History VisualNovel / HotelDuskRoom215

%%* DarkAndTroubledPast: Almost all the characters in both games.

%%* DialogueTree

%%* GameOverMan: Dunning.

%%* GreaterScopeVillain: The criminal organization "Nile".

%%* KnightInSourArmor: Kyle.

%%* MoralityPet: Melissa, Helen, and Mila.

%%* PaintingTheMedium

* PointAndClickGame

%%* RunningGag: "Nice name, isn't it?"

%%* SetPiecePuzzle

%%* TheSyndicate: Nile.

''Hotel Dusk: Room 215'' (''Wish Room: Angel's Memory'' in Japan) is an AdventureGame[=/=]VisualNovel for the NintendoDS released in 2007. In it you play as an ex-cop, Kyle Hyde, who arrives in a small hotel in the middle of nowhere -- the eponymous Hotel Dusk. Kyle left the force after shooting Brian Bradley, his former partner who betrayed him and joined a criminal syndicate. Bradley's body was never found, but Kyle is sure that Bradley is alive and is searching for him, hoping to understand what happened.

-->''"Mr. Hyde, I must ask you again. Who are you?"''
-->''"Like I said, pal. Just a salesman."''

* GlassesPull: Martin does this [[spoiler:when his facade starts crumbling]].

Received what seems to be a SpiritualSuccessor in 2016, ''VideoGame/ChaseUnsolvedCasesInvestigationDivision'', which recieved [[https://www.destructoid.com/that-hotel-dusk-spiritual-successor-is-coming-next-month-387636.phtml a surprise localization]], continuing the series'legacy of narrowly avoiding complete NoExportForYou.

* BiggerBad: The criminal organization "Nile."

* BookEnds: The game begins and ends with you opening a door, and centers around Kyle teasing Dunning's claims about room 215 "granting wishes."

* CaptainObvious: Bound to happen with the ability to observe any everyday item. Lampshaded (ironically) in the words of Kyle himself;

* DarkAndTroubledPast: Almost all the characters in both games.

* TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything
* DialogueTree

* GameOverMan: Dunning.

---> '''Louie''': I need a drink, man - hell, I need three!

* KnightInSourArmor: Kyle.

* MoralityPet: Melissa, Helen, and Mila.

* PaintingTheMedium: Most puzzles do this.

* ThePlan: [[spoiler:As revealed in a letter at the end of the game, Bradley set up almost all of the events in order for Kyle to solve the secrets plaguing the hotel and its guests and to get Kyle to stop chasing Bradley.]]
** BatmanGambit: [[spoiler:None of this would have worked if Bradley hadn't figured Kyle would still be after him for so long.]]

* PrivateDetective: Kyle Hyde, who even speaks like a hard-boiled 1940s private eye despite the fact that the game is set during the late '70s.
** Lampshaded by a few characters at different points in the story, who all call out Hyde on his out of date cop lingo ("Who talks like that anymore?"), generally as he gets ready to interrogate them.

* RunningGag: "Nice name, isn't it?"

* SetPiecePuzzle

* SoaplandChristmas: The first game takes place slightly after, but it still has some effect on the plot.

* TheConfidant: Kyle Hyde. He lampshades it at one point by asking Louie why everyone wants to dump their problems on him. Louie basically replies that it's because he comes across as TheEveryman - someone who knows how rough life can be and isn't going to play the HolierThenThou routine on them; he gives a straight answer in exchange for being told straight.

** Even the empty rooms have either appropriate or ironic names: Melissa gets trapped in Room 218, "Daybreak", which has no power and she enters because of depression when her father loses his temper; and [[spoiler:Bradley]] stayed in Room 217, "Prayer", where [[spoiler:he left "Angel Opening A Door" behind and, following his corruption, is noted to be "beyond prayer now"]]. Room 2164, "Shrine", [[spoiler:acts as the hiding spot for Kyle and Louie to enact a break-in of Jeff Angel's room]]. Room 220, "Love", never has a guest named to it [[spoiler: but is accessible on a New Game+ playthrough. It contains a box of momentos from Milla's childhood with her family, the father of which was something of a jerk who actions destroyed a lot of lives - including Milla's.]]

