an ex cop with a dark past...
an unexplained mystery....
an internal/external epic battle of wit between two foes...
Sounds like a novel...and it is....
As a little girl, I always thought I would be a writer. I didn't want to write love stories or gore infested horror tales. I, with an old soul, always wanted to write suspense-filled, witty, old-fashion detective novels. There is something alluring about a private eye in a low down office, sipping on whiskey waiting for the next case so he can pay his bills and get on with his life. He is always waiting for the next dame... [Maybe it's romantic just to me.] Regardless, I fantasized about detectives and the cases they solved. I miss those kinds of characters in games today... They were a class all their own...until Hotel Dusk:Room 215.
Who doesn't love a good story? Flipping through the pages of a captivating book is far more pleasurable then tediously reading the same line over and over again in a book that holds no value. The same can be said about video games. A gamer will invest a great deal more time in a game with a great story, than one that lacks in creativity and development. So with that logic stamped into our brains, why not bring a novel into the gaming world?
In this DSi interactive novel game, you play as Kyle Hyde, a former member of the NYPD. After a case goes horribly wrong he goes M.I.A., which means he runs away. He runs as far as he could and that takes him to California. [Why do they always end up in California?! If I were going to run away from it all I'd go to Hawaii or New Zealand.]
While living in good old Cali, he works as a door-to-door salesmen, however his job has some kinks in it. He doesn't just sell brushes and combs;he also does detective work on the side. Hyde is still haunted by his past and he is following a scent that he thought ended back in the Hudson River in New York. However, there are holes in the story that he wants filled, and it is our job to help him sort it all out.
I refuse to spoil this one for you guys simply because, this is the kind of game that, requires you to think for yourself and to use your imagination. However I will warn you, that because this is a novel, there isn't a lot of action going on physically. So if you were hoping to smash hordes of henchmen away with your mighty fists or a magnum revolver than this isn't a game for you. It is heavily text-intensive due to well written dialogue. [which shouldn't surprise you, it's a novel based game!]
The most interesting thing about Hotel Dusk is the animation of the characters. The technique is called rotoscoping, which is a technique where animators trace over live action. For an advanced look at this look to the movie "A Scanner Darkly" [which subsequently is an intriguing movie! IMO] Granted the process takes a lot of time, but artistically it is worth it!
Hotel Dusk: Room 215 isn't new by any stretch of imagination...like most games, its initial release was in Japan. It was announced in 2005, however it did not make its official appearance until E3 in 2006. It wasn't released for play until January of 2007. Then in 2008, it was republished as part of the Touch! Generation series. [Just in case you didn't infer this, you have to hold your DSi like a book, and you use your stylus to interact with the people, and objects in the game....just be weary that there will be times where you'll want to just go to your room, and all you will do is knock on your bloody door! *personal experience*]
I have enjoyed playing the game thus far. I haven't beaten it yet, and I hope that I do not just zip through it either. Hotel Dusk:Room 215 is my vacation away from my achievement gathering on my other consoles [cough cough 360 cough cough] So if you have a DSi then I strongly recommend renting this title and just trying out for yourself. Renting it won't hurt, and in the end if you like it that much it won't hurt your wallet too much. It is priced as 20.99 but we all know you can buy used games for much cheaper at places like amazon.com. So...Check it out and don't you dare say I didn't tell you first! [Unless I obviously didn't]
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