Haha! I had you all fooled didn’t I! I’m not dead (yet)! Though I have been having some strange dreams… But that’s beside the point. HERE is the point!

I’m going to start posting again! Woot! So here’s the plan: I’m going to try and update every Friday. Try and recap the week prior, go over that weeks comics (At least I’m a cute geek). And if I’ve picked up a new game (Which rarely happens), I’ll let you know what I think of it. And music too. I guess anything new that I come across, really.

Which brings us to this picture here. This is Kyle Hyde (Nice name, eh?). Kyle Hyde is an ex New York cop in 1979. Now he’s a travelling salesmen who seems to locate lost items for his boss as a side job. He’s the main antagonist of a new game I picked up, Hotel Dusk: Room 215. Hotel Dusk is an adventure game for the Nintendo DS. I think it came out earlier this year, but I’ve just picked it up last week. The story centres around Kyle Hyde as he stays at Hotel Dusk, in room 215, a room with a history; it grants wishes. Or so he’s told. Hotel Dusk is a mystery adventure, akin to games like Broken Sword or Sam and Max (Though without the nonsensical humour that Sam and Max are pivotally known for). Hotel Dusk is divided into chapters. I’m not sure yet how many chapters there are, but I’ve just started Chapter 2. Thus far, Hotel Dusk is full of charm, colourful characters, and a rich environment. Like any good adventure game, everyone has a story. From the hotel owner, Dunning Smith, the maid, Rosa Fox, and even the bellhop, Louis DeNonno (who has a bit of a history with Kyle), everyone has a story to share, all you have to do is lend them your ear. There are many more characters than these, I’ve encountered twelve already, and each is very distinct from the last, and none of them give the impression of existing just for the sake of having a large cast.
Gameplay is very reminiscent of older style adventure games, but updated to take advantage of the unique features of the DS. On the touch screen, you are given a map view of your present area, and on the other screen you see your current location from a first person perspective. Movement is handled with either the touch screen or the control pad, and when inspecting items the interface is extremely intuitive and resembles playing an adventure game with a mouse, just like when we were kids.
The music is rich and appropriate for the situation that it conveys, and never seems repetitive or out of place. Graphically speaking, the art direction is utterly fantastic, in my opinion. The 3D renderings are top notch for something on the DS, and the art direction of the characters is extremely unique and gorgeous, featuring rotoscoped actors and suburb animation. Menus are easy to navigate, and you can always tell what you’re looking at without having to consult the manual or try and figure out exactly what it is you’re looking at before you think of how to use it.
Like any good adventure game, Hotel Dusk features a number of puzzles to progress through the story. I’ve played a few adventure games in my time, and there have been quite a number that feature very illogical puzzle solutions that I can never imagine myself finding the solutions for. Thus is not the case with Hotel Dusk, with each puzzle I’ve encountered making perfect sense for its solution. I appreciate that (I don’t want to have to figure out that I should dismantle the candle stick so I can build a new curtain rod so I can put the curtains back up because I needed the actual curtain rod to use as a lever to lift a box and didn’t want to not have curtains as to not raise suspicion, that’s just asinine).
I’ve only put a couple of hours into Hotel Dusk, and so far I’m really enjoying myself. I can see myself becoming very engrossed with this one, much like I did with the original Broken Sword, something that hasn’t happened for quite a while. I’ll keep you updated as I progress through it, and share my final impressions once I’ve made my way to the end.

That’s about it for now, so untill next time I’ll leave you with the following completely errelevant statement that will make absolutely no sense to anyone: Pie glows past the painful hazard. Cake complements pie next to the dedicated diner. Cake camps! The overwhelmed nightmare profiles the paragraph. Whatever shot strains behind a pub! Pie expects cake.