Click here to read the update!
The game is divided into chapters, each taking place over some amount of time on this one night.
(Also, please forgive the image quality for this and possibly the next update. My first batch of game footage was recorded at 1x DS resolution and the Irfanview settings I had didn’t play too kind with it, something I didn’t notice until resizing. I don’t think it’s quite bad enough to postpone the update, just a bit of artifacting around text, but I’m going to make sure they look better by Update 4. Thanks for understanding.)
(An empty lobby with no one home. Where’s the front desk in this dump?)
Kyle looks around the lobby and finds…
(Huh. Cute sign, pal…Guess that’s where I check in.)
Is Ed’s package here yet?
Throughout the game, Kyle will be presented with topics to ask other characters about, each being given a different colored icon. White questions are questions that you don’t really know who to ask about. You also get orange and red questions, orange questions either being questions immediately relevant to the current conversation or those that you know who to ask about, and red questions only appear in a certain situation and need to be asked just about immediately to advance the story.
Welcome to the main gameplay of Hotel Dusk. On the touchscreen, you’ll find a floorplan of where you are and a 3D representation of the room on the other screen. You control Kyle by either dragging along the touchscreen or using the D-Pad/face buttons, depending on which hand you’re holding the DS in. Speaking of which, on first booting up the game, you select your handedness, which affects the orientation of these screens and certain other UI differences.
This is actually the first time I’ve seen the game in the “proper” right-handed orientation, being a southpaw.
As we approach the lobby, we get a good opportunity to explain the icons at the bottom of the touch screen. The door icon lets us open a door when we’re in front of one and the person icon lets us talk to a nearby character. The magnifying glass, which is flashing right now, lets us examine certain hotspots. And the notebook icon allows us to access the game’s pause menu, which we’ll talk about in a bit.
When we examine an area, we get a closer look at it, and a cursor. So it’s more like a pointy click! The slider on the bottom allows you to change the angle of the camera, the notebook lets you access the note system (more on that with the pause menu), the bag icon is your inventory, and the arrow button lets you exit.
Things get orange when you can select them! We need service, so why not ring the bell?
Guy’s got a bell on the counter. Nice touch.
OH NO RANDOM BATTLE!
Wait, it’s just a puzzle. Well…puzzle isn’t always the best word, but I’ll keep using it. Puzzles in Hotel Dusk are often simple moments of interactivity, where the trick is actually figuring out what to do. In this case, we have to tap the bell a couple times.
Yay~!
(Maybe this dump isn’t deserted after all…)
Don’t go botherin’ me when I’m watchin’ a game! Huh?
You’ll oftentimes be presented with this hand icon during a conversation, which means you can grill them for more details. This is almost always a good idea.
(Oh, this guy’s fantastic…)
You’ll get a choice to pursue one of two subjects. In normal conversations, it’s simply a difference in dialogue, but watch yourself.
…'Scuse me?
I don’t care about your game. I need a room. And I don’t like waiting at the front desk like some kind of delivery boy.
Whoa, whoa! Sorry, buddy! Don’t get all riled up on me now! Bit of a short fuse, eh pal? Name’s Dunning Smith, and I own this joint. Welcome to my own little slice’a heaven…Hotel Dusk.
Every character gets a little introduction screen like this. It’s a neat touch.
So! Ya here for a room, or just t’hear me jaw?
A room. One night.
What kinda room ya want?
Cheap.
Well, if ya wanna save a bit’a scratch, I got a room available.
Great.
But, hey, lemme bend yer ear for a second… How’d ya like t’stay in somethin’ a little nicer?
One thing I’m not getting across that well right now is the character animations. They’re all rotoscoped and really nice, but if I was gonna show all of them off, there’d be a million gifs for me to make. I’ll show off a few of them later, since they deserve to be seen.
Yep. You’re in sales, right? Door t’door? On yer feet all day?
Something like that.
Yep, I know it. Ya haul the case around all day and the dogs get to barkin’. So what d’ya say? Why not give yerself a little treat for once?
One night in a nice room’ll make a new man outta ya! Now this is a bit rare, but tonight I actually got a suite open. And ‘cause I’m feelin’ generous, I’ll let ya have it for a special price!
Suites are for chumps, dammit.
I said cheap.
It’s a peach of a room!
Hey! You got a problem? I look like a guy who would stay in a suite?
Yep, all right, I getcha. Gotta say though, I’m disappointed. Well, if I can getcha to fill out this registration card, ya can have a room.
Jeez, game, do we have to do EVERYTHING ourselves?
PUZZLE TIME!
For this one, we have to drag our stylus along each field to write down our info. Simple enough.
Yer name really Kyle Hyde?
That’s what my parents told me.
You should meet my brother Steven.
Huh…
That work for you?
Hold on.
I’ve always thought Kyle Hyde was a nice name.
There it is, the best Kyle sprite.
Kyle Hyde? Yeah, it’s a great name, I seen a bunch’a ya in the phone book. Anyway, about yer room. Yer in Room 215. Here’s the key.
It’s got the room number and the word “Wish” engraved on it.
Wish? What’s that supposed to mean?
It’s the name’a the room.
The room has a name?
Sure does! Every room in this hotel has its own name! We got Wish, Bravery, Daybreak, Success…even Angel.
Cute.
Cute. You think those up yourself?
Wish is my favorite of the bunch, though.
What a crock.
A crock?
Rooms need numbers. That’s it. Naming a room is a waste of time.
Kyle is a delightfully irascible fella.
Waste’a time?! Ain’t no one ever said that before!
