Hotel Dusk: Room 215.

Talk about your other favorite games like Barbie Adventures.
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Haelstrom
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Hotel Dusk: Room 215.

Post by Haelstrom »

I've talked about it a lot, time to actually describe it.

I got a Nintendo DS a while back, happened to see this in the store the day I got the DS cheap and picked it up. Couldn't have had a luckier random pick, game's truly an under-rated treasure.

The story begins with a vague recounting of the main character, Kyle Hyde's past and present. Essentially, he and a dear friend/partner in the L.A.P.D. were attempting to bust a crime ring with the friend, Bradley, undercover. Problem: Bradley was as described in game a "busy boy," essentially backstabbing and betraying damned near everyone, Kyle included.

Rushing to the pier and heading Bradley off, Kyle could only ask "Why?" before Bradley attempted an escape, prompting Hyde to open fire and for Bradley to take a dive into the Hudson River.

Shortly there after, Hyde quit the police force, began working for a commercial package headed by a former L.A.P.D. officer and friend of his father's, "Ed," known as the Red Crown. True nature of the company's a little side-business of finding goods "some people might not want found," and getting them to the right customer. This is the job Kyle Hyde fades into, turning the world around him away and keeping to himself like a drifter 'til he finds some information on Bradley who he can't shake the feeling is still alive somewhere.

The next job is to pick up a package at a rickety old hotel out in the country-side, "Hotel Dusk." Sounding like a simple detour, Hyde makes his way there - unaware he's stepping into the setting of a thousand resolutions.

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The game's far more reliant on observation, puzzle solving, memory, and tact than anything else. Most of your game-overs will result from old man Dunning throwing you out for anything he doesn't find savory, which can range from understandable screw-ups to some rather irritatingly absurd things that make it seem like he's looking for a reason to toss you on the street. (I've heard this phrase describe those moments: "HYDE! You didn't wash your hands! I'm disgusted at you, get out NOW!")

Every character is well designed, fleshed out, and feel great to interact with.

The entire game takes place over a single day (though broken up into intervals as the Chapters.) Your objective is to figure out the mysteries of this hotel, ideally solving the mystery behind Bradley, and to avoid reaching a dead end, getting thrown out, or even possibly killed.

You usually walk around observing items, talking to people (once initial dialogue is over and you've addressed minor/major points, you can start quizzing them and even jot down notes as I demonstrated, which you'll want to.) Then, there are the puzzles, some being mind-numbingly simple while others will take you by surprise. Note that the dialogue routes are where tact come into play; make the wrong choice, make an assumption, forget an earlier character's dialogue, and you may make the individual lose interest in speaking with you, halting your progress for good and ruining your chances of ever finding out about Bradley.

Sometimes, Kyle himself will recall something that doesn't quite sit right with him spoken in the near past, and at the end of every chapter, he'll try to "get all his ducks in a row" by recounting matters, before speaking briefly of how he has to find Bradley with a bitter mixture of comradeship and thirst for justice.

Here are just a few of the characters, scanned from the instruction booklet by moi:

http://haelstrom.net/images/HotelDusk.png" TARGET="_blank

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Another amazing aspect of this game besides the excellent plot, character strength, and art style would be the music. It fits the setting, and feels so minimalistic yet does not fail to impress me utterly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X_XofqHX3I" TARGET="_blank
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CErqPU_s_u0" TARGET="_blank
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbvLGOZmHJM" TARGET="_blank

There is a mini-game involving the vending machine (warning: REMEMBER WHAT PEOPLE ASK YOU TO DO or you might have to start a new file to do this fully), and there's even merit to playing it again with an extra mode that has some alternative dialogue - and finally, a "full" ending to unlock provided you get no game-overs (off/on and reload if you do) that just clotheslines your skull and makes a sequel damned near necessary - and I'm very happy to say..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTt7Qh-G6Uc" TARGET="_blank

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Only downside is, if you're the kind of gamer who can't read / think for more than 2 seconds, or the sort who needs something exploding and twitch-jerk action every other second - you won't like this game, though that's a shame. Alternatively, if you're the sort who usually isn't into a lot of games of that sort but loves critical thinking and a good noir plot, you might find this a refreshing change of pace.

Regardless, highly recommend obtaining this game. When you can spend half an hour just listening to the music on a game's Start menu, and when you don't even want to touch a guide because the puzzles contain too interesting uses of the DS touch-screen for you to want to, you know there's something about it that's special.
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Re: Hotel Dusk: Room 215.

Post by Koma »

Sadly.. http://kotaku.com/5487995/hotel-dusk-de ... s-bankrupt

Terrible news similar to when Capcom's Clover Studio shutdown.
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Haelstrom
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Re: Hotel Dusk: Room 215.

Post by Haelstrom »

I found out about this a bit ago. Very sad news. However, on the bright side, bankruptcy =/= immediate death, they may still yet get a cheap port to Europe. Even if not, it was released in full in Japan, which begs for a RomHack translation down the road.
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Phaiyte
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Re: Hotel Dusk: Room 215.

Post by Phaiyte »

Or it could end up like Der Langrisser and people fight about it
for about 10 years(literally) and then just all of a sudden
drop it off the face of the earth about half-way down the "official" hack.

Pissed me off.
I was REALLY liking that game.
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Pull the trigger and the nightmare stops.

To be the hero is all I'll ask.
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