Just sit and let the game play you.
Hotel Dusk can be a perfect example of a game where "plot-driven" is taken to the extreme, you basically will be reading and trying to understand the plot for more than 40% of the game, the story is top notch which can be called only as predictable because it's the most important aspect of the game and easily the most noticeable triumph;the game lacks the basic features of a regular game, like, in Hotel Dusk, for you to get a game over you don't need to take bullets, fall into a fathomless pit, get killed by someone or run out of lives, here you need to be kicked out of the hotel, meaning that you won't be able to solve all the mysteries surrounding that peculiar place named Hotel Dusk, and you can be kicked out out of nowhere, like when you're in some kind of conversation and you choose the wrong answer raising suspicious thoughts from the guests or management personnel, maybe even some time after, like when you give an uncordial answer to someone and this someone goes on to the hotel manager and complains about you, or maybe accused of burglary, even though you will be collecting things and breaking up rooms to get deep into it, so it's a fair accusation after all, but not for your playthrough, of course, so if you happen to get a game over screen, you simply must rethink your responses to go under the radar of the people inside.
One of the best characteristics about this type of game, is how the plot develops and how the characters work out within the story, and here we have some great quality characters, all nicely thought and with their own personalities, like the main character who can be considered more like a more or less serious kind of guy, with sharp talk, the type who doesn't look like he give a damn about anything with a reserved, yet, ironic sense of humor; there's the street guy always trying to be the smartass and talking a whole lot of slangs, there's the writer who uses a more well constructed kind of talk, and so on.
You will be entertained for more than 15 hours, some parts of the game are actually quite challenging to figure out; you'll hold the DS like a book to play it, you can control with the pad but you'll most likely use the touch screen to move because it's pretty easy to handle, it's true that the controls won't amaze anyone, but they won't get in the way too, they do the job just right.
Give detailed views of the plot would be pointless, so here's what you'll find, you'll find yourself in a hotel, at first it will look like any other ordinary hotel, and if you think about it, it really is, some interesting persons here and there, but in the end, very regular; then happens to arrive in the hotel Kyle Hyde, he's a mere salesman looking forward to do the job he was send to do and go away, or is he? The plot will develop toward this peculiar being and his unknown past, adding this to a hotel which holds some strange stories and you'll get caught up in the middle of something bigger than it looked in the first place, especially with all the coincidences that Kyle Hyde definitely didn't see coming. One of the best plots available for the Nintendo DS, or any other console or handheld.
The sound keeps up with the actual pace, if you're just exploring, the music will follow and stay calm, if you're accusing, discovering some earth shattering fact, or just in some heat up conversation, the music will turn more "mystery-like" and intense, the musics were pretty well composed and fits right into the game, the main music is the best though, you'll just need a few moments of game play for the song to stick in your mind, and end up whistling around.
One more nice thing, are the responses that you give to other people, sometimes you are asked to give a response to some kind of question the person you're talking to asks, or when you're gonna throw some thought about what happened or what's happening at the time, you can choose between two responses, and depending which one you choose, the game plot can be modified a little, and consequently, the responses will differ the finish too.
It's such a great game, it easily sucks you in, and make you part of the story, it can feel limited at times, but it's undeniable the sheer brilliance of the story, and the fun you'll have unfolding it.
