"Amber Sunset: The Review"

Gameplay:9
Length:8
Controls:9
Story:10
Music:10

Hotel Dusk: Room 215 for the Nintendo DS Handheld System is an interactive novel game that puts you into a story that's so deep and mysterious you'll be begging for more! You play as Kyle Hyde, an ex-cop ---

Wait a minute, let's save the good stuff for the review!

A tangled web of lies...
Hotel Dusk: Room 215 is a very unique game, not only is it an interactive novel, but the gameplay itself is superb!

You snoop around the hotel searching for clues by asking other guests, employees, etc. to help yourself progress throughout the main storyline.

The game itself is fairly easy, and extremely hard to get a Game Over. It's as easy as reading a book--- Oh yeah...

Too much text, so little time...
If you're expecting 30-40+ hours for this game, you're going to be highly disappointed. But don't let the length of it stop you from buying this gem of a game. If you must, take your time with the game. Play maybe a chapter or two a day, and relax with it. Take your time on each chapter, taking little five minute breaks in-between pauses. But if you spend all day playing this game for about a weekend or so, you will fly through it. So it's up to you, just remember.. have fun!

It's like one of those terrible Mystery stories you read as a child..only better!
The controls for this game are extremely easy. Well, that is, if you know how to hold and read a book! You hold the DS like a book, and move your character around with the stylus. On the right screen of the DS (left if you're left-handed) is a layout of the game, in which your character is represented as a tiny blue circle. All you do is point to the spot where you want that 'Little Blue Circle' to go to, and it will follow. On the left screen, (Right if you're left-handed) you'll see that everything is what is supposed to be, as in, you'll see the actual display of the hotel, etc.

If you've ever played a Point-and-Click game, this game should be a piece of cake, controls-wise.

The Novel(ty)
Oh boy, the story. The story behind Hotel Dusk: Room 215 is so well put together, it puts authors like James Patterson to shame. You're Kyle Hyde --- an ex-cop who has a new job as a salesmen selling everyday-household-products. You check into some sleezy, run-down, hotel called The Hotel Dusk. You get the key to you room, which happens to be Room 215. The owner of the hotel tells you that Room 215 is also known as the Wish Room. And right about there is when the story behind this game begins. You also learn that someone named Kyle Hyde checked into this hotel a few months ago, but the owner doesn't recognize you.

Now, I don't want to ruin the rest of the story or all of the juicy details for you, so go out and buy the game and unravel the rest of this amazing mystery!

Take Five
The music for this game is beautiful. Well, as beautiful as a MIDI track gets...Everything from Ambience to All types of Jazz, the soundtrack has a song for just about every mood featured in the game.

For example, take the track Secrets. Which is composed of a single melodramatic piano, gleaming violins and a down-tempo drum rhythm. Then take Serenity. Which sounds like a Dave Brubeck waltz. Hence the title of this Music review.

So if you're looking for a video game soundtrack that has some classy music, Hotel Dusk: Room 215 has it.

Overall, this game can be one of the most enjoyable games the DS has to offer. It's nice to get away from all the RPGs, 2-D/3-D Platformers, Fighting, etc. and enjoy something so original and creative!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 06/25/07