Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Hotel Dusk: Room 215 Review - Nintendo DS

Collapse
X
Collapse
  •  

  • Hotel Dusk: Room 215 Review - Nintendo DS

    What plays like Trace Memory, is set out akin to a series of "24", and has characters that appear as if they came straight from the set of A-Ha's "Take on Me"? Hotel Dusk: Room 215. The "plays like Trace Memory" (Another Code in the UK) factor isn't surprising given it has been produced by the same developer, Cing, who have built upon the foundation of the first game to deliver another intriguing and gripping point-and-click experience. The major question remains whether it has eliminated some of the original flaws.
    Click image for larger version

Name:	04.jpg
Views:	1
Size:	35.6 KB
ID:	2742999
    In part, yes it has; Hotel Dusk is certainly a longer (roughly 15 hours), more fulfilling, suspense-laden game by comparison. On the flip side however, it is still completely scripted in that doing A leads onto B, then C and then D. Not being able to solve a particular step, be it completing a puzzle, finding someone to talk to, or discovering an object, brings the game to a halt until it is overcome. Hotel Dusk can be considered an interactive novel for the way it plays out its action and its plotline, and this style is either going to grab players by way of its story or put them off due to the amount of reading involved.
    Click image for larger version

Name:	01.jpg
Views:	1
Size:	40.0 KB
ID:	2742997
    The same criticisms have similarly been levelled at the Phoenix Wright series. Like Capcom's courtroom masterpieces, Hotel Dusk is primarily about the storyline and the characters encompassed within it, with the actual gameplay coming second. The year is 1979 and the location is somewhere just outside LA. You play as Kyle Hyde, a washed-up ex-New York police officer who has come to Hotel Dusk in the guise of a travelling salesman, but is really there to continue his search for his ex-partner Brian Bradley whom Hyde believes betrayed him in a case three years previous. Despite shooting him, no body was ever found and Hyde believes Bradley to be still alive.
    Click image for larger version

Name:	05.jpg
Views:	1
Size:	24.3 KB
ID:	2743000
    The story itself plays out in a noir theme and, even as a piece of prose on its own merits, is outstandingly well-written, composed, thought-through and rendered. To spend more time going into detail on it would be tantamount to spoiling the experience, except to say that there are twists and turns aplenty. As it rumbles along the player may start forming their own theories about what will happen but very little is predictable even unto the end.

    Similarly the characters Hyde meets at the hotel, from owner Dunning Smith, to the strange writer Martin Summer, the aloof Iris, and even the pickpocket he knew back in NY Louis DeNonno, are all three dimensional creations with their own histories, backstories, personalities and emotions. They have layers to unpeel and discover, with the dialogue between Hyde and them seeming almost natural and realistic, rather than mere text on the screen. If you didn't know better, you would almost think of them as real. Each person present at the hotel has some connection or information, however big or small, to Hyde's quest which merely adds to the intrigue and nature of why he is there. Compared to the unremarkable, almost perfunctory hotel graphics, the character portraits are sublime, seemingly hand-drawn black and white animations that ooze emotion and life. If the aim was to make them stand out and be noticed then mission accomplished; they are a sight to behold and marvel.
    Click image for larger version

Name:	02.jpg
Views:	1
Size:	32.5 KB
ID:	2742996
    The whole "mystery thriller novel" aspect is added to further by having the player orientate the DS portrait-style during the game, like reading a book. The normal screen displays the immediate surroundings in three dimensions or the person Hyde is talking to currently, with the touch screen used for moving about in real time, selecting objects to use or searching the visible area for clues or information as per the usual rules for point-and-click adventures.
    Click image for larger version

Name:	03.jpg
Views:	1
Size:	29.9 KB
ID:	2742998
    The puzzles present in the game are sometimes easy and sometimes challenging, though overall not quite as difficult as Trace Memory but still rewarding to actually crack. Anyone playing the earlier title will also have a slight head start in solving a few of them as Cing have once again taken advantage of all the DS’s features. Assisting in keeping track of all the clues is a handy notebook feature, allowing the player to write down anything that they come across and perhaps remember for later. It's an inclusion that works so well in this context and yet seems so overlooked in other games of this ilk.

