Hotel Dusk Room 215

The first time I heard and read about Hotel Dusk Room 215, I was intrigued. It sounded like a game I could really like, but at the time the game was so popular that no matter where I went to see if I could purchase a copy of it, no one had it.

So eventually I became so involved in other things and games that I forgot all about it. That was until I recently stepped into the local Gamestop store and happened to see a copy of it on the shelf. Needless to say, I became instantly ecstatic. And once I got to playing it on the Nintendo DS, what I found here was indeed an enjoyable and involved game.

In it you take on the first person perspective role of former NYPD detective, Kyle Hyde. Now he works for an oufit known as Red Crown, that occasionally sends him to find things that do not want to be found. And in this venture, he is in search of his former partner, Brian Bradley.

Although the sketches of the characters are in black and white, and may remind music lovers of AHA’s eighties music video of their hit single, ‘Take On Me,’ the story line is tightly woven and makes you feel as if you have stepped into a mystery novel.

Lack of voice acting aside, this game does not have the Final Fantasy or Zeldaesque monster bashing/hack and slash type of excitement. In fact, it is a bit heavy on the reading side when it comes to conversing with the other characters you meet in the game.

In fact, if you have played SNES’s Ultima The False Prophet, and you thought that was reading intensive, then playing Hotel Dusk Room 215 should be a breeze since it’s way shorter than Ultima The False Prophet.

Containing just ten chapters, in Hotel Dusk, you basically search for clues everywhere you can without being caught in certain off limits areas by the hotel owner, Dunning Smith. And you also talk to everyone or the other guests to see if they know anything.

By the time the game is over, you find out that they, the guests, are all connected to someone who stayed there previously and you help them sort out their own problems as well. I really like this game and I am on my second play through of it as I played it so fast the first time out that I missed a few things.

Like getting the paper clip from the Hotel Dusk brochure or even bothering to read the summary at the end of each chapter.

So if you don’t mind taking a break from the hack and slash, monster bashing kind of RPG and you want to try your Nintendo DS stylus on a good point and click sort of mystery, take Hotel Dusk Room 215 for a spin.

You will be sort of glad you did.

Rated T for Teen for mild violence and the use of alcohol once the hotel bar opens.