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Skeeter's Hotel Dusk: Room 215 (DS)

[February 6, 2007 05:57:04 AM]

I see that JP has left me a comment and to comment on it, basically this was “under the radar” game Nintendo wasn’t banking on being successful. To everyone’s surprise, it’s a very fun and hard game. To me the beginning was basically walking around figuring out what to do and as I kept playing the puzzles became increasingly harder and I had to keep more of my wits up. There was an instance where I had to literally touch the screen with both of my fingers. Me, knowing something about the DS, realized that it was only a single touch pad so when the game was hinting at two hands, I was a bit skeptical knowing it wasn’t possible. I, for the sake of appeasing the game, used both my thumbs and voila I figured the puzzle out. This is just one of those instances in which you realize the people behind this game just pulled off something amazing and innovative; something I’ve never seen before. This may seem like nothing, but when you weren’t expecting anything like this, it really hits you as being original and you get that sense that there’s going to be more off the wall puzzles later in the game.

So I was able to get to the fourth chapter out of ten and I have to say I’m still interested in playing. The way the story is constantly keeping you engaged is quite nice for there’s a lot of reading involved in playing this game. Speaking of keeping me engaged, I can’t get enough of the characters. The fact that I’m able to see them makes my relating and understanding each of them that much easier. The character I play, Kyle Hyde, is this gritty spunky character and as you play you sort of encompass Kyle and in turn start thinking just like him. When talking to people, you can choose questions to ask and some are nice and some are questions Kyle would actually ask. The game easily brings you into the mind of Kyle and at times you swear you were there actually being the detective.

I’ve pretty much said all that there is to be said about this game. I highly recommend playing this game if you have a DS and like adventure games for you’ll wish reading books was more like this.

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[February 5, 2007 05:05:17 AM]

For all of you who don't know, Hotel Dusk Room 215 is a neo-noir adventure game for the Nintendo DS set in the late 1970's. You go to a hotel and solve some mystery. Now that everyone's in check, time to talk about the game.

From the beginning you are already introduced the game's unique art style. The only way to really describe this style is the "Take on Me" video by A-Ha. It's kind of like sketch-like images with a rough animation slapped on. Think of a flip book and how some of the images shift back and forth. I know this may sound unappealing but I kid you not, it's what makes this game one of the most beautiful games for the DS.

With this game being an adventure game, it means that there's going to be a lot of pointing and clicking. This may be a turn off for some but if you're into it, this game does it correctly. See I'm used to the old school specific clicking, like "Day of the Tentacle" or "Grim Fandago," but with this, it's sort of intuitive as to what to do. If you can pick it up, you can and the game will acknowledge that, but if you can't, the game will simply reply with a comment about the item. This sort of system is nice for it allows the player a sense of freedom in playing out the game. This aspect is generally desired in adventure games nowadays and this game does it right.

Regarding the game play, the game utilizes both screens. You also have to hold the ds in a book like manner so this may be unorthodox to a few. Anyway, the game uses one screen to show a 3D view of the character's vision and the other screen shows a top down view of the current room. You use the stylus to point at the direction you want the character to walk and it's as simple as that. I can't help but praise this movement system for I find it perfect for exploring and finding clues.

I've only been playing the first part of the story but what I've already experienced is top notch story telling. Reading is something I rarely do but this game takes reading and literally makes it interactive. When I'm typically reading, I have to create this image of the characters and at times is doesn't coincide with how the characters should be really portrayed. When I have this game showing me pictures, though, I feel more connected to the characters. They no longer feel like an imagined character but rather more of a concrete image. Kudos to this game for basically taking a novel and making it fun.

This game is hard, to put it simply. Unless you use a guide you'll have a hard time figuring out the next thing to do. At times though I sort of live for this type of complexity. I can't help but be frustrated for I know this game really wants me to be a detective yet I'm having a hard time being one, but this gives me more motivation to keep going and like that about this game. It adds to the challenge, in a good way.