Hotel Dusk is one of those games you will not want to put down until everything has been solved...
If you like misteries and crime stories you've come to the right place.
This was the first game I got for the DS and man what a game, it will remain in my memory for a long long time.
01 - STORY ||
As usual in this kind of games, the story is the main feature and this one delivers one hell of a ride! Twists will come from nowhere and you will be sometimes left with an open mouth thinking "How did they think of that... Why didn't I think of that?". Here's a little summary: Kyle Hyde is an ex-cop now alcoholic salesman. For his newest job he was sent to Hotel Dusk to gather a weird list of items for the purpose of selling them. 3 years before this, Kyle Hyde, still in NYPD was working on a case with his best-friend Bradley and strangely enough he gets a call that sends him off to chase Bradley, his ex-partner. But something does not smell right on Hotel Dusk, and if it's not the owner, I don't know what it is (what? He looks like he needs some 3 or 4 baths! xD) But yeah, joking apart, something is fishy about Hotel Dusk and the shady characters that are spending the night in there. And it's up to Kyle to figure it all out. I mean, you. || 10/10
02 - GAMEPLAY ||
You hold the Nintendo DS as if you were holding an open book in your palm (the NDS tilted left) and when you gain control of Kyle you'll have 2 different screens: on the left you will see the whole Hotel in 3D, and on the right touch screen you will see a map of it with Kyle and all the other characters as dots. You control Kyle through this second screen with the stylus dragging him around. You can then check different scenes in different zones of the map. After opening the scene you can investigate it or talk with a character (if he/she is present in the scene) or get some clues/items, etc. Gameplay is very solid and entertaining. It works surprisingly well. Also, puzzles using the NDS's unique features are a huge PRO, get your stylus ready! It also uses some microphone too. || 9/10
03 - SOUND ||
You'll get some of the tunes burnt into your skull and you'll find yourself wandering around in space (you know, those dull moments) and suddently one of them pops into your mind! It's really good and it fits the environments really well building it up for an even better experience. Sound effects may not be many but they are very very good and realistic (I like knocking on doors lol). || 9/10
04 - GRAPHICS ||
As I said on the GAMEPLAY section this game mixes 2D and 3D into one. Left screen shows you a 3D environment, and the right touch screen shows you a 2D map-kind-of-thing where you control Kyle. All the characters are animated like they were sketches in an old note book (it's so freaking amazing art!) and so are the cutscenes in general (there are 2 or 3 that are in 3D though). A beauty to look at. || 9/10
05 - LENGTH ||
This is a very long game, and though it took me 7 hours to finish it in game time, it took me 10 or 15+ hours to end it because I had to load it lots of times when I went game over. And there will be frustrating parts where you will be running around the Hotel not knowing what to do, but it won't take you long to find out, it's not that big of an Hotel. Big enough though. || 9/10
06 - REPLAY? ||
Yeah, you'll want to replay this, for the characters themselves, they are SO involving, they are truly well made and written. Though there aren't many secrets left to see on a second play through (there are some) so it depends on your love for the game. || 7/10
OVERALL: 9.5
Excelent adventure for the DS, good replacement for a book too! :P One of my NDS all-time favorites.