Cape West is a game that’s pretty close to its originator but falls flat in ways so mundane it becomes incredibly frustrating.
The character driven behind the scenes view of a thrilling crime drama just isn’t there, at least not as much or as well done. Betty and Charles could be removed entirely with minimal changes to the story. Will is basically nonexistent despite the key role they play in the mystery and how much further his character could’ve gone. Dylans later twist is so heavily foreshadowed I think it completely detracts from every scene he shows up in before and after that twist is revealed. Mila, the 19 year old girl you met from the first game who had just woken up from a 10 year coma 6 months ago is now attending a fine arts school by herself, somehow, I guess.
And it’s sad too, cause Milas appearance marks the beginning of one of the best parts of the game, maybe the only area I think outshines the original. Hotel Dusks exploration of the melancholy feelings that come with Christmas was incomplete, in my opinion. I didn’t dislike it, it’s just that in game all of Kyles interactions with the subject come from interacting and talking to children. This makes a lot of sense, obviously a lot of the weird gray feelings people get from Christmas comes from putting on a performance of happiness for the children in their lives, I get that. But at the same time very little focus is given to those themes, there’s very little adult engagement with the topic. By and large the Christmas element of Hotel Dusk is putting up a Christmas tree for a kid because her dad didn’t. The interactions you have with that dad where you talk about Christmas are so short and brief, it just didn’t really feel fully explored to me.
But Cape West completely and fully brought it all together, in my opinion. Besides the brief return of Mila, the rest of Christmas is a pretty lackluster holiday for Kyle. His dinner plans get cancelled, he didn’t get gifts for anyone else, and he spends the night drinking with a friend after another one bailed on him. It captures those conflicting feelings of not really caring for Christmas, thinking it’s just another day of the week but also wanting to find reasons to celebrate, finding connections with people even when the plans you make with others keep falling apart. It’s all adults interacting with the holiday but not really celebrating it, remembering past winters alone, and that fits a lot better within the world of Hotel Dusk/Cape West than just putting up a tree and everyone smiling.
Unfortunately, though, besides how much I love the game’s 8th chapter, I just don’t have much to say otherwise. It’s just overall much more empty feeling a game, solving mysteries in Kyle’s past I honestly don’t think needed answering. Considering this game never even made it to the states due to Cing’s bankruptcy, I assume that this game was rushed and little underdone. It could’ve been something better, maybe, but it’s not.
The character driven behind the scenes view of a thrilling crime drama just isn’t there, at least not as much or as well done. Betty and Charles could be removed entirely with minimal changes to the story. Will is basically nonexistent despite the key role they play in the mystery and how much further his character could’ve gone. Dylans later twist is so heavily foreshadowed I think it completely detracts from every scene he shows up in before and after that twist is revealed. Mila, the 19 year old girl you met from the first game who had just woken up from a 10 year coma 6 months ago is now attending a fine arts school by herself, somehow, I guess.
And it’s sad too, cause Milas appearance marks the beginning of one of the best parts of the game, maybe the only area I think outshines the original. Hotel Dusks exploration of the melancholy feelings that come with Christmas was incomplete, in my opinion. I didn’t dislike it, it’s just that in game all of Kyles interactions with the subject come from interacting and talking to children. This makes a lot of sense, obviously a lot of the weird gray feelings people get from Christmas comes from putting on a performance of happiness for the children in their lives, I get that. But at the same time very little focus is given to those themes, there’s very little adult engagement with the topic. By and large the Christmas element of Hotel Dusk is putting up a Christmas tree for a kid because her dad didn’t. The interactions you have with that dad where you talk about Christmas are so short and brief, it just didn’t really feel fully explored to me.
But Cape West completely and fully brought it all together, in my opinion. Besides the brief return of Mila, the rest of Christmas is a pretty lackluster holiday for Kyle. His dinner plans get cancelled, he didn’t get gifts for anyone else, and he spends the night drinking with a friend after another one bailed on him. It captures those conflicting feelings of not really caring for Christmas, thinking it’s just another day of the week but also wanting to find reasons to celebrate, finding connections with people even when the plans you make with others keep falling apart. It’s all adults interacting with the holiday but not really celebrating it, remembering past winters alone, and that fits a lot better within the world of Hotel Dusk/Cape West than just putting up a tree and everyone smiling.
Unfortunately, though, besides how much I love the game’s 8th chapter, I just don’t have much to say otherwise. It’s just overall much more empty feeling a game, solving mysteries in Kyle’s past I honestly don’t think needed answering. Considering this game never even made it to the states due to Cing’s bankruptcy, I assume that this game was rushed and little underdone. It could’ve been something better, maybe, but it’s not.