However, from the ashes of the company sparkled a glimmering gem; Last Window: The Secret of Cape West. Developed for the DS as both a sequel to Hotel Dusk and it’s stand-alone story, the adventures of brooding ex-detective Kyle Hyde continued in what was initially a Japanese only release, only a couple of months before the studio would close up shop. Despite the worldwide release of Hotel Dusk Nintendo showed little to no interest in localising Last Window, until eight months later when an English release finally saw the light of day in Europe. Despite not having an Australian release, PALGN decided it was finally time to ship over Kyle and friends, and experience what was the last title to be developed at Cing.
How every PALGN review usually ends.
The premise is simple; Kyle Hyde has been given the sack, and is forced to drag his lazy behind home to his rundown apartment at Cape West. Shortly after arriving, and realising he probably should have checked his mail more frequently, he makes the discovery that apartment landlady Margaret Patrice intends to sell and have the building demolished, and Kyle has only a couple of weeks to pack up and move out. But something isn’t quite right; Patrice is being deliberately vague with the reason as to why she’s selling, there’s an unsavoury individual loitering around the apartment’s lobby, and there’s the matter of the mysterious letter sent to Kyle ordering him to find the unspecified ‘Scarlet Star’. Throw in the mystery of his father’s death, and the hidden agendas of the apartment’s residents, and you’ve got yourself a story focused graphic adventure game.
Just as with Hotel Dusk, Last Window is primarily a character driven piece, with the story focusing on interacting with the various residents of Cape West, learning about their pasts, helping them out with their troubles, and discovering how they’re all conveniently interwoven into the grand overarching plot. Cing’s mastery in character writing and presentation is prevalent throughout; each and every character is beautifully written with a fitting and unique personality, expressed through engaging lines of dialogue as well as gorgeous expressions and animations styled with the series’ iconic pencil sketch art. Compared to so many other titles out there of which are populated with lifeless paper thin characters, Last Window is an exclamatory example of game characterisation done right, and the entire cast is memorable for all the right reasons.
Off to a good start.
Through the revelations from characters and exploration of the Cape West Apartments players will push forward the main the story, with each new discover slowly unravelling the centre mystery of the Scarlett Star and fate of Kyle’s father. Pacing is similar to what you’d expect from any other graphic adventure game, dangling new information in front of you and the promise of revelations around the next corner as a means of keeping interest. Effective for most part though not entirely, plot progression unfortunately drags in a few chapters, particularly the middle chapters, with the story meandering about with too heavy focus on rather uninteresting character exposition. However, as the game pushes forward into later chapters the story again picks up pace, settling on some surprising revelations and a fitting climax. As a complete piece, Last Window’s story is engaging and unlikely to disappoint adventure fans, though at times is a bit more convoluted than Hotel Dusk. It lacks some of the reoccurring hooks that kept the first game’s story so interesting throughout, but by the end makes sure to tie up every loose end fittingly and has a satisfying conclusion for all characters involved.
As a companion piece to the game story, one of Last Window’s extras is a written novel detailing the entire events of the game. As players complete in-game chapters new chapters in the novel are unlocked, as well as confidential ‘sealed files’ at the back of these chapters, which when opened offer insight into characters and events, while giving hints on how to advance the game. This written novel is a curious bonus, though in the grand scheme of things really rather useless. Having to play game chapters to unlock novel chapters means player will have already experience the story as it unlocks, and while the novel is well written there’s no real point in reading it when it’s really just detailing events already played.
Yep, that's definitely a ring.
Between the lengthy dialogue and story focused moments players will be tasked with wandering the halls and rooms of Cape West, searching for the next puzzle or sequence to advance plot. Basic navigation is controlled exactly the same way as Hotel Dusk, with players using the touch pad to simply point in the direction they wish Kyle to walk. Tapping the magnifying glass icon whenever it is highlighted takes players in for a closer view, allowing them to click on and study interesting objects and items for insight into your surroundings and their details. Players familiar with the Hotel Dusk mechanics won’t find anything new here and will be able to jump right in, while new players won’t have any trouble picking up and understanding the controls.
As with Hotel Dusk, various puzzles pop up throughout the course of the adventure, and while we won’t spoil any puzzle specifics, many of them make very clever usage of the DS system itself, from shutting and opening the device, to taking advantage of the system’s false dual touch exploit. While the solution to most of the puzzles comfortably sits between logical functionality and still requiring some thought from the player, a few others devolve into mindless treasure hunts, requiring the player simply examine each and every object in the immediate area, searching for a singular clue to solve the puzzle. Unlike the more interesting and challenging puzzles that dominated most of Hotel Dusk, these particular puzzles prove to be little more than a tedious hurdle in advancing the story.
On the subject of tedium, Last Window sadly finds itself falling back on some of the issues that plagued Hotel Dusk, particularly in the way players are often tasked with wandering around until they find the next scripted sequence that will advance the game. It’s not too much of an issue; the game, for most part, gives a rough indication of who you should be talking to and when, but with so many characters to interact with, so many areas to explore, and so many interruptions with unexpected story events it’s easy to lose focus of what you’re objective actually is. It’s a shame the game’s pacing occasionally falls into stretches of tiresome wandering, but players who had little problem with these issues in Hotel Dusk are unlikely to be all that fussed with them being present in this second outing.
Bask in the glory of victory. Revel in the failures of others.
As you have likely noticed, throughout this review we have made numerous comparisons between Last Window and the previous title Hotel Dusk. Rather than just offer a side by side comparison of two titles that are part of the same series, these comparisons are the basis for Last Window’s greatest flaw; it’s alarmingly similar to Hotel Dusk. Game structure and pacing, right down to the hotel setting and the way Kyle interacts with the residents, would be right at home in the first game, and even one or two characters from Last Window’s cast bare an uncanny resemblance to the personalities of a couple of Hotel Dusk characters. Sure, there are plenty of differences between the two titles; the story, as expected, offers plenty of content as a standalone affair, and a majority of the characters are constructed in a way that that grants them a unique identity, but as a whole package it’s difficult to ignore how many similarities are shared between the two games. While this is expected from a game that makes no effort to hide the fact it is part of the same series, it would have been nice to see greater polarisation between the two games in style, or at the very least an evolution of the shared mechanics. As it stands, Last Window plays it a little safe in themes and concepts, none of the additional features really differentiate the game from the original, and the end result is the loss of a truly unique identity, as the game constantly feels like it is re-treading old ground.
For many, these similarities won’t necessarily be a bad thing. The foundations laid by Hotel Dusk were more than solid, and to have Last Window build next door under the same design equates to this title being just as sturdy. Many of the concepts shared are charms and quirks fans loved about the original, and they’re return is more than welcome, and the impressively written and presented characters and story are likely to delight any adventure and graphic novel fan. However, as solid as these foundations may be, Hotel Dusk has the reputation and history of having laid those foundations first, and even though Last Window never does anything objectively wrong, it will always fall under the shadow of that which was built before.
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