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Common Sense Note

Parents need to know that this mystery game requires players to slow down, do lots of reading, and solve puzzles. Though the storyline is involving, this will be a hard sell for fans of fast-paced action games. Since the mystery centers around crime and murder, it does include a few gritty elements: drinking, some swearing, and brief scenes of violence (a shooting and people being knocked unconscious). But the overall vibe isn't bleak thanks to bright artwork, an upbeat soundtrack, and plot threads focused on family love.

Families can talk about the role of a story in videogames. It's essential in this game, but is it for all games? If the mystery wasn't compelling, would this game still be worth playing? Families who get deep into the plot can also discuss the themes of parental love and abandonment.

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Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Chris Jozefowicz

Nintendo is marketing HOTEL DUSK: ROOM 215, an adventure game for the DS, as an "interactive mystery novel." Players with twitchy fingers and minds may get bored reading through page after page of text, but those up for a stylish and moody story will likely find Hotel Dusk to be a unique and frequently satisfying experience.

The star of the show is Kyle Hyde, a New York City police detective-turned-traveling-salesman who just can't quit his sleuthing ways. When Hyde finds himself at a seedy Los Angeles hotel in 1979, he discovers that nearly all the guests have mysterious pasts. Players will guide Hyde -- a man with a troubled past of his own -- through one long night in the hotel as he unravels the tangled relationships around him.

To play Hotel Dusk, players turn the DS on its side, like an open book. The screens either display a map and what Hyde sees, or they show Hyde in text-heavy conversations with the guests. The game often looks like a limited-motion comic book on two screens, with the characters depicted in a captivating hand-drawn style.

If reading such dialogue sounds interesting, then Hotel Dusk has a lot to offer. Navigating these sometimes drawn-out discussions constitutes a big part of the game. Players select from a list of questions and conjectures Hyde can make. Selecting the wrong thing to say can make guests clam up or even get Hyde booted out of the hotel. The game also sprinkles in some traditional adventure game-style logic puzzles that utilize the touch screen of the DS.

A few conversations and puzzles may qualify as challenging, but most are relatively simple. This ease is welcome, because the puzzles are common enough to keep the player mentally engaged, but they aren't so common or difficult as to interrupt the flow of the story -- the true focus of Hotel Dusk.

Since the game is so story-heavy, the actual play sometimes feels awkward. The game lets players walk all over the hotel, but it maintains control over the story by making guests available for questioning in a very linear manner. For example, knocking on a door often yields no answer and if you wander the halls, the resident you are looking for is nowhere to be found. But, after talking to someone else in another part of the hotel, suddenly the previously absent guest will answer a knock on his or her door.

Ultimately, how enjoyable players find Hotel Dusk depends on how much they care about the story and the characters. The writing in the game does a decent job of fleshing out most characters and their relationships, although a few are right out of central casting. The mystery plays at being hard-boiled (with guns, murder, and hard-drinking), but that toughness wanes against a backdrop of bright artwork, an upbeat soundtrack, and plot threads focused on family love. Hotel Dusk spins an enjoyable, multilevel story that will keep players guessing until very near the end of the 15-20 hour game.

Younger players interested in adventure game mysteries might wish to check out some of the Nancy Drew games, such as Danger by Design or Secret of the Old Clock.

Reviewed: 02/28/2007

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