Yup, adventure gaming is finding an interesting home on the Nintendo DS.
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Welcome to the board... and thanks for the link!
I always found the Japanese style of story telling in games quite unique and fascinating... they do manage to squeeze a lot out of their resources. The only thing about Japanese games I have never really liked are the control interfaces. But other than that they make some really atmospheric games and are especially good at scaring the crap out of me in their horror series'.
For a DS that game looks pretty cool... makes for some nice mobile detective work.
-Cub. =o)
I always found the Japanese style of story telling in games quite unique and fascinating... they do manage to squeeze a lot out of their resources. The only thing about Japanese games I have never really liked are the control interfaces. But other than that they make some really atmospheric games and are especially good at scaring the crap out of me in their horror series'.
For a DS that game looks pretty cool... makes for some nice mobile detective work.
-Cub. =o)
Last edited by HeinzHarald on January 24, 2007 • 4:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Yup I'm getting this game. Have been getting great reviews, and the concept seems great. The developer's previous game Another Code was quite a good adventure game for DS as well (though the wonderful Phoenix Wright is the best adventure game for DS, not having played Hotel Dusk yet).
Check out http://www.hoteldusk.com for more information btw.
Looooooong time lurker, very infrequent poster here!
I actually picked up Hotel Dusk a couple days ago and I have to recommend it to fellow Tex fans. The investigation aspect of the game is very similar, with you roaming around a 3D environment and hunting for clues, although this is controlled with the DS stylus. The game also has an interesting art style, with characters animated as rough black and white sketches that have a wide range of animations and movement.
The only drawback I've had so far is that the main character, Kyle Hyde, is a little dry and uninteresting and the puzzles are a little on the weak side. Rather than focusing strictly on stuff pertaining to your case, there are a lot of arbitrary puzzles just thrown in for the hell of it, such as forcing you to solve a kid's jigsaw puzzle so she will move and let you upstairs. Hopefully, as the game goes on, it'll start to focus way more on interrogating characters and solving the actual mystery.
That said, I still highly recommend it. It definitely has me hoping for a Pandora Directive port someday!
I actually picked up Hotel Dusk a couple days ago and I have to recommend it to fellow Tex fans. The investigation aspect of the game is very similar, with you roaming around a 3D environment and hunting for clues, although this is controlled with the DS stylus. The game also has an interesting art style, with characters animated as rough black and white sketches that have a wide range of animations and movement.
The only drawback I've had so far is that the main character, Kyle Hyde, is a little dry and uninteresting and the puzzles are a little on the weak side. Rather than focusing strictly on stuff pertaining to your case, there are a lot of arbitrary puzzles just thrown in for the hell of it, such as forcing you to solve a kid's jigsaw puzzle so she will move and let you upstairs. Hopefully, as the game goes on, it'll start to focus way more on interrogating characters and solving the actual mystery.
That said, I still highly recommend it. It definitely has me hoping for a Pandora Directive port someday!
Wow this is an old post but just thought I would bump it up. I just finished Hotel Dusk Room 215 and I must say it's a very very VERY dry game. It is almost tedious at points, however that being said it still managed to keep my interest enough to complete the game. There are quite a few parts of the game where you are left just wandering and wondering what the hell is going on and left you to search EVERYTHING IN THE GAME but as long as you're cool with doing that I guess it's "fun." I am not one of those people. The only thing that kept me interested was the story. The entire game takes place in one night. It is staggering how quickly people spill their life story to a stranger they met in one day. Anyway besides those minor gripes I still enjoyed it. The control in the game is interesting as you have to use the stylus to "point and click" in the direction you wanna go. Graphically it is VERY reminiscent of Tex I am of course talking about the actual 3D elements and not the actual character drawings. Speaking of which the characters have a cool animated sketch look to them. As an artist myself I found that cool. Here's a sample of the artwork:
The funny thing is the game actually has better graphics than the older Tex games, Pandora and earlier. When I was playing I found that I had to charge the battery on the DS a lot because I would spend so much time looking for stuff. It was almost not a fun game, the only thing driving me was that story. Was it a good story? It was alright, it didn't have the loveability of Tex but it did have it's own flavour. I found the lead character to be a bit of an ass for no good reason and at other times likable. It seemed no matter how crappily he treated a character or how well they always seemed to respond the same so I missed that element of Tex. Anyway I am beginning to ramble on now so I will wrap this up.
