[noknowncure]

One of the best things about this game is that it's a character piece; A study of different personalities and their interactions. It is a bit puzzle light, which I imagine might be a real issue for some people, but the story - or stories, because there are quite a few - drives the piece along wonderfully.

It's also very cleverly contained in it's own little universe, namely the hotel, proving that you don't have to travel the world for an adventure game to be involving. It was a breath of fresh air to play a game so grounded in reality, albeit a slightly heightened one.

The second playthrough yields some differences in the script, a couple of extra puzzles and a slightly - very, very slightly, but nice - different ending.

I know the number game is frustrating in that you have a brief window of opportunity to complete it, but as it's a secret extra, it seems appropriate.

[Kolzig]

At some point I might buy Hotel Dusk, but not right now.

I need to sort a million things before I can consider buying it...

[Thello]

I really tried to enjoy Hotel Dusk. The art style is beautiful, but the game is so incredibly dull. Even without the extremely unnecessary and mandatory recaps after every chapter, you can see where the plot is going a mile away. The dialogue goes nowhere fast, as it meanders about on pointless and uninteresting tangents, while the characters can be downright obnoxious (Melissa). It's essentially an extremely long series of poorly written pieces of text put to obvious puzzles.

It was no Phoenix Wright .

[Henke]

Originally Posted by Thello

I really tried to enjoy Hotel Dusk. The art style is beautiful, but the game is so incredibly dull. Even without the extremely unnecessary and mandatory recaps after every chapter, you can see where the plot is going a mile away. The dialogue goes nowhere fast, as it meanders about on pointless and uninteresting tangents, while the characters can be downright obnoxious (Melissa). It's essentially an extremely long series of poorly written pieces of text put to obvious puzzles.

It was no Phoenix Wright .

How long did you play? In my opinion you are wrong in everything you say. You can see where the plot is going a mile away? Poorly written text? Are we talking about the same game?

[jcgamer60]

Originally Posted by noknowncure

One of the best things about this game is that it's a character piece; A study of different personalities and their interactions. It is a bit puzzle light, which I imagine might be a real issue for some people, but the story - or stories, because there are quite a few - drives the piece along wonderfully.

I agree with you 100%.

[Thello]

Originally Posted by Henke

How long did you play? In my opinion you are wrong in everything you say. You can see where the plot is going a mile away? Poorly written text? Are we talking about the same game?

I played all the way up until chapter 7 where I got so bored I looked up the ending and sold the game on eBay. I tried as hard as I could to convince myself the game would get better and it never did.

Here's an example of painfully drawn out dialogue. I have a feeling they wrote the script and never went back to trim it down.

KYLE: Parents have to keep their kids in line. It's part of the job.
MELISSA: Part of the job?
KYLE: Don't worry about it. See you later.
MELISSA: Wait! What did I forget?
KYLE: This is yours, right?
MELISSA: Oh!
KYLE: It's OK. Take it.
MELISSA: Thank you. My mom made this.
KYLE: Must be pretty important to you.
MELISSA: Uh-huh.
KYLE: Then maybe you shouldn't throw it at people.
MELISSA: OK. Sorry.
KYLE: See you around.

Every conversation is like this. Nothing interesting ever happens, you just wander around this awful hotel trying to trigger the next scripted event with one of the wholly uninteresting characters for hours on end. If you're lucky, you'll get to solve a whopping 12-piece jigsaw puzzle for the moronic little girl who couldn't figure it out in order to walk by her on the stairs.

[Henke]

I guess it's a matter of taste but "uninteresting characters"? Come on!

[Nelza]

Originally Posted by Thello

I played all the way up until chapter 7 where I got so bored I looked up the ending and sold the game on eBay. I tried as hard as I could to convince myself the game would get better and it never did.

Here's an example of painfully drawn out dialogue. I have a feeling they wrote the script and never went back to trim it down.

Every conversation is like this. Nothing interesting ever happens, you just wander around this awful hotel trying to trigger the next scripted event with one of the wholly uninteresting characters for hours on end. If you're lucky, you'll get to solve a whopping 12-piece jigsaw puzzle for the moronic little girl who couldn't figure it out in order to walk by her on the stairs.

I'm sold! You made it sound quite good even when speaking negatively about it. LOL!

[noknowncure]

Originally Posted by Thello

KYLE: Parents have to keep their kids in line. It's part of the job.
MELISSA: Part of the job?
KYLE: Don't worry about it. See you later.
MELISSA: Wait! What did I forget?
KYLE: This is yours, right?
MELISSA: Oh!
KYLE: It's OK. Take it.
MELISSA: Thank you. My mom made this.
KYLE: Must be pretty important to you.
MELISSA: Uh-huh.
KYLE: Then maybe you shouldn't throw it at people.
MELISSA: OK. Sorry.
KYLE: See you around.

Who is Melissa?
Who is Kyle?
Why are they discussing parents?
What was forgotten?
Why did she throw it?
Who was it thrown at?
What's its significance?

Just a few questions that the boring exchange throws up in the format it's presented in.

[Steve Ince]

Originally Posted by Thello

Here's an example of painfully drawn out dialogue. I have a feeling they wrote the script and never went back to trim it down.

I must admit that it could have been tighter, but there could be constraints on the the English version based on how it was implemented. If there are a fixed number of lines and the translater cannot change this number, there is no option to trim it down. This is how it reads to me - it cerainly doesn't read like the dialogue originated in English.

[Josho]

What Steve says is unfortunately true -- and happens often in localizations. (Another common problem is space for text. Try to translate an American game into German and you run into this problem frequently!)

I've played the game (well, 90% of it, 'til I got stuck in the fortieth or fiftieth floor-length dialogue tree).

