Although the layout and design of Hotel Dusk is intuitive and ingenious, the graphics are just a bit funky. It is hard to portray a detailed environment really well on the DS, so most of the time I was playing this game I looked on the map to move around rather than using my first-person eyesight. Objects look great when seen up close, but from far away they look like those horrible pop-ups in Cruisin’ USA. (Or “jaggies” for those who aren’t as retro as me.)
Another odd thing about the graphics is that the characters go between being in black and white and being partially colored. The regular environment has standard graphics, but the characters look hand drawn and pencil shaded. Putting these two graphics on top of each other looks a bit weird. As for the partial coloring; sometimes Kyle will be all black and white, but sometimes he’ll have brown hair. I’m not exactly sure what the designers were going for, but I would have chosen either one or the other, as both designs together look off.
The character detail and animations are great up close though. Judging facial expressions for guilt, surprise, anger, and sadness is an important conversation starter and can give you clues as to which direction the conversation should take. Many of the character animations are re-used, but the monotony is hardly noticeable when you are intent on reading the dialogue.
There is no voice acting in Hotel Dusk, but the background music is quite interesting. You can’t tell that this music fits the year 1979, as much of it is piano bar solos or slow jazz tunes. The music is definitely background, but when I took the time to focus in on it I was pleasantly surprised. The music actually sounded authentic. Actually I suppose it just sounded like glorified elevator muzak, but it was still better than most of the crap I’ve heard on DS games lately.
Hotel Dusk: Room 215 is a good game for those of us who want a dose of thinking mixed in with our gameplay. Holding the DS like a book gets easier over time, and playing this game makes the hours melt away. Curling up on the couch and diving into a great, interactive mystery story for the afternoon sounds perfect to me.
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