Hotel Dusk: Room 215
 

Shame there is no Hotel Dusk official thread, so I finished the game yesterday and had to start one.

http://www.siliconera.com/news/0701/box_hd215.jpg

Offical site

It's from Cing, the creators of Another Code and in my opinion it's a big step up from their first game.
This game is being described as an interactive novel and it really fits this description, it's heavy on the story, characters and dialogue. The puzzles are a bit on the easy side and not really original if you played Another Code- but they do make sense!

The first thing to notice is the original art style, with animated drawings that mixture black and white with colours that really set up a different experience. The little animations for each character transmit the players their personality and feelings very well - it's impossible not to smile when little Melissa starts jumping up and down!.

It's about 15 hours long, I think, with different endings (2 at least), and the pacing is great with a slow start for the first chapters that allows you to really get to know the characters, even is they aren't crutial to the main story. Oh, there are some Game Overs sometimes that mainly appear in some important dialogues, but you usually resume it right before the dialogue started and it gives a sense that it is important to think what to ask.

I should not get into the story, just to say I liked it a lot with a well thought ending...

So in the ending - buy it if you have a DS or why haven't you bought a DS if you like adventures? :D

I'm probably missing a lot of stuff, so impressions are welcome!

I'm glad to hear that. I must say Another Code didn't really work for me; the plot was sort of cute but nothing fascinating, and the gameplay was completely bland and uninspired. I meant to buy Hotel Dusk anyway when it got released in Europe, but it's a good thing that it's better than Another Code.

I just finished the game yesterday and it was good. Like wilco mentioned there aren’t many puzzles and they are easy but the game was good. The story/writing may not have been the greatest but it was very enjoyable. I dont feel like writing a whole lote so i'll use + and -.

+Enjoyable Story
+Great Characters , each with their own unique personality. Kyle, Louie and Rosa were my top 3 favorite characeters
+Music was great. It may sound like elevator music but I couldn’t get it out of my head
+Unique use of the stylus and DS
+Notebook…I wish more adventure games would have this
+Good ending which seems to be rare in adventure games these days lol

-Game over- Say one thing wrong the game could be over
-Very very very very text heavy
-Might be the most linear adventure game I’ve played
-Predicitable story at times
-Cant pickup some items intill you need them for a puzzle
-HD can be tedious at times. Like interacting with Maya… you give her you’re notebook so she can write something then she gives it back to you. Then you have to open the notebook. It may seem little but it got on my nerves after the fourth time. There are other things like

Spoiler:

trying to find out which wine Helen(???) drank

?Easy puzzles but they are logical


I’d give the game about a 7. Hotel Dusk is Probably my favorite DS adventure game but I’ve haven’t played the new PW game yet. I usually don’t mind games that are more story focused than puzzles so that is something to keep in mind. I would say the game is 85% story and 15% puzzles. Maybe even higher for the story! :P

Trace Memory (Another Code) wasn't what I was hoping for. I beat it the other nigth and felt that none of the puzzles challenged me at all. A few techniques you had to use with the DS to get through the game were unqiue... but other then that it felt like reading a book that I had to continually tap to get through.

I know Hotel Dusk is in this 'interactive novel' vein as well, but I'm hoping there is a bit more thought involved.

After reading the previous reviw I'm worried.

Also there are some puzzles that felt like a "walking dead" situation.

Spoiler:

Numbers and prize thing - You could finish the game without having to win the prize, but if you miss the window of opportunity to actually solve it, you couldn't solve it forever. I didn't find that out until it was too late. :(

im planning to buy a DS and this game. can you give some impressions about it ?

Oops, I didn't intend on putting this game in a negative light.
Right on par with Phoenix Wright, can't think of a better game on the DS right now. Definitely worth the purchase, if you like adventure games.

umh im mostly buying the DS because of the AG's titles :P and i also heard that the latest version os scummv runs on the DS. is it true ? (i know its a little off topic)

Yes, though I do believe you have to mod the DS.

I love Hotel Dusk, by the way. I haven't finished it, but I really, really dig it. I've always approached adventure games more for the story than the puzzles, so the game's being light on puzzles isn't an issue for me.

same here. im more driven by the story :D

I don't know about anyone else, but I find my ears deliver the most distinct pleasures, over seeing or reading things. I'm always piqued at a beautiful music, and I gotta have this soundtrack (especially the bits where he starts reflecting). mm! Still playing, but so far I am damn impressed. I'm happy to be seeing these types of adventure games in a more "mainstream" market. At any rate, cheers.

T

For ScummVM to work on the DS, you do not need to 'mod' the guts of the DS, but you do need some additional equipment. There are some threads here that discuss it a bit, but the best info on the topic can be found at the ScummVM DS website and forums.

Yes - BUT we were discussing the game in the DS adventure thread!

However, having it's own thread is fine also.

I've played few PC games that hold a candle to this game - MAYBE Runaway 2 will when it's released in the U.S.

We'll see - so far Hotel Dusk is an amazing story I really enjoy playing!

:D

thx for the help. will check it :D

ps- i have a pre order for runaway 2. cant wait for it :D

Man, I played this game at work today because we were really quiet and it's AWESOME! I haven't been this captivated by a game in a long time! It's interesting, funny, and I love the control mechanism!

dammit :P im so jealous.

From "Channel 2"(Japan's largest Internet bulletin board)
 

http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/8765/kylefx8.jpghttp://img412.imageshack.us/img412/5915/67376620vo8.jpghttp://img221.imageshack.us/img221/5813/64074683dr5.jpg
This is kyle.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　This is crab.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　This is kyle making a shadow picture of crab.

http://www.joyhona.com/makeshadow/makes_07.html

Kyle the peformance artist.

:)
Just finished it - loved the ending - very well done.

I hope more DS games of this quality are released.

Have to play again....

:D

I finished it yesterday, a really great game. The story was the best thing about it, I was really blown away by how good it was. The characters were written with great care. Many movies doesn't even come close to this game in that department.