* LostForever: The vending machine's bonus gift. Particularly annoying because you only get one chance to get it and [[GuideDangIt the game doesn't tell you when that chance is]].

* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Another Code''/''Trace Memory''
** And ''VisualNovel/{{Again}}'' is a SpiritualSuccessor to this.

* TheSyndicate: Nile.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Bradley's sister was murdered by Mila's father, who has been killed by Bradley in return. Bradley is being chased by Nile. Grace is still missing, and nobody has any idea how to find her. Alan is still missing, and nobody has any idea where he is. While at first this seems like a full-on DownerEnding, the game still ends on a positive note with Kyle and Mila leaving to restart their lives, Jenny being returned to Dunning, and, quite simply, all the characters being ready to take on whatever else the world throws at them with something a lot of them had given up on before then; hope it'll turn out well]].

* CaptainObvious: Bound to happen with the ability to observe any everyday item, in the words of Kyle, "It's tall, a lamp, and I'm king of the obvious."

* DarkerAndEdgier: Compared to ''VideoGame/AnotherCode'' which this series is the SpiritualSuccessor to.

** Martin Summer is in "Honor." [[spoiler:He stole his best friend's manuscript to fulfill his dream to become famous.]]
** Jeff Angel is in "Trust." [[spoiler:He does not trust his father, who has ties to Nile, to the point of refusing to use the old man's surname.]]
** Helen Parker is in "Angel." [[spoiler:She is eaten by guilt over having walked out on her family.]]
** Kevin Woodward is in "Courage." [[spoiler:His cowardice is why his wife left him. When his wife somehow managed to raise enough money to pay off a malpractice suit, he was afraid of how she may have gotten that money, and couldn't leave it alone, even when she told him never to ask about it.]]
** Iris is in "Success." [[spoiler:After her mother died, she never really got much of a successful job, or had much of a life, to the point of being ashamed when her sister, who had become far more successful, met up with her again.]]
** Kyle Hyde himself is in "Wish." [[spoiler:His driving force in life is to find out why his partner Bradley betrayed him - and he does, so in spite of his cynicism, his disbelief of the supernatural and the story about the room granting wishes having been a total lie.]]
** Even the empty rooms have either appropriate or ironic names: Melissa gets trapped in Room 218, "Daybreak", which has no power and she enters because of depression when her father loses his temper; and [[spoiler:Bradley]] stayed in Room 217, "Prayer", where [[spoiler:he left "Angel Opening A Door" behind and, following his corruption, is noted to be "beyond prayer now."]] Room 220, which never has a guest named to it [[spoiler: is only accessible on a New Game+ playthrough, containing a box of momentos from Milla's childhood with her family, the father of which was something of a jerk.]]

* AmoralAttorney: [[spoiler:Larry Damon.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Bradley's sister was murdered by Mila's father, who has been killed by Bradley in return. Bradley is being chased by Nile. Grace is still missing, and nobody has any idea how to find her. Alan is still missing, and nobody has any idea where he is. While at first this seems like a full-on DownerEnding, the game still ends on a positive note with Kyle and Mila leaving to restart their lives, Jenny being returned to Dunning, and, quite simply, all the characters being ready to take on whatever else the world throws at them]].
* BookEnds: The game begins and ends with you opening a door, and happen around Kyle teasing Dunning's claims about room 215 "granting wishes."

* TheConfidant: Kyle Hyde. He lampshades it at one point by asking Louie why everyone wants to dump their problems on him.

* CPRCleanPrettyReliable: [[spoiler:Kyle performs this on Mila in Chapter 9 when she begins having trouble breathing.]]

* DeadArtistsAreBetter: [[spoiler:Osterzone.]]

* GrievousBottleyHarm: [[spoiler:Dunning [=KOs=] Kyle and Louie this way at the end of Chapter 9.]]

