Very Unique Gameplay Experience!
User Rating: 8.7 | Hotel Dusk: Room 215 DS
This game can be easily recommended to anyone who likes to try to gameplay styles, great character development or of course anyone who likes a good old mystery set during the late 70's. The game tells the fictional story of an ex-cop turned door-to-door salesmen in Kyle Hyde, who now works for a company called Red Crown. Ed, the company's owner and Kyle's boss, runs a little business on the side that finds missing objects for people. The game starts off with one of Kyle's flashbacks as he seems to be chasing someone and pins up on a dock, where he is forced to shoot him. You quickly learn that he was chasing his partner, Bradley who had recently betrayed him. The weird thing is Bradley's body was never found on the scene. Kyle is sent to this old hotel, called Hotel Dusk to find a few lost items, but he soon finds out the night he is going to spend at Hotel Dusk is the night he has been waiting for; the night he finds out more about his lost friend Bradley. The story is a key component in Hotel Dusk: Room 215. It relies heavily off foreshadowing (Room 215 is the room that grants wishes, Bradley's hasnt been recovered) though sometimes a little too much and gives away little bits and pieces of the upcoming twist. The story is still a very good one; it is clear the amount of effort and planning that went into every one of the game's 10 chapters. Without a doubt the best part of this game is the number unique gameplay mechanics. To start, you always hols the DS sideways, like a book. Just like the Gamespot review says, this is more an interactive novel than anything else. To move around you simply touch the touch screen in the desired direction, the further away from Kyle you touch the faster he moves. When you are speaking to other characters in the game you will often be given different options of what to say. Sometimes during crucial questioning, a wrong thing said will cause you to fail your mission and head back to the previous checkpoint. The game has plenty of challenging puzzles to test your wits as well. One has you closing the DS to flip something over and another to put chalk dust on the engravings in a pen to see what they actually say. The sound is good enough but nothing more and while it does fit the noir graphical art style you will probably want to hear less and less of the music because you will hear it so many times before finishing the game. And there is not any voice acting, which is a shame because of all the talking going on. Overall the unique gameplay mechanics, the well developped storyline and character as well as the very stylish visuals are definitely enough to play this game.