--Josh

[nl4m]

Hotel Dusk was great, with a great ending. The only thing I wish it had more of were puzzles. In the first chapters, there aren't more than 2/3 puzzles, most of it is text driven. Even with the leak of puzzles the storyline still beats Another Code/Trace Memory. There is a depth that HD reaches that AC/TM does not. By the ending you really want to know what happens(ed), and it doesn't disappoint.

I never heard of there being 2 endings. How do you get the 2nd one ? The one I got was

Spoiler:

that jenny was killed (to force the hotel owner into painting), the woman/mother/wife blackmailing the mob was killed, the partner runs away, kills the mob dude, but lets his kid live because she had the same name as his sister, Summer meets Allen Smiths mother and confesses everything, at the end the girl who can't speak leaves with you.

. What's the other ending like ?

[noknowncure]

It's not much, but there's a couple of little spoilerific extras:

Spoiler:

Dunning's daughter, Jenny, is kidnapped by the Nile syndicate's agents - who also cause Mila's coma - in order to keep the Osterzone alias paintings coming. Evans insists to Dunning that Jenny will be returned. Grace Woodward, working at Robert Evans gallery, learns about the Osterzone scam and demands a painting to pay for her husbands lawsuit. She leaves her family, when husband Kevin asks too many questions regarding the money. For insurance, she sends her estranged sister, Iris, a tape revealing the Osterzone secret. It is a little unclear, but it's never implied that Grace is dead, so Kevin, Melissa and probably Iris will continue to search for her.

Brian tracks down Richard - by learning about Mila and her coma - and, we infer, kills him. He leaves the unconscious Mila with the bracelet.

After you learn all this, you check out of the hotel and, depending on certain factors, will get various endings.

Kyle leaves.
Kyle leaves with Mila

The second ending occurs after the credits, again depending on certain factors

Dunning and Rosa discuss the end of the busy year. Rosa says she has a funny feeling someone’s still going to turn up. We hear the front door open and see Dunning's shocked reaction. We then see a girls body wearing a necklace with a "J" on it.

2nd play through, we see the girls face.

[nl4m]

Originally Posted by noknowncure

Spoiler:

Kyle leaves.
Kyle leaves with Iris

Spoiler:

In my games Kyle leaves with Mila, not Iris.

Spoiler:

Dunning and Rosa discuss the end of the busy year. Rosa says she has a funny feeling someone’s still going to turn up. We hear the front door open and see Dunning's shocked reaction. We then see a girls body wearing a necklace with a "J" on it.

2nd play through, we see the girls face.

Spoiler:

There are 4 endings ? Kyle leaves, leaves with Iris, leaves with Mila, Jenny comes back, and comes back again so we can see her face ?

[noknowncure]

Originally Posted by nl4m

Spoiler:

In my games Kyle leaves with Mila, not Iris.

Spoiler:

Sorry, Mila's the one I meant. I've corrected it.

[Henke]

Spoiler:

I didn't get the ending when Jenny comes back. How do you get that?

[Kurufinwe]

Just reading this thread makes me want to replay the game. I really loved it.

[nl4m]

Originally Posted by Kurufinwe

Just reading this thread makes me want to replay the game. I really loved it.

It is such a weird feeling. I get it all the time. I'll read about Zelda and next minute I'll be playing it, and the next minute I'll be bored and turn the game off

Spoiler:

Really, how do you get Jenny to come back ?

[noknowncure]

Originally Posted by Henke

Spoiler:

I didn't get the ending when Jenny comes back. How do you get that?

Spoiler:

I'm by no means 100% certain of this, but to get the Jenny ending, you need to make sure that you don't get kicked out at any point, and also pass each chapters memory test. Also, make sure you don't annoy the other characters too much and also try to solve the match puzzles in the bar - although that last two are just a precaution, they may not be vital. As I say, there are two versions of the Jenny ending that take place after the credits. On the first play through you briefly see her necklace and on a second play through you see her face.

Regarding leaving with or without Mila (Sorry about the name confusion before) depends on how you revive her. If you close the DS to perform mouth to mouth when she keels over, she joins you.

Second play through differences:

Spoiler:

When you play the game for a second time, certain dialogue is slightly different. Louis also gives you a second tape, containing a code for the secret rooms computer. It provides you with a little clue suggesting you check the only room you've not been able to visit for a little - very little -surprise.

Just for the sake of completion, the Vending machine puzzle:

Spoiler:

This is just an added bonus, more for the fun of it than anything else, but if you don't know, the random numbers you need to find are:
1) Above the couch in the Lobby
2) On the side of the Vending Machine
3) 1st Floor South end of the hallway to stairs
4) 2nd Floor Western end of the hallway
5) Dining Room on the side of the Piano
6) Dining room hallway, when Louis isn't there, on his podium
7) On the Jukebox in the bar

In chapter four, Dunning is behind the desk. This is the only time you can ask him for change from your cash. This change can be used on the vending machine, to buy food - pointless but you can feed some of the characters if you like - and, once you have all the numbers, enter the secret code for a prize. On the first play through, you get a Pinky Rabbit Doll - you give this to Melissa - and the on the second play through you get some lipstick - give this to Iris, Helen or Rosa. This is just a pointless little distraction.

[Karmillo]

I really liked Hotel Dusk, but it didn't really feel like a game...more like an interactive novel or something.

Originally Posted by noknowncure

Spoiler:

When you play the game for a second time, certain dialogue is slightly different. Louis also gives you a second tape, containing a code for the secret rooms computer. It provides you with a little clue suggesting you check the only room you've not been able to visit for a little - very little -surprise.

whats the suprise?