** Even the empty rooms have either appropriate or ironic names: Melissa gets trapped in Room 218 (Daybreak) which has no power; and [[spoiler:Bradley]] stayed in Room 217 (Prayer) where [[spoiler:he left "Angel Opening A Door" behind and, following his corruption, is noted to be "beyond prayer now."]]

* IWasQuiteALooker: Rosa.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Kyle, again. Anyone who digs through a hotel storage room and decorates a Christmas tree just to cheer up a little girl who's had it rough... Yeah. ''That thing's 24 karat.''

* KleptomaniacHero: PlayedWith. There are only two or three items you can pick up that aren't necessary, and showing stolen items to Rosa or Dunning (or even hlding them in some scenarios) causes a NonStandardGameOver.

* NeverFoundTheBody: Bradley after his betrayal.

* PlotPoweredStamina: Kyle does at least stop to eat, but he's capable of functioning quite well past midnight without rest.

* TheReveal: [[spoiler:Osterzone was not real, but a pseudonym used by two painters; one of these painters was Dunning Smith.]]

* SayingTooMuch: When Kyle raids Dunning's office, some of the things he finds raises questions in his mind. However, if he asks these of Dunning, he'll know Kyle was snooping and throw him out.

* TapOnTheHead: [[spoiler:Both Kyle and Louie get knocked out at the end of Chapter 9. They awaken with a nasty headache, but are otherwise okay.]]

* ToughActToFollow: In-universe example. Every novel Summer writes is worse than the one before. His only well-received book [[spoiler:was actually stolen from his friend Alan.]]

Received what seems to be a SpiritualSuccessor in 2016, ''VideoGame/ChaseUnsolvedCasesInvestigationDivision''. [[NoExportForYou Which is currently Japan-only]].

* SideKick: Louis insists on this, [[StopHelpingMe whether Kyle wants him to or not]].

''Hotel Dusk: Room 215'' (''Wish Room: Angel's Memory'' in Japan) is an AdventureGame[=/=]VisualNovel for the NintendoDS. In it you play as an ex-cop, Kyle Hyde, who arrives in a small hotel in the middle of nowhere -- the eponymous Hotel Dusk. Kyle left the force after shooting Brian Bradley, his former partner who betrayed him and joined a criminal syndicate. Bradley's body was never found, but Kyle is sure that Bradley is alive and is searching for him, hoping to understand what happened.

A sequel was released in early 2010 titled ''VideoGame/LastWindow: Midnight Promise'', again featuring Kyle, now in Los Angeles in 1980.

[[folder:A-F]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:G-L]]

* LetsPlay: [[http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0704E2C178315003 This]] is a long, but good one.

[[folder:M-R]]
* KnightInSourArmor: Kyle.
* LockedDoor: As the adventures take place in buildings with private rooms, this is inevitable. You can normally get in just by knocking and having the person inside let you, but there are occasions where you can either slip by or acquire the key.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:S-Z]]

* DoingItForTheArt: The game was in development for almost 2 years because of the character portraits.
** This coincides with the plot considering that paintings and art galleries play a big role.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Game designer Rika Suzuki once commented she would like to have seen Ashley from ''VideoGame/AnotherCode'' and Kyle Hyde meet up, presumably in a crossover game. Sadly, with the company of both games having gone under, it will never be.

* [[SolveTheSoupCans Soup Cans]]: At one point the plot only proceeds after you solve random puzzles in the bar. (Or check [[SoundTest the jukebox]], any two of the things will work)

* SoaplandChristmas: The first game takes place slightly after, but it still has some effect on the plot. The second takes place before, during and after Christmas.
* SoundTest: The jukebox in the bar of the first game or the cafe of the second.

** In the sequel, Kyle's own father plays this.

* GuideDangIt: Both games have their moments, but especially in ''Hotel Dusk'' where it's easy to forget what you were doing and get stuck.

* EventFlag: [[spoiler:The game leads you to believe you have to figure out a way of the CreepyBasement, but actually you're saved because decoding a message triggers Louie helping you out.]]