    Another book-like aspect is the division into time segmented chapters, with each section getting Hyde one step closer to the truth and having a neat little storyline recap quiz at the end of each in case you've forgotten something. However unlike a book, Hotel Dusk does have a level of variance within despite the scripted nature of the action. Whilst talking to someone, Hyde will often have a choice of two possible answers to continue the conversation, usually divergent in attitude, and how you act towards a person will affect how they treat you in the future. Being overly rude to certain people or causing trouble can lead to being thrown out of the hotel (and game over) so care must be taken to think before continuing. Likewise, this can affect the ending, of which there are at least five possibles discovered so far.

    Coupled with a locked room that can only be opened upon a second play, the variance in possible conversations and the range of endings mean Hotel Dusk can warrant a second play through, or even a third, in order to see everything that is available. And like many a good book, revisiting the earlier chapters and rereading the conversations in light of knowing the ending can often spark realisation to what was being hinted at.

    Hotel Dusk is not a game that will appeal to all due its placement in a niche genre, although it offers a lot of promise and delivers as much out of it as you put it in. Those consentual to its charms will find an engrossing tale of deceit and mystery that drags you in entirely, with the fact the gameplay is a little lacking not being as important a concern as it may initially seem. To that end, the game itself is compulsive and addictive until the point at which it sadly has to conclude.

    Score: 8/10
      Posting comments is disabled.

    Categories

    Collapse

    Latest Articles

    Collapse

    • Motion Gravure Review - Sony PS2
      by Archives
      In this image-obsessed industry, it's critical that a game projects a strong sense of identity. With an identity comes a target audience. Sony have arguably captured the 'twenty-something male' flag and, to consolidate this position, Sony Music Entertainment releases this: a game featuring nothing but scantily clad females. Oh, and some very nice scenery.
      ...
      21-08-2023, 12:13
    • Devil May Cry 3 Review - Sony PS2
      by Archives
      Family reunions tend to follow one of two distinct protocols: everyone meets up, reminisces and has a good old chat and a laugh; or everyone meets up, reminisces and remembers why it’s been so long since they last saw each other, the evening ending in a ferocious argument. Why is this relevant to this Devil May Cry 3 review?
      The latest meeting of the divinely comedic twin siblings of Dante and Vergil falls rather violently into the second category. Something about their murdered mother’s amule...
      06-09-2022, 08:30
    • Silent Hill 3 Review - Sony PS2
      by Archives
      Fear. It’s something that collective consciousness values as a desirable commodity, especially in the pop culture spin of everyday modern life - An element that mainstream entertainment likes to use in distilled form when it comes to getting a rise out of our adrenaline glands. Whether it be watching the latest slasher flick, experimenting with the next extreme sport or avidly reading the current best-selling horror fiction… On the whole, we take pleasure out of being scared. Read this Silent...
      11-07-2022, 13:50
    • Viewtiful Joe Review - Nintendo Gamecube
      by Archives
      Pink Lycra. There just isn't enough of it in video games. So Capcom have bravely stepped-up to the plate and given us a game, starring a Hot Pink hero, clad in a spandex jumpsuit, that isn't afraid to be laid back and humorous in style, whilst containing some rock-solid gameplay at its core. Like a piece of candy with a stone centre, Viewtiful Joe is sweet and tempting to the eye, but underneath is solid rock. Our hero is introduced in the opening cut-scene as a bubble-headed, California-accented Sk8r Boi, o...
      15-05-2022, 11:48
    • Castlevania: White Night Concerto Review - Nintendo GBA
      by Archives
      Castlevania: White Night Concerto is the latest instalment in Konamis Castlevania series. It is the second title for the GBA, but the first Castlevania game appeared on the NES back in 1987. It is ostensibly a platform game, like its predecessors. Certain things have remained constant throughout the series- in all but a couple of Castlevania outings, the main protagonist (in this case Juste Belmont) brandishes a whip. Secondary weapons are also available. Again these weapons are the same as tho...
      03-04-2022, 15:57
    • Super Robot Wars OG Saga: Mugen no Frontier EXCEED Review - Nintendo DS
      by Steven Walker
      For the uninitiated, Super Robot Wars Original Generation Saga: Mugen no Frontier (Endless Frontier) is an action-RPG spin-off from the popular Super Robot Wars series. The player has to use attacks to keep enemies in the air in order to do maximum damage, and string together as many attacks as they can. Timing and knowledge of characters' moves is the key to success. SRW OG Saga: Mugen no Frontier EXCEED is the sequel, and goes to show that a follow-up can be better than the original.
      T...
      04-01-2022, 15:20
    Working...
    X