Hotel Dusk: Room 215

 Review

Common Sense Media says

Decent, dialogue-heavy detective story.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Not yet rated

Kids say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this mystery game requires players to slow down, do lots of reading, and solve puzzles. Though the story is involving, this will be a hard sell for fans of fast-paced action games. The mystery centers on crime and murder and includes 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.

  • The main character is a detective who is sometimes gruff, but tries to help the hotel guests.
  • The violence is minor, but a shooting and a clubbing are depicted in cut scenes.
  • Not much, except a couple of flirty conversations and some bikini models on posters.

What's it about?

Nintendo is marketing HOTEL DUSK: ROOM 215, an adventure game for the DS, as an "interactive mystery novel." 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.


Is it any good?

 

Players with twitchy fingers and minds may get bored reading through pages of text, but those up for a stylish and moody story probably will find Hotel Dusk to be a unique and satisfying experience. Players select from questions and conjectures Hyde can make. Selecting the wrong thing 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.

Since the 15- to 20-hour game is so story-heavy, 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 in a very linear manner. 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.


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What families can talk about

Families can talk about the role of a story in video games. 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.


This review was written by Chris Jozefowicz
Teen, 16 years old
April 9, 2008
 
Very Hard!
I bought this game a while ago and I don't think it's too innaporopriate. There is some violence, a few deathss, and a lot of language. The game is fun but hard, and the reading is very Heavy, Most of the game is hearing what everyone has to say and deciding what to say yourself. The rest is solving puzzles thar are fun but tough. One of the puzzles near the end (*s*p*o*i*l*e*r* *a*l*e*r*t*) I accidently figured out when I kept losing and then put it on sleep, and later opened it up to figure out that I was supposed to close the DS!(s*p*o*i*l*e*r* *o*v*e*r*). The story is a good one but very coplicated to understand. But the game is a very good one!!!

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Teen, 18 years old
April 9, 2008
 

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Teen, 16 years old
April 9, 2008
 

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Adult
April 9, 2008
 
Excellent game, for me.
I played this game myself, and while I don't really think it's inappropriate for children...I don't think the average child could keep up with the game. And what's the point of buying it, if you're not able to understand what's going on? I loved it, but I think a 10-12 year old would quickly tire of the reading.

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Teen, 17 years old
April 9, 2008
 
I don't really care 4 it
Kids my age are looking for games that are teen rated!This is teen rated game and it isn't to bad!You'd have to know right from rong to really injoy tis game!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Kid, 13 years old
June 26, 2011
 
Tweens+
An difficult, but entertaining interactive murder mystery. They puzzles and challenges all require logic. However the plot revolves around a shooting and several other murders. THe cut scenes shown dead people lying on the ground, people being shot. Posters and a magazine show pictures of women in bikinis. Frequent usage of minor swears. But the alcohol usage is the big issue; the main character is an alcholic, scenes take place in bar, you are invited to drink with people, and more.

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Teen, 13 years old
April 9, 2012
 
Pause, but don't think too hard.
I've played T games before, and, though I certainly do not encourage it, language is one of the least worries I have with games. This game made me cringe, having the occasional D and A words. However, this alone shouldn't be enough to scare you away from such a good game. Everyone I've heard review this game say it is great, and I agree. The game includes some moral problems, which are solved by the main character (i.e. a young man steals a large sum of money, and the main character teaches him responsiblity). This is not too prominant, but if you are looking at this game simply for its educational value, you are looking in the wrong place. There is some violence (mainly one scene where the main character fires a gun, and then a man is shown falling--this scene appears about 7 times in the game). There is also some scenes which a young child (fair warning--her mom is missing, and I know that might by a sore topic with some) argues with her father. There is no violence, simply what you would see in a father-child movie. There are other scenes/refrences to violence, but nothing I would worry about. An issue for most parents would be the drinking. The main character is a drinker, and spends some time in the bar later in the game, as do some other characters. Perhaps the worst of this is when one of the characters gets heavily drunk and slurs his words and gets angry easily. I personally find this slightly funny, as it is rare for me to see people getting drunk in games. Nevertheless, parents who are trying to steer clear of this subject in games may not want their children to play this. I was 12 when I played this, and all I could focus on the entire game was the storyline--that's a good sign, folks.

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This review was written by Chris Jozefowicz
Platforms:Nintendo DS
Available online?Not available online
Genre:Action/Adventure
Developer:Nintendo
Release date:February 28, 2007
Price:$34.99
ESRB rating:T for mild violence, use of tobacco and/or use of alcohol, mild language

This review was written by Chris Jozefowicz

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

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