Hotel Dusk: Room 215 is one of those DS games that sticks with you—part noir detective story, part slow-burn mystery, with this weirdly cozy vibe despite all the shady characters lurking around. You play as Kyle Hyde, an ex-cop turned salesman who ends up at this rundown motel where, surprise, nothing’s what it seems.

The whole thing plays out like an interactive novel, but with these clever DS gimmicks—you hold the system sideways like a book, scribble notes with the stylus, and even "smoke" a cigarette by blowing into the mic (which, yeah, feels ridiculous but weirdly fits the mood). The art’s all sketchy and washed-out, like faded Polaroids, and the music’s just this perfect jazzy background hum.

It’s not action-packed—more like poking around, talking to guests who all have something to hide, and piecing together why Room 215 keeps coming up in conversations. Took me a while to warm up to the pacing, but by the time I hit the third chapter, I was flipping every drawer open just in case. If you’re into atmospheric stories where the hotel itself feels like a character, this one’s worth digging up.