Last Window: The Secret Perfect Sequel
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Hotel Dusk: Room 215 is a mystery novel so in love with the Nintendo DS and because of that, it has jetpacked itself into my pile of favorite games of all time. Though there were more than enough stellar releases this year, I couldn’t take myself away from this wonderful game that may not ever see a modern-day release (or will it?)
After my stay at Hotel Dusk, I eagerly moved onto its one and only sequel, Last Window: The Secret of Cape West. This would be developer Cing’s last title before filing for bankruptcy a few months later. And what a way to go out, because this may just be everything I’ve ever wanted- not just out of a sequel to one of my new favorite games, but as a sequel that doubles down on the heart established in Hotel Dusk.
Last Window is an adventure game on the DS but it also commits to being a novel way more than its predecessor. If Dusk was a novel in love with the Nintendo DS, then Secret of Cape West is a novel physically stuffed inside of a DS.
And I mean that poetically and literally because the developers included a fully-novelized version of Last Window inside a DS cartridge.
The first game had me twisting and folding my DS to solve its range of puzzles, encouraging me to really pay attention to the hardware I was playing on. While a lot of the puzzles had me exclaiming in astonishment, I also felt that a lot of my time was spent wandering around, confused on what the hell I was supposed to do next. Of course, on my second playthrough, the logic to where I was supposed to go and who I was supposed to talk to was drilled into my head- but going in blind with a 2023 gamer brain may or may not require you to dig up a few teenage GameFAQs posts.
As a sequel, Last Window makes the choice of fully committing to being a detective novel rather than trying to accommodate being a point-and-click adventure game as well. And the only thing that makes me confident in saying that is I found myself wandering around and getting stuck WAY less and also noticed how instead of throwing a bunch of puzzles at the player, the developers came up with a few really clever puzzles to think outside of the box- even by Hotel Dusk standards.
.
Last Window takes place a year after the first game and follows the same old ex-detective-turned-salesman: Kyle Hyde. At the start of this game, he starts off as an ex-salesman returning to his ex-hotel-turned-apartment-complex with the news that the tenants have about a week to move out before the place gets demolished. Nice. After receiving a mysterious letter about the “Scarlet Star”, Hyde is thrusted back into his old ways and must use his skills as a salesman/detective to uncover a precious diamond, the truth behind his father, and the syndicate he’s been running from all his life… on top of making this month’s rent.
As a sequel, Secret of Cape West scratches all the itches I wanted from a Hotel Dusk sequel. It comes with tons of quality of life improvements such as a text log to track back to past conversations (thank you), different pen sizes for making notes in Hyde’s notebook, and a bunch of other small details. I also just felt this game’s pacing was improved from the first game due to not spending as much time being lost and confused on what to do next.
I also thought it was impressive how Cing managed to bring to life a new cast of characters just as memorable as the folks who stayed at Dusk.
And the only thing that makes me feel that way is the fact that the tenants of Cape West are just as intertwined with Kyle Hyde’s past as the guests who stayed at Dusk, if not more. It wouldn’t be an adventure with Kyle Hyde if the game didn’t involve him exploring the mysteries of a building inhabited with a cast of characters who just so happen to be unintentionally connected to his life. Oh and of course, you can’t forget the soundtrack or the rotoscoped animation.
Since I’ve beaten Hotel Dusk and Last Window, I have let the soundtrack consume my life and all the tasks I do in between. To me, if there’s any reason to replay these games, it’s to escape into Kyle Hyde’s rotoscoped world while accompanied with one of the least “DS-y” soundtracks the system has to offer. Similar to how classic Sonic the Hedgehog games don’t sound like music from a SEGA Genesis, Kyle Hyde games don’t have that same sound or crunch that a lot of DS games have. Or maybe I’m just biased because of how much I felt these games stand out to me.
