Satoshi Okubo - Hotel Dusk: Room 215 (2007)

Composer: Satoshi Okubo

Console: NDS

Game Release Date: 2007

Soundtrack Release Date: 2007-01-xx

Runtime: 47:47, 36 Tracks

Here's something more officially released but freely available. At least, I think it was made freely available. I'm not quite sure where this release came from but apparently this is a legitimate release. This is the soundtrack to the hit NDS game, Hotel Dusk: Room 215, developed by CiNG.  

Hotel Dusk is a point and click game released by CiNG back in 2007 for the NDS. The story followed Kyle Hyde, former detective and current door-to-door salesman for the Red Crown organization. Of course, Red Crown is just a front. What they do is look for lost items, whether its an object or people or the truth of an event. It's a really cool concept. In this game, Hyde has been tasked to find a lost red box and a porn magazine. He also must sell some random objects given to him by Red Crown. It may not seem like much but the game quickly evolves into a huge mystery into Hyde's past and the intertwining of all the hotel guests fates. 

Unlike nearly every NDS game ever released, this game requires you to hold it sideways, like a book. Aside from speaking to characters the entire game is in first person (almost like Hellnight and the King’s Field games) and you walk around the Hotel, interacting with things, combining items, you know, typical point-n-click stuff. Gameplay-wise there is not much that sets Hotel Dusk apart from other games of this style. It's the extravagant story, full of twists, turns and gotcha moments that will leave you constantly wanting more. I will leave the rest spoiler-less. The game has an amazing cast of characters and each in-game hour is spent learning about their past and why they are in this hotel in the middle of nowhere. Usually each chapter ends with a confrontation between Hyde and the person of interest with you having to pick the right conversation options to get them to spill what they know. It’s easy just by doing the chapters who will be next. The game is pretty easy to understand and if you read all the text and can piece together what’s going on you shouldn’t have to ever consult a walkthrough. During my run I never ran into any issues I couldn’t figure out for myself (unlike the sequel, but that’s for another time).

My mother originally had this game and another one of CiNG's titles, Trace Memory on her original NDS. She would play it whenever me and my siblings went for swimming lessons. She never beat it and many many years later I finally gave it a chance. I played it early last year and loved every minute of it. I didn't get the perfect ending (this requires you to never game over) but was still satisfied by the game. Played a chunk it while camping then resumed the game on DeSmuME on my TV. Overall, it was an excellent story and I just had to try the sequel shortly after it. 

In 2010, CiNG released a sequel called Last Window: The Secret of Cape West. We will save that for later. :)

Satoshi Okubo is the composer for both Hotel Dusk games as well as a number of other CiNG titles. The music is very easy listening sequenced jazz with some nu jazz, romanticism and folk influences. It has a very specific, almost MIDI feel. Being a point-n-click with little action you will get very accustomed to the music. 

The best track for me has to be the 'final boss' theme, The Last Sleep. The context in which it appears in the game is just mesmerizing, that depressive piano coupled with the dark area you are in is just amazing. The ‘battle’ theme On the Rocks was great as well. 

This rip is in a variable MP3 bit rate. Apparently, this, and the games sequel were both released officially somewhere but I have no idea where. I am guessing they were either released on CD at some point or released by CiNG on their website, probably for free. My only issue is that some of the tracks are too short but that's nothing Audacity can't fix. The tracks are only one loop leaving us with 1-2 minute songs. I haven't modified this release in any way aside from properly tagging and assigning cover art to it. If there's a demand for it, I will extend the tracks to 3-4 minutes but until then...Enjoy this wonderful soundtrack! 

Download: aHR0cHM6Ly9tZWdhLm56L2ZpbGUvZWNSa2lZb1ojdExlcDhxeVNYWHpkaFk1MlpFa0VKbUEyeUxxd2RFMjFIMjJpamxsNjNQSQ==

p@ss: hoteldusk