Hotel Dusk: Room 215 for DS

The Nintendo DS has made its name not with traditional game software but with 'niche' non-games that push the boundaries. A couple years ago Nintendo and Japanese developer Cing released Trace Memory, an interactive novel of sorts (or, perhaps, an old-school adventure game) that didn't challenge you with typical gaming skills but rather your mental acumen of solving puzzles, though the game was short and its plot wasn't worthy of being an interactive story. But Cing's latest DS project, Hotel Dusk: Room 215 is an impressive improvement from its predecessor – a far more interesting story with tons of characters that develop quite well, a main character deserving of more attention (like, a sequel or more), and plenty of puzzles to break up the storyline. Nintendo has done an awful job of marketing this title, which is a shame, because Hotel Dusk is probably the best DS game of 2007 so far.


What's it about?
Chasing the Invisible Man...

Hotel Dusk just so happens to take place entirely in an old, beat down hotel called Hotel Dusk located on the outskirts of California. The main character is the surprisingly cool and brash Kyle Hyde, an ex-NYPD detective on the hunt for his former partner who went to 'the other side' while deep undercover in an organized crime unit. The catch is Kyle is now a salesman for a company called Red Crown, but at times he's sent on unique 'retrieval' missions that aren't usually part of a salesman's job. His current 'mission' leads him to Hotel Dusk, where a lot of coincidences and strange events begin happening around Kyle, all of which eventually tie into a nice bow of a conclusion. It is, perhaps, a fair bit too cliche for some, as everyone you meet somehow ties into the larger picture of Kyle solving the question of not only why his partner betrayed him, but also the conspiracy that lead him down the rogue route. Over 10-15 hours, things go from mundane to exciting with revelations at almost every turn. Be warned that the game is a slow starter; the first couple chapters are more about introducing the characters and of course, Kyle making fun of them.


What does it play like?
Use the DS Lite stylus to solve puzzles, interrogate guests, and win prizes!

Hotel Dusk is not an action game by any means; it's a cerebral, laid back adventure game in the style of a noir detective novel. Even how you hold the system is different from the norm, as you hold it like a book, with one screen used for static things like Kyle's portrait, or when you're wandering the hotel, a crude 3D model of the place. The touch screen has an overhead layout for exploring, and it's used for interacting with other guests during the course of the 10 chapters. Each chapter is an hour of in-game time, and time only progresses if Kyle moves his inquisition forward properly. The flow of the game is fairly basic, but there are some moments where you might be scratching your head, but in a good way. Puzzles generally are done with the stylus, and they range from somewhat normal – for instance, in the beginning the only way to get the hotel owner to come to the front desk is to tap the bell on the desk with the stylus – to more obtuse objectives later, like properly peeling a label off a specific wine bottle – and if you screw up, it's game over.

The guest stars of Hotel Dusk are puzzles in themselves. In some fashion they have a tie with Kyle's ultimate goal, if not directly. An author's knowledge of a particular painting, which might seem meaningless at the beginning, becomes a vital clue later. A picture of a young girl might mean nothing when you see it, but in time, it comes out. The mysterious light-haired girl who Kyle sees hitchhiking on his trek to Hotel Dusk (and of course appears at the joint) doesn't do much of anything until later. It's a slow burn and chapter by chapter the flame gets more intense as more people begin to show their true colors and their true purpose for being at Hotel Dusk. Between solving puzzles that exploit them for their ulterior motives, Kyle has to interrogate them, and only when going about it the right way will they open up and reveal themselves. Screw up by asking a question in the wrong manner and they'll tell you to shove off, and the game ends.

A text heavy game like Hotel Dusk would fail badly with a poor translation, but it's quite the opposite. Instead, the localization is impeccable, making the game far more enjoyable because of it. Kyle is a bit of a cliche, yes, but his demeanor is endearing after a while, as he shows a human side and even has some remorse for some of the methods he uses. He doesn't show it a lot (at least one of the characters gets harassed almost constantly by Kyle, but he deserves it) but for a character clearly inspired by other gruff detectives, he's a winner. The rest of the characters shine as well, as all of them have a fatal flaw that Kyle can expose and use to further his investigation; some of them become directly involved in his quest at one point or another. The interaction between them can be downright hilarious, especially the bizarre relationship between himself and the bellhop Louis, who have quite a history from their New York days. And destiny has placed them in this same beat-down hotel to amuse us with their surprisingly affectionate banter...almost friendly, a word rarely used in the world of Hotel Dusk.

Though the adventure is all-around excellent, it has some nags that can get frustrating. The biggest problem is how it handles Game Over triggers. As I'm sure you've figured out from previous paragraphs, if you screw up some particular puzzles or interrogate a character in the wrong way, the game ends and Kyle is shamed. Problem is, when you don't interrogate correctly, you have to play on for a while, and aside from a subtle 'coloring' of an angered person, there's no real way to know if you screwed up until it's finished, and who knows how long it will take. And of course then you have to retry from a save point (you can save anywhere, thankfully), and do the conversation again to get it right. It's a lot of leg work to make up for one or two mistakes in questioning – and you don't even get a 2nd chance. Also, the game is not particularly challenging despite the Game Over hassles. On only a few occasions will there be a time limit or a brick wall in your way, and even then it's pretty generous. I guess one wouldn't expect challenge from a game like this, but when the only real difficult parts are figuring out what triggers next, it's too bad. On the bright side, Hotel Dusk is a lengthy title, taking over 10 hours to complete for most of us. Not bad for a portable game. On the down side, it lacks replay value – there are supposedly many endings (nobody seems to know what triggers them, however) but on a second time through there's really no difference and no alternate paths.


How does it present itself?
Back in black...and white

Hotel Dusk uses a unique graphics engine to pump out cool character portraits. When you approach them, they appear in color on the non-touch screen, but in conversation it's always black & white, with a bit of a 'messy' look to them, with squiggly lines and the like around their hand-drawn appearance. There's not a lot of animations or anything like that, but they do show emotion frequently. It's been mentioned before, but while the 2D looks great, the 3D model of the hotel is a bit rough, especially in a next-generation console world – given the N64-era horsepower of the DS, the muddy textures and run-down look is not just intentional, but a limitation of the hardware. There's no voice acting, of course, but there's plenty of cheesy, detective-style music, the kinds you'd hear on middle-of-the-night TV programs or similar 'cop' shows. It's repetitive but it does fit.


Closing Argument
A game so overlooked, it's criminal

If you own a Nintendo DS, you should at least see what Hotel Dusk: Room 215 is about. It's unique, gritty, and far from something you'd expect out of Nintendo or any of its 2nd party developers. It's probably not going to interest the Gears of War generation who need guns and blood and violence, but for those looking for a laid-back, story-heavy, enjoyable 'interactive' detective novel that's more about wits than twitch (in fact, there's really no twitch at all), the game fits the bill. It's quite sad to see how little attention the game has gotten from its publisher, given how much it emphasizes the philosophy of the hardware, and thus without good, old-fashioned word of mouth Hotel Dusk will fade away and in 5 years will be on one of those 'best games you've never played' lists. Which is too bad.