They just didn’t have the stones to tell you what they really thought.
Some guests like names! But now I know. Yer a man who don’t like t’waste time on silly stuff. Saves me from wastin’ breath on my story.
Hold on.
What story did you mean?
Nothin’. Waste’a time.
Well, if ya really wanna know, I’ll tell ya. Actually, it’s ‘bout Room 215. The room where yer stayin.’ It’s got a…whatcha call it? A history.
A history? What, like ghosts? You telling me it’s haunted?
Ghosts? Pah! Nah, this is way better’n some spook with chains! Ya got dreams, pal? Somethin’ ya wish for?
Don’t surprise me. But still… If ya got somethin’ ya want. I mean, really want… Ya just may find it tonight. Ya follow? That’s the story… That’s Room 215.
Where wishes are granted?
I dunno why I’m helpin’ ya, but go ahead’n take this. It’s a hotel brochure. Ya got a map in there, too.
I put it in my notebook.
Head on up to the second floor. It’s through the lobby and up the stairs. Room 215’s down the hall on the left. Restaurant’s through the lobby and to the left. It opens for dinner at 6:00, and breakfast at 7:30.
Got a bar, too. Opens at 9:00 tonight. Checkout’s at 10:00. Miss it, and we charge ya double. ‘Course, if ya wanna stay another night, just lemme know. Need anythin’ else?
And here’s where we ask our questions. If we choose the not being a smugass (as if I ever would) option when Dunning remarks on Kyle’s name, he’ll say that there was another guest named Kyle Hyde who stayed in the hotel a bit ago, and Kyle will have an extra question to ask about it. For the sake of completeness, I’ll show that question here.
So, you had a guest with my name?
Yep. Called himself Kyle Hyde, too. As I remember it, he was 'bout yer age. Blond fella, tall and thin. Looked kinda like a stork.
(A tall, thin, blond man? Sounds like Bradley.)
But I wouldn’t mistake you for him. He was different.
How so?
Wearin’ a nice suit, good shoes, the works. Looked like a somebody.
I’ll keep that in mind. So does Mr. Somebody stay here often?
Naw, just the one time. It was 'bout…six months ago. Ain’t seen him since.
And with that, we’ll go down the questions in order. First, let’s ask about our package.
A package for ya? Sorry, I don’t see nothin’.
It should be here. Maybe you can actually…look around or something?
Ya send a package to a hotel when ya don’t even have a reservation? Nice…
Oh yeah?
As much as I’d like to tell this guy to buzz off, he’s already suspicious of us. Let’s not stir the pot with the guy who’s providing a roof over our heads.
What kind of problems?
Is it anythin’ that’s gonna inconvenience my hotel?
Depends on what you mean by “inconvenience.”
I mean, it’s probably got some sales collateral in it, so I might do some door to door. By the way, do you have trouble cleaning the carpets? Because I have the product for you!
Really? What happened?
Let’s just say I don’t wanna deal with anythin’ like it again, and leave it at that. Buncha lousy… I’ll have the bellhop look for yer package. If it shows, we’ll bring it to yer room.
Making our way down the list, we’ll ask about Room 215’s story.
It’s a story I heard from folks that stayed in 215. First, there was a young girl. Then a middle-aged fella… Both of 'em looked beat down when they arrived. Like they had no future…
But by the next mornin’, they’d been reborn. Their faces were just…peaceful, like. Well, I was surprised as a dog’n a tree, so I asked 'em what happened. And ya know what?
They both told me the same thing. “Room 215 is magic. It granted m’wish. Everything’s OK now.” So that’s why I said…
What’s so funny?
Good one, pops. Real nice. I didn’t think an old-timer like you would tell me fairy tales.
Fairy tales?! That what ya think this is?
Call it a fairy tale if ya want. It’s a free country.
One more question to go. Dunning mentioned the hotel had some trouble earlier. What’s up with that?
That? Well, it was right ‘bout three years ago. One’a the bellhops took a package up to a guest’s room, right? And then…BANG! Buncha cops and detectives come stormin’ in!
(Detectives?)
Oh shit! I was one of those!
Seems m’guest was a crook! Part’a some big crime ring or somethin’. He was usin’ my hotel as a drop-off for stolen goods.
Whole thing was a damn mess! Gunshots in the hallway… Screamin’ guests runnin’ every which’a way… I ain’t never goin’ through anythin’ like that again! That’s why the Dusk’s got a strict policy: No crooks… AND NO COPS!
Both parts of that policy are things I can get behind. Good thing we’re not a cop!
That it?
Yeah.
Well, my dogs are barkin’. Gonna head to the room and take a load off. Mork and Mindy should be on soon.
The door opens up behind Kyle.
As I walk away from the front desk, I hear a voice behind me…
(Just another guest.)
You use the same line on everyone, Dunning?
As luck would have it, we got vacancies. What kinda room ya lookin’ for, darlin’?
Well now, aren’t you just a sweet-talker? But there’s a certain room I want.
Which room’s that?
I want that special room. The wishing room. This is the Hotel Dusk, is it not?
Oh dear, that’s gonna be an issue.
'Course it is! And I know the room yer asking for! Unfortunately, ma’am, that room’s…
Oh, dear. Is it taken?
Well, isn’t that a shame!
Ya want a different room? We got plenty, and they’re all top’a-the-line!
Yes, I… I suppose I’ll make do with something else.
We could go back and try to talk to the woman, but she’s busy checking in, so we’ll be courteous.
Meanwhile, we’ve got a room to get to.
Next time: Room 215