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jp's Hotel Dusk: Room 215 (DS)
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| [July 5, 2010 03:10:43 PM]
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Finished this a looong time ago, but forgot to write an entry...sigh.
I recall that the ending was mostly satisfying until I found out (thanks Gamefaqs) that I didn't get the "best" ending for some reason that seemed pretty lame. This is in stark contrast to Heavy Rain, where I'm quite happy with how it all turned out for me. I guess that's why it's important that there is no such thing as the "good" ending..no?
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| [January 20, 2010 08:59:26 PM]
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I wanted to make a note of a few of the more interesting puzzles I ran into. Spoilers ahead if you haven't played the game. I'm writing the solutions more for my own "records" than any particular reflection...
1. You're supposed to turn the electricity back on in a room upstairs. To do this you head into the electrical room and take a look at the breaker. There are two switches. You flick one (with the stylus) and then, as you try to flick the next one, the first turns off. If only you had two hands! Uh...wait, the DS touchscreen isn't multi-touch, right? I'm pretty sure it wasn't! Well, it is. Use two styluses to flick both switches at the same time and puzzle solved! This one DEFINITELY plays against your "knowledge" of the physical platform the game runs on.
2. You discover that a piece of Melissa's puzzle has something written on the back. Hey! It's time to put the puzzle together. That's the easy part. The screen changes to then show the completed puzzle on the top screen and the table surface on the bottom. How to turn the puzzle over? This one took me a short while before I remembered that the DS "knows" when you close it. (Drawn to Life! plays a special sound when you do that..). So, what if I close the DS? Wouldn't it be like flipping the puzzle over onto the touchscreen? Bingo! Again, a puzzle that is trickier if you assume that the DS can't do anything once it's closed...
3. Mila is KO and you need to warm her cheek. Something like that. Your face is on the top screen and Mila's on the bottom. After realizing that touching the touchscreen wasn't it...hey...close the DS (and bring both faces together!) Bingo. This one was even easier given puzzle no. 2.
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| [January 11, 2010 10:40:05 PM]
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I'm probably about halfway through and the story has definitely become more interesting. Essentially, I've had enough time so that most of the games' characters have had some sort of decent introduction, a minor intrigue or two, and most importantly some hint at a potential reason for being there. Secrets are slowly being uncovered and I'm curious to see how it all unravels (or comes together, depending on your metaphor of choice).
Anyways...
I think I noted earlier how I felt somewhat uncomfortable skulking around certain locations in the game and essentially stealing items that I needed in order to solve puzzles. So, it was quite surprising when the story began to address these issues directly. First, another character (Louis) becomes my accomplice of sorts and often berates me for skulking around in parts of the hotel I shouldn't be in. He constantly warns me about getting caught. More recently however, due to one character complaining about having some stuff stolen (which, strangely enough, I had nothing to do with), the hotel manager starts to acknowledge that he's noticed some missing things. Of course, my character doesn't own up to anything, but I start to wonder whether or not I should return the items I've taken or what to do with them. Is it a better idea to carry them around or try to hide them in my room? If I try to hide them, where should I put them?
The stolen items situation escalates until I run into a character who is coming up the stairs and warns me that the manager (Dunningham) has just searched her person! She is, of course, shocked. That would be my cue to ditch everything. By mistake I end up walking down the stairs and I'm busted. Game Over.
The interesting part for me was that I re-started and unloaded some items. Namely three tools I had picked up as well as a bundle of cash I found. BUSTED!
What? For the first time that I recall, I was forced to go over all of the items in my inventory and reflect on how I got them and whether or not I should hide them. It actually took me one more failed attempt before I returned (or hid) everything suspect that I was carrying. It was an interesting moment of, to an extent, ethical reflection. Does having this item count as stealing if I don't think the manager knows it was there? (a lighter, he didn't care) How about this thing I found on the floor trapped under a piece of furniture, does that count? I found it in the manager's office, where I should have been. Would he recognize that? (a piece of paper with a clue, yes, he did recognize it).
This situation also forced me to really think about what the other characters know and what they think I know or don't. For example, I found $20,000 stashed inside my room's toilet (it was planted). However, if I bring up the fact that I know that $20,000 was stolen...GAME OVER! I need to somehow discover this information in a legitimate way in order to not have any problems. It's an interesting quandary that, because you can actually lose, you don't often find in adventure games. This game occasionally, and subtly, encourages you to NOT take the combinatoric approach with items (try everything with everything) or the exhaustive approach to conversations (ask all the questions and follow up on everything).
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| [January 6, 2010 09:34:52 PM]
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I almost "frustration quit". (there's rage-quit, so why not frustration quit?)
I had made my way into the hotel manager's office to snoop around (I'm supposed to find two items, and I've already located one. That seems pretty early in the game, right?). Anyways, while snooping around I discovered that there was a locked (combination) filing cabinet that I probably wanted to get into. There was a piece of paper stuck under it with a clue as to the combination. Fortunately I had a crowbar with which I could raise the cabinet and get the paper.
The first time I did it, I "let go" of the crowbar to early and it crunched back down again. Almost immediately, the hotel manager strode in yelling. And then it was game over.
Really. It was literally a game over moment. Would you like to restart?
Once I got over THAT shock (I thought that adventure games didn't have "death" anymore!), I started up again and this time did not drop the crowbar, found the item I wanted and promptly left.
Then I wander around a lot. Nothing happened. I left the item in my hotel room and wandered around some more. I had no idea what to do next.
So, I went to Gamefaqs and learned that there is a GLITCH in the game such that if you leave the office without having looked at a certain item a scripted event won't trigger when you leave the office. Woah!
I went back into the office and looked and examined EVERYTHING hoping to re-set the glitch. No luck.
Grrr! First, there's a glitch...and then I can't find out how to undo it? This was when I almost abandoned.
Fortunately (or not?) I decided to give it one more go. This time I went back to my hotel room, picked up the item I found in the office, went back to the office and then left the office. Bingo! I could continue...
To be honest, I was a little disappointed. My experience so far hasn't been that engaging (playing this game feels more like reading a slow book slowly) and having a technical issue was my get out of jail free card. I guess I feel guilty about abandoning the game so early...
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| [January 4, 2010 10:20:17 PM]
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I just finished Chapter 1 of this game and I had a flashback to another game (I think) was made by Cing.
I haven't played Hotel Dusk in a few weeks so I wasn't quite up to speed with what was going on in the game and what I thought I was supposed to do. So, I wandered around and followed a few instructions and stuff happened and I made progress. And then... (this is where I had the flashback), the main character (Kyle? I can't even remember his name) started thinking out loud about what had happened so far in the game. He basically went into a "summary mode" that signaled the chapter was ending and got me back up to speed with what I assume are the most important things I need to remember in order to make sense of the plot. What a WONDERFUL feature! Part of Kyle's summary involves him wondering out loud about certain things that you then have to answer (select the correct option from a short list). It was the perfect way for me to remember what was going on and I wish that more games of this type had some way for you to remember the essentials...
Now, if only I could remember what the OTHER game was that had this... "Lost in Blue"? Hmmm...
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jp's Hotel Dusk: Room 215 (DS)
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Current Status: Finished playing
GameLog started on: Friday 18 December, 2009
GameLog closed on: Monday 5 July, 2010 |
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