Hotel Dusk succeeds Trace Memory

User Rating: 8.3 | Hotel Dusk: Room 215 DS
Trace Memory was one of first few games to fully utilize the DS. The game required you to to close the DS cover or close it halfway to use the reflection and use the microphone for finding clues. Despite it's story and simple visual presentation, the biggest problem was the ridiculously easy puzzles and short gameplay (which you can beat in 5-7 hours). Cing's follow up, Hotel Dusk, is a much bigger improvement. Here, you play Kyle Hyde,a former cop now working as a salesman but is also secretly to investigate the shooting/disappearance of his partner, Bradley. Kyle stays at Hotel Dusk for "business" reasons and unknowingly gets involved in the hotel and the resident's secrets, including the truth about Bradley.

Hotel Dusk is a genre that might not seem suitable for the Nintendo DS but thankfully the presentation and gameplay greatly makes up for it. For starters, you hold the DS like a notebook (of course, you're prompted if you are lefty or a righty). Unlike Trace Memory, characters are somewhat animated, each of them having their own distinct facial and body expressions. Aside from the 2D character animation, the rest of the environment is in 3D and easy to navigate. To show nostalgia (this is the late 70's by the way), the color scheme of the game has toned down or almost no colors but something this little shouldn't bother you.

Here comes the best part of Hotel Dusk; they way you interact with people. Keep in mind that as Kyle Hyde, you're a salesman, not a cop. During conversations, you are prompted with 2 different answers to a conversation but each answer truly affects how people will react to you. This will result in people dropping hints, prompting you again to ask them either politely or aggressively. Ask or say the wrong thing and you might get kicked out of the hotel; game over. It's extremely important to save each time before encountering someone because there's a chance you might miss out on an imporant clue due to how you answered. Definitely pick this game up for something different. It is somewhat sluggish but if you're patient enough, you'll find yourself immersed in the storyline. Why Nintendo is doing almost nothing to promote this gem is baffling.