The game takes place at Hotel Dusk, a fictional, rundown motel outside of Los Angeles, in 1979. Kyle Hyde, a former N.Y.P.D. detective now working as a salesman for a company called Red Crown, arrives at the hotel in search of his former partner, Brian Bradley, and is given Room 215, a room rumored to be able to grant wishes. Hyde soon finds that the hotel has many mysteries as well as connections to his past, and begins to look into these further.
The player, as Kyle Hyde, moves around and interacts with the environment using the DS's touch screen and must solve a variety of puzzles using the handheld's various features including the touch screen, microphone, and closeable cover. The DS is held rotated 90 degrees from normal, like a book, with an option in the game to allow the player to switch which side the touchpad is on depending on which hand is dominant.
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