Well, this is about as niche as any game on this list will get. Ever since I got Phoenix Wright for my DS, I was always interested in more mystery games for the handheld device, stuff like Professor Layton and Ghost Trick. But… I never got to play either of those games. But one I did get to play was one that was very unique in its style, known as Hotel Dusk: Room 215.
Hotel Dusk follows the protagonist, Kyle Hyde, an ex-detective and now salesman who visits a small hotel in Nevada known as Hotel Dusk, where room 215 is said to make your wishes come true. As he explore the hotel, he hopes to find clues pointing to his missing partner who was involved in a massive heist years ago. The game has all the characters drawn in these rough sketch art, and yet it really looks nice for the DS. Sure, the rest of the game is the typical 3D plane graphics of the DS, but the sketch art really makes the characters stand out. The story is also really gripping, with each character having their own backstory to them and their own plight, with each one following a sort of theme of betrayal, where they either betrayed someone or they felt they were betrayed themselves, and it makes each character interesting, some more than others, sure, but they all have a unique character to them that makes them worth looking into. And the puzzles are so much fun in this game. You got a few simple ones, but as the game goes on, you get a ton of crazy difficult puzzles that you need to solve. They are tough, but if you use your brain and think hard enough, you’ll have the puzzle figured out in no time. All it takes is doing some thinking (Or a walkthrough). Some of my favorite puzzles are having to connect the dots to get a code for a combination or having to solve the puzzle in a computer to escape a death room. That last one really puts you on edge and makes you want to get through it as quick as possible.
Hotel Dusk is one of the few games that I wish got more recognition. It’s a classic among mystery games, and yet no one talks about it like Ace Attorney or even Ghost Trick. It did get a sequel, but never released in America. Guess I gotta cough up a few dollars to get an English version from Europe.