Whilst it would certainly be true to suggest that point-and-click games are going through a bit of a revival on the DS at the moment with the Phoenix Wright games at the forefront, it would be fair to say that we are still awaiting a real blockbusting title to fully kick-start the genre back into life. Whether that title comes or not remains something to be seen, as although Hotel Dusk: Room 215 serves up plenty of reasons to be cheerful, it still falls a little short of being a must-buy.

The year’s 1979 and travelling salesman Kyle Hyde has been sent on a business trip by his boss. Eventually arriving at his destination of a small, run-down hotel, a series of strange events lead him to having to resume his former career of detective to solve a mystery very close to his own heart. In doing so, he also uncovers the truth about the whereabouts of a man who betrayed him and led to him leaving the force in the first place. Along the way you meet a whole host of deep, complex characters that all play their part in proceedings.

It’s all set up to be a classic, and initial experiences are promising. Controlling the game means turning the DS on its side like a book and using the stylus to guide Kyle around a 2D map of the hotel on the touch screen. On the opposite screen you can see a first-person viewpoint from Kyle, with any events or characters popping up to show you what’s going on. It’s a system that allows a surprising amount of freedom to move about and investigate, and is certainly a better way of getting to know your surroundings than simply moving between them via a selection menu.

Whilst exploring these settings, your eye will inevitably be drawn to the rather vivid way in which Hotel Dusk is presented. Whilst the hotel itself is presented in a rather traditional three-dimensional manner, each character is shown in the form of a flat two-dimensional pencil sketch. These are primarily in black and white, although on occasion they wash over with colour; angering someone will see them briefly turn red, whereas in some conversations when they are more comfortable they have a light tinge of colour over them.

Whilst the characters are displayed in a stark, flat nature, their personalities are anything but. Each of the dozen or so you meet are layered with fantastic amounts of personality, each of which will leave you peeling back the layers like an onion skin before you get to know the true person behind the words. It’s by far the game’s strongest point, and the rate at which each character reveals themselves to the player is finely judged so that you’ll always have something new or interesting to ponder over at every step of the story. That goes for Kyle as much as it does any of the other residents, and seeing his tough, cold exterior slowly melted down by certain people and events is character portrayal at its finest.

So, where’s the problem? A good chunk of the battle for any adventure game is to have characters that lodge themselves in your brain and actually make you care about their wellbeing. On top of that, the storyline enveloping them all remains enticing and will have you always more than happy to press on the little further in search of what is happening. Hotel Dusk leaves rather large ticks in these boxes.

No, what lets the game down mostly is the balancing of chat and puzzle. Developers Cing have woven a brilliantly imaginative plot, but seemingly forgotten to put a decent selection of tasks for the user to have to undertake in order to advance it. Most of the time in the game is spent wandering around the hotel chatting to people, and it’s the lengthy, meandering conversations that fill up most of the game time. This is sweetened slightly by the quality of the dialogue, but more than once you’ll find yourself wanting to skip through a bit and actually get down to some detective work.

Another problem is the way the game sometimes kicks you in the pants and punishes you for making seemingly innocuous comments during conversations. A prime example of this occurs early in the game when, having been rifling around the hotel’s office, you are collared by the manager who asks if it was you who had been searching through. Answering yes will see you thrown out of the hotel and having to return to your previous save point. A bit later, a conversation with another character will end badly if you fail to fully explore all the conversation threads, and instead of leaving you to work out that you need more info the game decides that Kyle went back to his room and spent the rest of the night moping.

To any other point-and-click game, these faults could have crippled the whole experience fatally. Thankfully, Hotel Room is so rich in plot and character development that, even when you’ve had to go back to your previous save game, you’ll want to carry back on through to see how the whole thing unfolds. It does annoy and it certainly bitters what is otherwise a rather creamy gaming cake, but it remains an inconvenience rather than a huge annoyance depending on how patient you are.

Your patience will be rewarded, though. The story stays strong and interesting right through to the conclusion, and what few puzzles there are by comparison are well thought and on occasion rather taxing. You’re left with the feeling that Cing have got a heck of a lot right with Hotel Dusk: Room 215, and with a bit of tweaking their next game could be one of the finest titles the DS has to offer. In the meantime, what we’re given this time around is a fine-yet-flawed title that offers a lot but insists on hamstringing itself at the most inopportune of moments.