Hotel Dusk is simply a great game!
First of all, I have to say that I really did like the story. It unfolded very well over the entire game. Not too fast and not too slow... but just right. I found it to be a story that kept me wanting to know more about the characters and the hotel that I was interacting with. There is alot of reading involved in this game and I am not much of a reader, but I still found it to not be to over bearing as some games can get.
I must say that the graphics were quite impressive for this game. You use the touch screen to manuver around a map of the hotel... while you get the actual display of what you would be seeing in the first person view on the other screen. The hotel and the characters are not highly designed, but have an old feel to them. That with the music in the background really did bring a certain feel to the game. While the characters would appear in color on the one screen when you saw them... both they and you would be drawn in an old cartoon type of black and white when you did the interacting with one of them. I thought that was a great addition for this game. Other games would not have been able to do this and make it work... but with Hotel Dusk it was a great addition that added even a better feel to the overall game.
You will be using the Touch Pad with the stylus for this game all the way. I really did like that because I have alot of games for the Nintendo DS Lite that don't even use the Stylus or the Touch Screen at all... and that is one of the main reasons I purchased it. Not only will you direct your character as to where he travels... but you will both manipulate and interact with objects and characters in this game with the stylus.
As much as I was hoping for the puzzles to be great in this game... I have to admit that they were quite easy. While they were fun... I really wish they would have made them a little harder to make winning the game more rewarding. I have to admit that I did save alot but found that I didn't save because of a puzzle I was getting ready to do... but more for the interaction between me and others in the hotel. When you talk to others and ask them questions... you will be given usually two options to choose from. If you choose the wrong one... the person you are speaking to gets mad by having their character turn red. Usually this is followed by you being kicked out of the hotel and then Game Over! I had this happen several times in the game and found it to be more of a task to find the right thing to choose to say being harder than the puzzles.
Overall I would have to say that Hotel Dusk Room 215 is an awesome game. I feel that they could have done a couple of things a little better... but it will not be leaving my shelf of games that I keep. I can see this having a great replay value. If you have the chance to get it... I would not pass it up!