18 out of 18 people found this review helpful.
Interesting, atmospheric, different kind of game
Date of Review: Nov 11, 2008
The Bottom Line: An enjoyable, electronic walk through a detective novel on your DS.
(this review was originally begun about a year ago, but I just recently got around to finishing and publishing it)
Introduction
Hotel Dusk is a puzzle/mystery game similar to Professor Leyton but with a much darker style and tone. The game is much heavier on plot and script than Leyton, and younger players may become bored. Still, it remains as one of the most unique games available for the DS.
In Hotel Dusk: Room 215, you control Kyle Hyde, a retired New York detective turned traveling salesman. His job brings him to the Hotel Dusk, where he encounters many characters with hidden pasts. Hyde must unravel the clues to uncover the mystery of the hotel and determine how this hotel is connected to his own past.
Gameplay
For Hotel Dusk, the DS is held "book style" similar to Brain Age. Between cut scenes and encounters with NPCs, you navigate Hyde using an overhead view of the hotel, sort of like walking through a blueprint. As you use this "overhead view" on the right screen of the DS, the left screen shows what Hyde is actually seeing in the rooms and halls as you walk and turn about the hotel grounds. As you move about, different action buttons, such as "examine" or "open" become available depending on the circumstances.
Conversing with characters feels like a "Choose your own adventure" book. If I say A instead of B, what will happen then? How will the plot paths diverge? Actually the game is pretty linear so picking a wrong choice is more likely to lead to an instant game over or has, if any, minimal effects down the road.
As you converse with the characters, you can gauge their reactions by their replies and their body language, for hints on what to say next. Although this provides some guidance, for many of the conversations, I found myself randomly guessing at the conversations as either choice might logically be feasible.
At times, the game's e-book aspect dominates, and you find yourself clicking through page after page of dialogue, followed by performing a tiny task that leads to another stream of text.
Unfortunately, at times the game mechanics do interfere with puzzle solving or game flow. Sometimes it will be perfectly obvious what needs to be done and doing so would be quite easy in real life, but the game instead may require a more awkward, complicated methodology. Some of the puzzles have very little to do with the plot, and feel more like independent mini-games instead, similar to many puzzles in Professor Leyton.
Plot and Characters
There are only about a dozen characters, thus giving the game creators more room to focus and develop. The characters are fairy likable, and the dialogue is usually entertaining and witty though it can get repetitive at times.
While the writing is generally good and the plot is generally well integrated, there are a few subplots that seem slapped together.
Graphics and Sound
Perhaps the most unique and appealing aspect of the game is its stylish noir look. HD uses dark, gritty graphics, with plenty of shading and not many bright colors. It's the perfect fit for anyone wishing to lose himself in a detective novel.
The characters are generally drawn in grayscale with heavy white outlines. The character lines tend to constantly shift, giving the look of moving sketches. Think of the classic music video "Take on me" by A-Ha to get an idea.
The music is decent and accompanies the graphical style well though it can get repetitive at times. There are no actual voices in the game. All conversation is via text.
Summary
Going through Hotel Dusk is like reading through a decent graphic novel that happens to be interactive. Although replayability is limited, it's a nice addition to anyone's game collection.
