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Midboss's Hotel Dusk: Room 215 (DS)
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| [February 9, 2007 11:50:51 AM]
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I've read in some reviews that this game is too short and the developers use tricks, like forced backtracking, to make the game seem longer. I'm beginning to see signs of this. Most of the puzzles I've encountered so far consist of 'find item X'. Often you'll have come across item X previously but you won't be able to pick it up until you've encountered the puzzle already.
For example, in my hotel room I found a conspicuous paper clip sitting on my nightstand. When I tried to pick it up, the protagonist just said 'Hm, a paper clip...' to himself. After I found a lock I had to pick (in the same room!), I examined the paper clip again and he said 'Hm, a paper clip... Better take it, might come in handy.' That's why I tried to get you to grab it before, moron!
Anyway, the dialogue more than makes up for my frustration with the puzzles. The key to a good adventure game is making the player want to explore the world, and my curiousity is going crazy now that the plot is beginning to solidify.
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| [February 9, 2007 10:40:08 AM]
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I recently began playing this game. I'm a big fan of adventure games, and I've heard great things about this one, so I was expecting a lot going in. I'm only about an hour in so far, and it's good, but nothing special.
From a presentation point of view, the game is amazing. The art is really captivating, in that it's shaded to look like noir comic book art, but it's animated. Black and white pencil drawn characters on full colour CG backgrounds is a really nice effect, and I'm glad the developers chose to go with it. The writing so far is top-notch too.
It's hard to say much about the gameplay at this point since the story is still being set into motion. So far all I've really done is walk around and talk to people, which I suppose is standard adventure game fare. The interface, however, is really smooth. The player holds the DS sideways, instead of the normal orientation, so it's like you're holding a book. When the player is moving around, what the protagonist currently sees is displayed on the left screen, while the right screen (the touch screen) is a map of the room you're in. You use the stylus on the map to move your character around, and it seems really natural using both screens to view the hotel in different ways.
One feature I'm loving so far is that whenever you hear something you feel might be important to a puzzle, you can write it down in the protagonist's memo pad. Actually, pretty much any interaction with the gameworld is done with the stylus. I've used it to ring a service bell at a hotel front dest, bent a paper clip into a wire by dragging the ends of the clip, and used that paper clip to try to pick a lock. The fact that you perform the actions in the game yourself instead of telling the character to perform them really adds to the immersion of the game.
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Midboss's Hotel Dusk: Room 215 (DS)
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Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Friday 9 February, 2007
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