Is the game worth playing? If you own a Nintendo DS, yes it is. If you do not own one would it be worth it to go out and get one just to play this game? No. If you are interested in getting a DS regardless of this game then yes get one. After finishing the game I was surprised to find myself wanting to play more of the game. I had put all that time into the game I felt that it ended too soon, despite it taking SOOO long to get to that point. Chronologically in the story the entire game takes place in 12 hours. I was hoping it would be a few days. But as the name states he's in a hotel so he is most likely only there for a night. Would Tex fans enjoy this? It's 50/50 really. Some critical things that made Tex worth playing are not in this game, however there are a few charms of it's own that makes up for it. I guess it depends how much you enjoy this type of game. I am an impatient gamer and like things to unfold relatively quickly, and I still enjoyed it. Barely, but I enjoyed it. Even on an artistic level I enjoyed it. So I guess I am saying play it but at your own risk, you might be wasting money on it but if you're like me, it's still worth it.
The funny thing is the game actually has better graphics than the older Tex games, Pandora and earlier. When I was playing I found that I had to charge the battery on the DS a lot because I would spend so much time looking for stuff. It was almost not a fun game, the only thing driving me was that story. Was it a good story? It was alright, it didn't have the loveability of Tex but it did have it's own flavour. I found the lead character to be a bit of an ass for no good reason and at other times likable. It seemed no matter how crappily he treated a character or how well they always seemed to respond the same so I missed that element of Tex. Anyway I am beginning to ramble on now so I will wrap this up.
Is the game worth playing? If you own a Nintendo DS, yes it is. If you do not own one would it be worth it to go out and get one just to play this game? No. If you are interested in getting a DS regardless of this game then yes get one. After finishing the game I was surprised to find myself wanting to play more of the game. I had put all that time into the game I felt that it ended too soon, despite it taking SOOO long to get to that point. Chronologically in the story the entire game takes place in 12 hours. I was hoping it would be a few days. But as the name states he's in a hotel so he is most likely only there for a night. Would Tex fans enjoy this? It's 50/50 really. Some critical things that made Tex worth playing are not in this game, however there are a few charms of it's own that makes up for it. I guess it depends how much you enjoy this type of game. I am an impatient gamer and like things to unfold relatively quickly, and I still enjoyed it. Barely, but I enjoyed it. Even on an artistic level I enjoyed it. So I guess I am saying play it but at your own risk, you might be wasting money on it but if you're like me, it's still worth it.
Actually, I just got a Nintendo DS yesterday (yeah...decided I needed a new gaming system...go figure). Anywhoo, Hotel Dusk was one of the games I bought for it yesterday. I've only played it about fifteen or twenty minutes so far, and I must say it is very intriguing. The controls for walking your character around really do remind me of Tex and the full 3D interface! The interacting mode is very cool because you can tap on the screen with the stylus and the view will change to a close up of a certain area, and you can tap on various objects and get the character's comments.
The opening sequence was pretty neat too. The use of both screens at the same time to show a bigger picture, and then separately is pretty cool. This takes me back in time...
The opening sequence was pretty neat too. The use of both screens at the same time to show a bigger picture, and then separately is pretty cool. This takes me back in time...
I need to get myself a copy of Hotel Dusk. Phoenix Wright has more than captured my attention for a long time though. That game is hilariously awesome!
I gots a webcomic! http://yetanothercomic.com
I've seen this title in the shops and it looks bloody awesome. I contemplated getting a Nintendo DS but I backout out since the Hotel Dusk game is literally the only game i'd want to play. There's nothing else on that system which interests me. Are there more games like Hotel Dusk coming? Is it starting a trend?