* SoupCans: At one point the plot only proceeds after you solve random puzzles in the bar. (Or check [[SoundTest the jukebox]], any two of the things will work)

* DialogueTree: Pretty standard stuff, but near the end of Last Window, one puzzle requires asking the questions in a specific order.
* DidIMentionItsChristmas: The holiday season doesn't really play a significant role until near the end of the second game, when Kyle's Christmas presents become vital to solving the mystery.

* IronicNickname: Each room in Hotel Dusk has a nickname. By extreme coincidence, each guest on the day that Kyle stays at the hotel is in the room with a name that describes the particular virtue he or she is lacking.
** Martin Summer is in "Honor." [[spoiler:He stole his best friend's manuscript, his dream, to become famous.]]

** Helen Parker is in "Angel." [[spoiler:She does not view herself this way: She is eaten by guilt over having walked out on her family.]]

** Even the empty rooms have appropriately ironic names:
*** Room 218, where Melissa gets trapped, drops into a blackout. It's called "Daybreak."
*** Room 217, where [[spoiler:Bradley]] once stayed, is named "Prayer." Aside from "Angel", there's no name more fitting for the room where [[spoiler:Bradley left "Angel Opening A Door" behind]].
**** Also ironic to his situation. [[spoiler: His little sister Mila dead, having killed (other) Mila's father, being chased by Nile, being chased by police, having his cop partner hate him, etc. As one person put it, he's beyond "Prayer" now.]]

* ItsAWonderfulFailure: Whenever you get a game over in either game, Kyle will flash back to the exact moment he screwed up, bar one or two exceptions, namely [[spoiler:dying in the basement]] in ''Hotel Dusk'' and [[spoiler:getting knocked out again on the fourth floor]] in ''Last Window''.

* JerkAss: Kyle Hyde. Though he softens up a bit as he goes through the game. He's especially kind when talking to Helen Parker (because even he's not gonna be a jerk to an elderly woman) and Melissa (the poor kid has enough to deal with from her JerkAss father). Even when he's laying down some tough love on Jeff or shaking the truth out of Louie, it's ultimately for their own good (and obviously, his), and he knows it. He's not an asshole just for the sake of being one, he's more of a 'take your medicine dammit, you'll feel better, now stop whining!' guy.
** He's also kind to Mila, [[TheWoobie for obvious reasons]].
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Kyle, again. Anyone who digs through a hotel storage room and decorates a Christmas tree just to cheer up a little girl who's had it rough... Yeah. That thing's 24 karats.

* KleptomaniacHero: Though there are only two or three items you can pick up that aren't actually necessary.
** Interestingly, you ''can'' get a Game Over if you show an item you stole from the hotel to Dunning or Rosa.
*** You don't even have to actually show it. At one point, you had better not have anything stolen in your inventory at ''all'' when you run into them, or it's an instant NonStandardGameOver.

* MultipleEndings: The main part of the ending is usually the same, but you can gain extended snippets for each individual if you treated them well.

* NewGamePlus: With some slightly different dialogue, a different prize in the vending machine and the chance to find a bonus item near the end that adds a scene to the ending.

* NewGamePlus

** Slightly eased in the second game, where you can review previous conversations for a hint.

* OneHitPointWonder: If you get even ''one'' question wrong in an interrogation segment (save for [[spoiler:one question involving Martin's signature]]), you're pretty much dead in the water. It's like ''VisualNovel/AceAttorney''[='=]s Psyche-Lock sequences, only with no LifeMeter.
** Early confrontations will let you get one or two questions wrong and still complete the interrogation successfully, but by chapter 6 or 7 or so this trope is in full force.=

** Even more so in ''Last Window'', where he actually [[spoiler:saves someone's life!]]

* TheReveal: Spoiler for chapter 10: [[spoiler:learning who Osterzone really is]].

* SideKick: Louis, sort of. While he's not following Kyle 24/7 like say, [[VisualNovel/AceAttorney Maya Fey]], he still calls Kyle his partner and he helps him out a lot.
** [[StopHelpingMe Whether Kyle wants him to or not]].

