| Hotel Dusk: Room 215 | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Cing |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Designer(s) | Taisuke Kanasaki |
| Composer(s) | Satoshi Okubo |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo DS |
| Release date(s) |
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| Genre(s) | Adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Rating(s) | |
| Media/distribution | Nintendo DS Game Card |
Hotel Dusk: Room 215, released in Japan as Wish Room: Angel's Memory (ウィッシュルーム 天使の記憶 Wisshu Rūmu Tenshi no Kioku), is a graphic adventure game for the Nintendo DS. Originally announced on October 5, 2005 as Wish Room,[1] the game made its first public appearance on May 9, 2006 at that year's E3 convention.[2] It was released in North America on January 22, 2007, before being released subsequently in other regions. The game supports the Nintendo DS Rumble Pak accessory. The game was later republished in 2008 as part of the Touch! Generations line of DS games. The game was developed by the now-defunct Cing.
Contents |
The player, as Kyle Hyde, moves around and interacts with the environment using the DS's touch screen and must solve a variety of puzzles using the handheld's various features including the touch screen, microphone, and closeable cover. The DS is held rotated 90 degrees from normal, like a book, with an option in the game to allow the player to switch which side the touchpad is on depending on which hand is dominant.
Throughout the game, the player must speak with the various hotel patrons and employees in order to uncover vital information. The player can show the characters items that Kyle has collected, or ask questions that have been brought to Kyle's attention. By asking the right questions, Kyle will uncover the information he needs. If he asks the wrong question, makes a wrong assumption, or shows the wrong item, he may confuse or anger the person. This is usually indicated by a darkening of the character in question. This can result in Kyle being forced to retreat to his room or, later in the game, getting kicked out of the hotel, leaving him unable to solve the mystery.
The game is filled with adventure-style puzzles, most of which involve using the touch screen to perform a simple task. Movement is made by leading an iconic representation of Kyle around a map of the hotel on the touch screen or d-pad while a first-person three dimensional view is shown on the other screen.
There is also a journal to write in, which is used by several other characters as well, though all critical in-game story notes are copied automatically. It gives three pages to write in, with a simple pencil/eraser system.
The main setting is the fictional Hotel Dusk, a small, somewhat rundown hotel located in the southwestern United States near Los Angeles, California during the year 1979. The protagonist is Kyle Hyde, a former member of the New York Police Department searching for his old partner, Brian Bradley. During his stay at the hotel, Kyle unravels a mystery shrouded in the hotel's past that may lead him to the answers he's looking for.
Robert Evans and Dunning Smith were friends at college, but went their separate ways. Evans inherited his family's art gallery, while Dunning wanted to become a professional painter. Both married and each had a daughter: Mila and Jenny, respectively. In 1960, they reunited in an airport, after both of their wives died in a tragic plane crash. A year later, Evans came up with the idea of creating "Osterzone", a dead painter whose works would be highly valued. Evans deeply admired Dunning’s skill at painting, and offered him to paint works to be credited as Osterzone’s, to which he agreed. While Dunning painted, Evans displayed the works in his art gallery. He also wrote a fake biography of Osterzone's life, how he died, and how the lost paintings of his were found. The scam was successful, the paintings sold for fortunes, and Evans and Dunning became rich. Osterzone's paintings became highly valued, particularly one called "Angel Opening a Door". As time went on, Dunning began to feel unsatisfied with being a ghost-painter and wanted to stop painting as Osterzone.
Unfortunately, Evans' art dealings had attracted crime syndicates. In 1969, Evans bought Hotel Dusk with the intent to use it as a meeting ground for a criminal organization named Nile, and as a location where Dunning could secretly paint. One day, Dunning had been invited to Hotel Dusk. Jenny, Dunning’s daughter, was brought along and was left to play with Mila, Evans' daughter, unsupervised in another room. While discussing with Evans, Dunning refused to continue painting, and as a result, a Nile agent kidnapped Jenny. Mila was frightened and tried to stop him, but was lifted and rendered unconscious into a coma. When they came back, Mila was unconscious on the floor and Jenny was missing. Evans transported Mila to Robbins Memorial Hospital and came back to the hotel the following morning. He told Dunning that if he wanted Jenny back, he would have to continue painting as Osterzone. In the meantime, Evans continued to visit Mila at the hospital once a month without fail. After becoming too involved with Nile, Evans was forced to close down the art gallery and sold Hotel Dusk to Dunning. After three years of painting, Dunning decided to quit after losing hopes of retrieving Jenny. Dunning received a letter written by Evans, promising Jenny would be returned if he would be patient and wait at Hotel Dusk. Dunning reopened Hotel Dusk in 1974, after hiding all evidence of Osterzone and Nile. Rumors about Jenny being kidnapped at the hotel began to surface, which resulted in Dunning making up a story about Room 215 being able to grant wishes to attract customers.
