.
But here's a screenshot: https://jayisgames.com/images/nancy-drew-the-final-scene/8.jpg
Go back dotwnstairs to the key machine, which Joseph has fixed for you. Put your quarter in. Now, look at the screenshot and push the buttons to choose the right grooves and… things that stick out… for the projection book key.
Or just use the solution:
S I V O in that order
Key get!
Back to the projection room. Open up the projector and replace the bulb.
This next part is a timed sequence and it moves fast, so be prepared. You will see a slide in the projector. Pick it up, and immediately move over to the gray cabinet and hide. Otherwise you will be caught! Remember that you have to close the projector box in order to back out of that view. Step back again and turn right, then step forward twice to hide in the cabinet.
Wait inside the cabinet until they leave. Phew.
Go forward and put in the slide from inside the projection machine. The focus knob falls off and rolls under the floor. While you retrieve it, listen to the tape recorder. Come back up and replace the focus knob, then focus. Go forward and it's another secret passageway blueprint.
Replace the slide with the one from the package. Go forward and read the letter.
Back completely out and you'll have a talk with ~someone~. You'll be locked in, but no worries.
To the immediate right of the door is an electrical outlet… or is it? Click on it and it's hiding a switch! Down comes a ladder, so up go you. Nancy is lying when she says she has the key to the door at the end of the hall. You have to find it. Turn around and at the end on the left is a locked safe. Use the key from the puzzle box on it. Inside are nine keys. The one that opens up the door is random, so take them all.
Despite the suspenseful music and the timer in the corner, you do have time to do this right, so make sure you read the evidence that's in the safe--at the very least click on the righthand document so that Nancy will pick it up for evidence.
Go back to the door and use different colored keys until the door unlocks. Then go forward.
SAVING MAYA
It may look like you're supposed to solve a puzzle here, but actually it's impossible to do so. You need to stop the demolition.
Walk forward and to the left and look at the sign. Follow the power wires around to the left, to the power box. Approach the switch.
FINAL CHALLENGE
Kidnapper appears!
Nancy Drew used FLASH PAPER against kidnapper!
Nancy Drew defeated kidnapper!
ancy Drew gains a level!
And pull the switch! Hurray!
Inventory Item Locations:
If you have been trying to play the game on your own, and you came to my walkthrough for help, and you don't know where an item came from that I mention, just use this list to find it! I put them in the order that they are used.
magician's wand -
men's dressing room, top shelf of warddrobe
bubble gum -
theater, last row of center aisle on left walking from the stage
small gear -
reward for Jazz Puzzle in lobby
large gear -
left balcony, over the edge, picked up with sticky wand
key to safe -
inside puzzle box in the basement
bobby pin -
inside Simone's desk, must find while she is at the press conference
rubber gloves -
inside chest in Magician's Room
pencil -
inside Brady's briefcase when he leaves the room on day 3
bulb -
inside the gray cabinet in the projector room
coin -
on the floor in a side booth, go through the double doors next to the corridor's entrance to the backstage on the women's dressing room side; the corridor with the Houdini posters
key to projector -
from the key making machine on day 3
first slide -
receive in package in ticket booth on day 3
second slide -
inside projector
Houdini's letter (evidence) -
righthand paper, inside the safe in the attic
final key -
random; one of the colored keys inside safe in the attic
flash ring -
prize for beating the three card monty game in the basement (must pick up before using the projector)
Guess my question is why are we "now" reviewing these games? I've been playing them for years. Does this have to do with BFG obtaining the rights?
Ah, an oldie but a goodie - I've played this game a dozen times but it's still just as fun each time.
I have this game for my PC! Haha, it's pretty old, but it's still fun. Treasure in the Royal Tower will always be my favourite though.
Yeah, I am also curious as to the random and late start of reviewing these. Are you going to be reviewing all of them?
It's only just come out on BFG at their low price point... previously it was available at a higher price from Her Interactive directly. And it's currently BFG's number two large file adventure game (after the mega-hit Dire Grove) so obviously many people are discovering it for the first time, including myself. :)
I had this on CD when I was a kid, and I always fell off the balcony trying to get the second gear. D:
I lovelovelove the old school Nancy Drew games. The quality went down a bit in the later years, but the first dozen are all gems.
On another note, how creepy is the old man in this one? He looks waxy.
Sorry, I found this game really boring and over far too quickly, disappointed that I'd spent money on it. Wonder if that's why BFG doesn't give a demo on it!!
My favorite is Crystal skull(i havent been playing in order) im gonna play treasure in a royal tower next. I need a bit of help can someone tell me where i find the pencil that i use to trace over the key is?
I didn't read the paper with the numbers on it before I called the police, but I still reached them. Here's a hint,
911 works in the game to reach the cops, just like in real life.
Nice that they rigged that because otherwise I would've been confused as to how to reach them.
How do I rotate the pieces in the basement game?!
Heather -
If you are talking about the 5 shapes on the panel
that need to be turned to spades. Try turning them in the following order: 4th - 1st - 2nd - 3rd - 5th.
on day two, after calling the police, I went up to the projecting room and talked to that old guy Joseph. When I tried to exit the room to start day three, there were no arrows to get out! Over and over I tried to figure it out, but still no luck and it's a real bummer because I was almost finished with the game and now it can't proceed! It must be a glitch. Did this happen to you when you played the game? what should I do?
Lucy -
Check the walkthrough above the comments to see if you missed something.
Thanks! :D
by the way I totally love the Nancy drew games, I havn't been going in order but the ones I've done are pretty awesome! I'm kind of klutzy though; I can't do it without a step-by-step walkthrough!
Most of you would not like this spoiler (I don't blame you either, I would deffinatly want a surprise!!!) But I'm sure SOME of you are just DYING to know the culprit of Nancy Drew the Final Scene. Here it is, you curious people you!
Joseph did it, the sneaky old man!
so there you have it. Need anymore hints or tips? I'll check back if I get the chance and do my best to answer some of them. :)
A random tip: try using the phone to call Ned, Bess, and George, Nancy's friends. Their totally hilarious and will make you laugh when your totally bored. They're also really usefull!
when stuck, use the phone to call Ned. You can ask him what to do next, and he will tell you what your next move should be, and he'll provide hints and his opinion. This works in pretty much all the Nancy Drew games, whether it's Bess and George, the hardy brothers, or Ned.
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