''Hotel Dusk: Room 215'' (''Wish Room: Angel's Memory'' in Japan) is an AdventureGame for the NintendoDS. In it you play as an ex-cop, Kyle Hyde, who arrives in a small hotel in the middle of nowhere -- the eponymous Hotel Dusk. Kyle left the force after shooting Brian Bradley, his former partner who betrayed him and joined a criminal syndicate. Bradley's body was never found, but Kyle is sure that Bradley is alive and is searching for him, hoping to understand what happened.

!!The series in general contains examples of:

* TheBartender: Louis in ''Hotel Dusk'', Sidney in ''Last Window''.
* BiggerBad: The criminal organization Nile is this for both games.
* BookEnds: Both games begin and end with you opening the door to the building.
** Dusk ends with Kyle teasingly mocking Dunning's claims about room 215 "granting wishes", something that he did with more cynicism at the start of the game.
* BookcasePassage: [[spoiler:In ''Hotel Dusk'', there's a hidden door behind the shelf in the wine cellar. In ''Last Window'', there's a [[GuideDangIt frustratingly well-hidden]] room that you enter via the elevator.]]

* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Kyle just can't help but help. One of his monologues in the first game calls it a hold-over from his cop days.

* ContinuityNod: There are a lot of them to ''Hotel Dusk'' in ''Last Window'' and both games feature some {{Shout Out}}s to the ''VideoGame/AnotherCode'' games that indicate that the games take place in the same world, which was later confirmed in an interview.

* ExtremelyShortTimespan: Kyle's first adventure takes a day to go through. His second takes a little over a week.

* GameOverMan: Dunning and Margaret.

** Early confrontations will let you get one or two questions wrong and still complete the interrogation successfully, but by chapter 6 or 7 or so this trope is in full force.

* PrivateEyeMonologue: Kyle goes into something like this during the recaps at the end of a chapter.

* TheSyndicate: Nile and Condor.