Three years prior to the present in New York, N.Y.P.D's Kyle Hyde and partner, Brian Bradley, were investigating Nile in Manhattan. During that time, Bradley came across a man named Norman, whom he later learned was Robert Evans. Evans told him that Nile were holding his younger sister hostage (who was also named Mila), and if he didn’t leak confidential police information about Nile, Mila would be killed. Bradley, worried for his sister's safety, leaked the information and in turn, discovered the truth of Nile, Osterzone, and Jenny’s kidnapping. Feeling sympathy for Dunning, Bradley stole "Angel Opening a Door" in a warehouse run by Nile. Bradley did his part of the deal, but when he went to check on Mila, she was found dead at the hands of Robert Evans. Kyle, working at the police station, received a phone call and learned about Bradley's treachery and turning against the police force. Because of the shock and confusion, Kyle confronted Bradley at the docks along the Hudson River and fired his gun at him. Bradley fell into the river and disappeared, and Kyle presumed that he had been killed. Kyle left the force after shooting Bradley, and became a salesman for the Red Crown company.
Bradley, however, managed to survive and six months prior to the present, found his way to Hotel Dusk. He met Dunning for the first time, and explained to him that he knew about Evans, Nile, and Osterzone. Dunning, who didn’t trust Bradley, lied to him and told him he didn’t know what he was talking about. Knowing that Kyle would likely follow him, Bradley checked in under Kyle's name and left several clues. He also returned "Angel Opening a Door" back to Dunning. After his stay at Hotel Dusk, Bradley decided to visit Mila at the Robbins hospital, as she reminded him of his younger sister who shared the same name. Bradley gave her a bracelet that used to belong to his sister which has the name “Mila” on it. Shortly after this, Mila came out of her coma, 10 years older and unable to speak. After waiting 6 months at the hospital for her father’s arrival, Mila decided to find him herself, but her only clue was an old Hotel Dusk brochure (which had been left by Bradley during his visit). While walking along the highway to Hotel Dusk, Kyle passed by her in his car and they caught a short glimpse of each other. She arrived at Hotel Dusk shortly after Kyle checked in, and this is where the story begins.
Production took about a year and a half with 20 staff members involved. In an interview with Qj.net, Director Taisuke Kanasaki "explained that they wanted Hotel Dusk to have an unprecedented visual expression not found in any other game."[3]
The game uses rotoscoping to animate its characters while a brushwork style illustrates the game's environments with half-finished backgrounds with 3-D objects strewn about. While not a first in gaming, rotoscoping is still rare in most games (with only a handful, namely the original Prince of Persia using the animation style).
A sequel, titled Last Window: The Secret of Cape West, was released on January 14th, 2010 in Japan, and on September 17th, 2010 in Europe.[4] It takes place in Los Angeles, California during 1980, a year after the events of Hotel Dusk. It is currently unknown if Last Window will ever be released in North America, due to developer Cing's subsequent bankruptcy.
| Reception | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Aggregator | Score |
| GameRankings | 79.36%[5] |
| Metacritic | 78/100[6] |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| 1UP.com | B+[7] |
| Famitsu | 33/40[8] |
| GamePro | 4/5[9] |
| GameSpot | 8.2/10[10] |
| GameSpy | 4/5[11] |
Hotel Dusk: Room 215 has garnered a review score ratio of 79.36% at Game Rankings,[5] and a 78/100 on Metacritic.[6] Most major review sources gave it high marks, including IGN (7.9/10), GameSpot (8.2/10), Electronic Gaming Monthly (8.67/10), and 1UP.com (8/10). The positive critical reception commonly references the game's storyline and well-written character dialogue. Carolyn Gudmundson of Games Radar notes that the "...game is so well-written, and the dialogue is so natural, that it feels more like interacting with real people at times than following prompts in a game."[12] GameSpot notes that "...the characters that populate the hotel aren't just half-written caricatures, strictly designed to move the plot forward. These people have layers to them--legitimate character depth that shines through with each passing conversation."[13]
The game was also selected as one of Gaming Target's "52 Games We'll Still Be Playing From 2007".[14] It was the 76th best-selling game in Japan in 2007, with 213,208 copies sold.[15]
The reception was not universally positive, though. The Onion AV Club gave the game a D+ and pointed out that "while a mystery should keep you alert for clues and misstatements, Hotel Dusk slaps you in the forehead with every new piece of evidence, then patronizes you with reading-comprehension quizzes after every chapter".[16] Echoing the AV Club's complaints about the stylus use in the game feeling strapped on, Netjak.com added, "The gimmick to gameplay ratio is almost off the charts for this one" and awarded the game with a 5.9.[17]
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