Shadow at the Water's Edge is the twenty third game in the Nancy Drew adventure series. In this game, Nancy investigates a haunted ryokan that she is staying at.
The game was promoted with a microsite, a video webseries of character interviews found on Her Interactive's website, and a blog by Yumi.
Synopsis[]
Confront terrifying secrets in a haunted Japanese inn!
You, as Nancy Drew travel as an English teacher to Kyoto, Japan as a reward for solving the preceding mystery in Oklahoma, where your friends Bess Marvin and George Fayne, are already set to vacation. Once you arrive at your ryokan, however, you discover that not all is as it seems. Strange events, supposedly caused by a woman who died there mysteriously, are scaring away guests. One by one, the guests leave the Ryokan Hiei, until Nancy is left only with the secretive family that own the inn. Unable to resist a mystery, Nancy works to discover who, or what, is haunting the inn.
- Immerse yourself in Japanese culture by learning about origami, tea ceremonies and calligraphy
- Play fun mini-games such as pachinko and Sudoku
Characters[]
Shimizu Yumi[]
Yumi is the older daughter of the Shimizu family, and should therefore be running the ryokan, as per tradition. However, she was never interested in such a "boring" life and moved to Kyoto as soon as she was old enough. She currently lives in a small city apartment in Kurume, making her own Lolita-style clothes and running a little bento stand.
Shimizu Miwako[]
Miwako is the younger daughter of the Shimizu family. Quiet and dedicated, she runs the ryokan on her own, although tradition dictates that only the oldest daughter can officially take over its management. Because of this, she and her sister frequently fight.
Shimizu Kasumi[]
Kasumi was the girls' mother. Years ago, she tragically drowned in one of the ryokan's baths. Ever since her death, strange things have plagued the ryokan, sparking the reputation that it is haunted by her ghost.
Nagai Takae[]
Takae is the girls' grandmother. She has lived in her beloved ryokan her entire life and is extremely devoted to tradition, teaching several traditional arts courses such as calligraphy and origami. She believes that her late daughter Kasumi is haunting the ryokan, but refuses to speak of it.
Aihara Rentaro[]
Rentaro works at the ryokan as a handyman of sorts. He grew up next door to the ryokan and so practically lived at the little inn his whole life. He is currently dating Miwako, although their relationship is somewhat rocky.
Phone Friends[]
Nancy uses a cell phone that can be accessed by an icon at the bottom of the screen. At a certain point in the game, she can make avatars for everyone in her contacts.
Bess Marvin[]
Bess is one of Nancy's best friends. She and her cousin George can give Nancy advice if she's a Junior Detective. When Nancy calls Bess, she can also talk to George at the same time. They are only separated in the phone directory so Nancy can make an avatar for each of them.
George Fayne[]
George is Nancy's friend. She and her cousin Bess can give Nancy advice if she's a Junior Detective. When Nancy calls either one of them, they are always together and so Nancy can speak to them both at once.
Savannah Woodham and Logan Mitchell[]
Savannah was a former ghost hunter who investigated the hauntings at the ryokan. Nancy can eventually call her for information and advice. Logan is her assistant who consistently gets in the way when Nancy tries to question her.
Phone Charms[]
This is the first game to have phone charms, and the only game where the phone charms are included in the regular version.
- A mushroom charm can be bought at the pachinko parlor
- A doughnut charm can be bought at the pachinko parlor
- A whale charm can be bought at the pachinko parlor
- A onigiri charm can be gotten from Yumi
- A cat charm can be gotten from Yumi
- A monkey charm can be gotten form Yumi
- A charm of four spiked balls (possibly konpeitō, a Japanese candy) can be gotten from Yumi
Trivia[]
Continuity[]
- Nancy's stay at the Ryokan was arranged by P. G. Krolmeister. (Trail of the Twister)
- In the room tracker on Miwako's computer, many last names from previous games can be seen as having stayed at the Ryokan Hiei:
- John Grey (Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon)
- Simone Mueller and Maya Nguyen (The Final Scene)
- Helena Berg (The Phantom of Venice)
- Elliot Chen (The Haunted Carousel)
- Hal Tanaka (Secrets Can Kill)
Foreshadowing[]
- A McGinnis stayed in room #18 of the Ryokan Hiei, it is possibly referring to Chief McGinnis.
Main/recurring character revelations[]
- This is the first Nancy Drew game in which a picture is seen of Nancy's face although it is blurry.
Allusions[]
Goofs[]
Microsite[]
The Shadow at the Water's Edge microsite was a John Grey ghost tours website. Grey talks about ghosts, ghost hunting, and has an interview with Savannah Woodham about her time at the Ryokan Hiei. After hunting for ghosts on the website, people could get a ghost hunting certificate.