!!''Hotel Dusk'' contains examples of:
* AmoralAttorney: [[spoiler:Larry Damon.]]
* AmbiguouslyBrown: Well, there's a lot of debate on Rosa's ethnicity.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Bradley's sister was murdered by Mila's father, who has been killed by Bradley in return. Bradley is being chased by Nile. Grace is still missing, and nobody has any idea how to find her. Alan is still missing, and nobody has any idea where he is. While at first this seems like a full-on DownerEnding, the game still ends on a positive note with Kyle and Mila leaving to restart their lives, Jenny being returned to Dunning, and, quite simply, all the characters being ready to take on whatever else the world throws at them]].
* ButtMonkey: Louis - the poor guy just kind of gets bitchslapped by life, again and again.
* CollectorOfTheStrange: Rosa, who collects famous people's autographs.
* CPRCleanPrettyReliable: [[spoiler:Kyle performs this on Mila in Chapter 9 when she begins having trouble breathing.]]
* CreepyBasement: It's dark, spooky [[spoiler:and has at least two hidden doors.]]
* CuteMute: Mila, [[spoiler:until Chapter 9]].
* DeadArtistsAreBetter: [[spoiler:Osterzone.]]
* DidntSeeThatComing: Kyle makes a remark like this two or three times as the plot twists start piling up.
* DoingItForTheArt: The game was in development for almost 2 years because of the character portraits.
** This coincides with the plot considering that paintings and art galleries play a big role.
* DrowningMySorrows: In one of the {{Nonstandard Game Over}}s, [[spoiler:Dunning cheers up a depressed Kyle by offering to get drunk with him. It's a GameOver because Kyle is too busy getting drunk to get anything done for the rest of the night.]]
* EventFlag: [[spoiler:The game leads you to believe you have to figure out a way of the CreepyBasement, but actually you're saved because decoding a message triggers Louie helping you out.]]
* TheFaceless: Ed's eyes are never shown.
* GlassesPull: Martin does this [[spoiler:when his facade starts crumbling]].
* GrievousBottleyHarm: [[spoiler:Dunning [=KOs=] Kyle and Louie this way at the end of Chapter 9.]]
* GuideDangIt: Good luck getting that secret item from the vending machine without using one.
** However, there's no penalty for just putting in numbers until you get the prize. Still, good luck getting the ''coins''.
* IronicNickname: Each room in Hotel Dusk has a nickname. By extreme coincidence, each guest on the day that Kyle stays at the hotel is in the room with a name that describes the particular virtue he or she is lacking.
** Martin Summer is in "Honor." [[spoiler:He stole his best friend's manuscript, his dream, to become famous.]]
** Jeff Angel is in "Trust." [[spoiler:He does not trust his father, who has ties to Nile, to the point of refusing to use the old man's surname.]]
** Helen Parker is in "Angel." [[spoiler:She does not view herself this way: She is eaten by guilt over having walked out on her family.]]
** Kevin Woodward is in "Courage." [[spoiler:His cowardice is why his wife left him. When his wife somehow managed to raise enough money to pay off a malpractice suit, he was afraid of how she may have gotten that money, and couldn't leave it alone, even when she told him never to ask about it.]]
** Iris is in "Success." [[spoiler:After her mother died, she never really got much of a successful job, or had much of a life, to the point of being ashamed when her sister, who had become far more successful, met up with her again.]]
** Even the empty rooms have appropriately ironic names:
*** Room 218, where Melissa gets trapped, drops into a blackout. It's called "Daybreak."
*** Room 217, where [[spoiler:Bradley]] once stayed, is named "Prayer." Aside from "Angel", there's no name more fitting for the room where [[spoiler:Bradley left "Angel Opening A Door" behind]].
**** Also ironic to his situation. [[spoiler: His little sister Mila dead, having killed (other) Mila's father, being chased by Nile, being chased by police, having his cop partner hate him, etc. As one person put it, he's beyond "Prayer" now.]]
* IShouldWriteABookAboutThis: Martin decides to write a book based on Kyle at the end of the game. Kyle is less than enthusiastic about it.
* IWasQuiteALooker: Rosa.
* IWillShowYouX: Rosa gives the remark of "I'll aggravate YOU!" when Kyle gives the serious questioning.
* JerkAss: Kyle Hyde. Though he softens up a bit as he goes through the game. He's especially kind when talking to Helen Parker (because even he's not gonna be a jerk to an elderly woman) and Melissa (the poor kid has enough to deal with from her JerkAss father). Even when he's laying down some tough love on Jeff or shaking the truth out of Louie, it's ultimately for their own good (and obviously, his), and he knows it. He's not an asshole just for the sake of being one, he's more of a 'take your medicine dammit, you'll feel better, now stop whining!' guy.
** He's also kind to Mila, [[TheWoobie for obvious reasons]].
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Kyle, again. Anyone who digs through a hotel storage room and decorates a Christmas tree just to cheer up a little girl who's had it rough... Yeah. That thing's 24 karats.
* KleptomaniacHero: Though there are only two or three items you can pick up that aren't actually necessary.
