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firenze
Joined: 05 Dec 2006
Location: Bonus Round
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 Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2007 3:51 pm |
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| Lestrade wrote: |
| Yes, I haven't bought a DS game in months, and this is the one I've been waiting for. I don't know what to like more; the fact that you hold it like a book; the art style; or the ability to jot note down using the DS as a notebook. Wow. What a great example of doing something in a game most people would never even think of, yet will probably be indispensable. |
I don't know that it's really such an ingenious idea that it deserves being called indispensable. The vertical orientation gimmick and note-jotting just doesn't make me think "Wow" at all. Innovation, shminnovation. It's a cute gimmick, but doesn't really make me tingle with anticipation of a glorious new way of gaming.
However... the game itself looks fantastic. Noir detective adventure game! That's what I'm super excited about! Trace Memory was nice, but a detective mystery is 10x more interesting a premise to me than controlling a 9 year old girl in a Myst-alike. Deja Vu, Grim Fandango (sort of), and now Hotel Dusk. And the art style is bad as fuck. |
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firenze
Joined: 05 Dec 2006
Location: Bonus Round
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| Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2007 10:28 pm |
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| Lestrade wrote: |
No, I think it is, Firenze. It is because it (a) removes a level of abstraction that's prevalent in most similar games (e.g. a "notes" page in a sub-menu) while simultaneously immersing you more into the game (by giving you an in-character way to play detective without having to actually keep notes somewhere else).
It sounds odd, but the game is using "keeping notes" as a gameplay device, a bullet-point. All the literature I see on the game positions it as a mainstream-friendly title. Think about it: just as Trauma Centre is "a surgery game," and Phoenix Wright is "a lawyer game," Hotel Dusk is "a detective game." What do detectives do? They talk to people and take notes to solve crimes! And now you literally can do that!
It sounds so silly to discuss, but I am more excited about digital note-taking than the entire 2006-2007 PS3 lineup. |
I guess we can agree to both be excited about Hotel Dusk. I'm still baffled at the thought of note taking as a feature that should get people excited. I can... pretend I'm writing on a pad of paper when I'm in the game! Or I could just jot notes on a piece of paper. OK, whatever. Sounds to me like the game would be really good on one screen and players who wanted to write notes about the case could take out a pen and write. It's a cute little gimmick, and I certainly don't think it distracts from the game - it actually does add a little bit to the mood. I'm just not sold on it as a revolutionary gameplay innovation.
Maybe they do more with it that I'm just not aware of yet. So I might change my mind. I'm certainly not convinced now though. |
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firenze
Joined: 05 Dec 2006
Location: Bonus Round
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| Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 8:05 am |
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| sethsez wrote: |
IGN has some new videos up. They're quite gorgeous.
And considering EGM's reviews don't complain about the length at all, I expect this has been significantly lengthened from Trace Memory. EGM isn't a magazine likely to pass on a chance to bitch about length, and sure as hell doesn't give two 8s and a 10 to a game that's "too short." |
That's kind of unfortunate. I'm not thrilled when a portable game clocks in at 20+ hours. Hell, I'm not thrilled when it happens with most full blown home console games. I didn't mind Trace Memory's length, and I'd be perfectly satisfied with a similar or sighly lengthier Hotel Dusk. I'm just hoping it didn't get too long as compensation for the critics' whining about Trace Memory.
Okami can suck me. I've pretty much given up on RPGs, especially in today's era of 50+ hours being almost expected. I've been pushing on like a champ to play both Twilight Princess and FFXII, but damn it's hard. Even Devil Summoner, a game I really want to play, is being neglected. Please let me have an adventure game for a handheld that isn't destined to sit on my shelf unfinished. I want to play it, and I'd like to actually be able to see it through before it gets relegated to "when I have some time, there are a couple higher priority games first".
That being said, I'm a fucking hypocrite since I've been playing Monster Hunter Freedom way too zealously for the past few days. And it's the most bloated portable game I've ever seen. But I finally "get" the series and now I'm drooling at the thought of Monster Hunter 3, and hoping it somehow makes it to the US. |
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firenze
Joined: 05 Dec 2006
Location: Bonus Round
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| Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2007 5:22 am |
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| SuperWes wrote: |
Hey guys. Can we turn this into a "fuck GameStop" thread? I'm pretty pissed that they're only selling it online. They're so big at this point that they alone have the power to totally screw a game's sales potential.
-Wes |
And they'll also charge $5 more than MSRP to do it! Fuckers. Especially for DS games I refuse to buy there if I can find the game anywhere else.
And to chime in on how I found mine... Target outside of Salt Lake City, Thursday mid-day. They had several copies. I've actually been on a ridiculous road trip and I've been checking Gamestops, Best Buys, Wal-Marts, etc. ever since St. Louis. I was 0-for-half of the country until I went into Target. One Best Buy guy who actually knew about the game and wanted it told me it wasn't releasing until next week. A Gamestop clerk in Kansas City said he had never heard of it until a Nintendo rep showed him a few days ago, then he couldn't even find it in the Gamestop computer system.
But now I have that fucker. I'm going to get off the internet and go play it for the first time right now. |
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firenze
Joined: 05 Dec 2006
Location: Bonus Round
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| Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 7:54 am |
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Hey! I just realized this game supports the rumble pak. Gonna have to go make my trusty cart jut out of my DS lite now to test it out.
I swear, even though DS rumble is pretty much just a crappy buzz, I might end up breaking down and importing one of the DS-lite sized rumble paks... |
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firenze
Joined: 05 Dec 2006
Location: Bonus Round
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| Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 8:08 am |
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So I've been playing a lot of Hotel Dusk the past week.
I've had the Dreamcast out since this weekend and today I got the urge to play Shenmue for some unknown reason. Well, I think the unknown was really my subconscious calling out for a similar experience to Hotel Dusk. I felt the same vibe from Shenmue as I am with Hotel Dusk. It's largely a game about conversations, with a mildly clunky interface. Both are based on a similar hour-by-hour structure, where certain things happen at specific times. Ryo writes everything down in his NOTEBOOK like a damn detective! I can't believe the similarity didn't strike me before.
By the way, I was informed by my wife that Shenmue was the most boring and awful video game she's ever seen. And she actually plays some games, even some MMORPGs, which when you get into some of the tedium of leveling up are some of the most boring gaming experiences around. |
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firenze
Joined: 05 Dec 2006
Location: Bonus Round
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| Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 6:14 pm |
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| skonrad wrote: |
| I'm liking it but not loving it. I really wish this thing had a text skip button - I read about twice as fast as the text draws. It's ruining the pacing of the game for me. |
This is very true.
I will probably eventually finish the game. I've been playing it before I go to sleep for most of the past week and a half. Only trouble is that sometimes the slow pace, elevator music (that I actually sort of like), and waiting for text boxes to finish makes me sleepy. I play for like 10 minutes and I'm out cold. I'm not saying that as a criticism of the game, I do the same thing with most books and television/movies. Usually doesn't happen in games though, something where I'm generally more engaged.
Hotel Dusk is sort of a moving book anyway. The problem is, with a book I don't have to wander around to find the next page - I just turn the page and it's there, rather than needing to trigger an event. And sometimes turn a few pages back to re-examine that thing I knew would be important in the near-future of the plot. I can also read a book at my own pace, instead of waiting for words to scroll by. On the other hand, books don't have nice moving graphics or background music.
I'm happy Hotel Dusk exists, but I'm not exactly clamoring for more interactive books. Phoenix Wright and this are enough. |
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