** Interestingly, you ''can'' get a Game Over if you show an item you stole from the hotel to Dunning or Rosa.
*** You don't even have to actually show it. At one point, you had better not have anything stolen in your inventory at ''all'' when you run into them, or it's an instant NonStandardGameOver.
* LetsPlay: [[http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0704E2C178315003 This]] is a long, but good one.
* LostForever: The vending machine's bonus gift. Particularly annoying because you only get one chance to get it and [[GuideDangIt the game doesn't tell you when that chance is]].
* MetaphorIsMyMiddleName: At one point in the game, Kyle claims that "moderation" is his middle name.
* MoralityPet: Melissa, Helen, and Mila.
* {{Mukokuseki}}: Oddly inverted. Most of the younger female characters have distinctly Japanese-looking facial features despite the game taking place in America and there being nothing to indicate any of them have any Asian heritage.
* MysteriousWaif: Mila.
* NewGamePlus: With some slightly different dialogue, a different prize in the vending machine and the chance to find a bonus item near the end that adds a scene to the ending.
* NeverFoundTheBody: Bradley after his betrayal.
* NonStandardGameOver: If you [[spoiler:check too many items while locked up in a airtight room at one point in chapter 10, Kyle will run out of oxygen and die. Interestingly, the Game Over screen still shows Kyle leaving the hotel.]] Also, if you lie to Summer in the bar at the beginning of chapter 7, you'll get a ''very'' bizarre [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hxJ_FgvCPw Game Over sequence]].
** There are also several non-confrontation points in each chapter where if you lie to someone, pester them, perform the wrong action, or act like a general jerk/creep, Dunning will give you heat and boot you out of the hotel or Kyle will spend the rest of the night brooding in his room. Thankfully, each one can be side-stepped by picking a neutral or apologetic conversation branch or just doing what the [=NPCs=] tell you to do.
* NoTellMotel: The titular hotel.
* OneSteveLimit: [[spoiler:Averted. Mila is the name of both the girl at the hotel and Bradley's sister.]]
* PayEvilUntoEvil: [[spoiler:It's implied that Bradley had Robert Evans killed as payback for his deeds with Nile.]]
* ThePlan: [[spoiler:As revealed in a letter at the end of the game, Bradley set up almost all of the events in order for Kyle to solve the secrets plaguing the hotel and its guests and to get Kyle to stop chasing Bradley.]]
** BatmanGambit: [[spoiler:None of this would have worked if Bradley hadn't figured Kyle would still be after him for so long.]]
* PresentDayPast: It's 1979, and Hyde has a digital pager. While early pagers were around in the late '70s, they were bulky, lacked digital displays, were very short-ranged, and generally weren't in use outside of hospitals and fire departments.
* PrivateDetective: Kyle Hyde, who even speaks like a hard-boiled 1940s private eye despite the fact that the game is set during the late '70s.
** Lampshaded by a few characters at different points in the story, who all call out Hyde on his out of date cop lingo ("Who talks like that anymore?"), generally as he gets ready to interrogate them.
* PuzzleReset: All puzzles have this feature. [[spoiler:Doing it at one point in chapter 9 will result in a Game Over.]]
* TheReveal: Spoiler for chapter 10: [[spoiler:learning who Osterzone really is]].
* RunningGag: "Nice name, isn't it?"
* SayingTooMuch: When Kyle raids Dunning's office, some of the things he finds raises questions in his mind. However, if he asks these of Dunning, he'll know Kyle was snooping and throw him out.
* SetPiecePuzzle: The game is full of these.
* SexySecretary: Rachel.
* SideKick: Louis, sort of. While he's not following Kyle 24/7 like say, [[VisualNovel/AceAttorney Maya Fey]], he still calls Kyle his partner and he helps him out a lot.
** [[StopHelpingMe Whether Kyle wants him to or not]].
* SittingOnTheRoof: Iris and Mila, at different points.
* SoupCans: At one point the plot only proceeds after you solve random puzzles in the bar. (Or check [[SoundTest the jukebox]], any two of the things will work)
** Or the bottle of bourbon.
*** Later, Louis invites you to a quick bowling match and if you lose or give up, you have to keep trying again until you win. It makes a little more sense since it leads to you finding an item.
* TapOnTheHead: [[spoiler:Both Kyle and Louie get knocked out at the end of Chapter 9. They awaken with a nasty headache, but are otherwise okay.]]
* TimedMission: [[spoiler:At one point you get locked in an airtight room and must find all the clues hidden in that room before you run out of oxygen and die.]]
* ToughActToFollow: In-universe example. Every novel Summer writes is worse than the one before. His only well-received book [[spoiler:was actually stolen from his friend Alan.]]
* VideoGameCrueltyPunishment: Act like a jerk to the hotel guests and you'll get a Game Over.
* WhamLine: [[spoiler: "Osterzone is Dunning Smith."]]
* WomanInWhite: Mila.
* WritersSuck: Kyle is a little disparaging towards Martin.
* YouALLShareMyStory: Everyone in the hotel is related to Kyle's past in some way.
* YouJustToldMe: Almost word for word at the end of the game:
--> '''Kyle:''' It was the other Kyle Hyde. Wasn't it?
--> '''Dunning:''' Hey! Who told ya that?
--> '''Kyle:''' You did. Just now.