Friday, February 24, 2012

Character Analysis - Kyle Hyde

"Nice name, isn't it?"

Kyle  Hyde is the main character of Hotel Dusk, Room 215 and it's sequel The Last Window.  (Spoilers ahead.  I have not completed Last Window so I will only talk up to the point I completed) Both were DS games released by the now defunct company Cing.  The games are animated via water color backgrounds and rotoscoped characters.  The gameplay is very similar to Ace Attorney.  There is a lot of reading, deducing, and a good amount of problem solving.  However, while Ace Attorney takes place in a particularly zany court of law in the future, Kyle Hyde lives in a noirish 1970's Los Angeles.  (The eponymous "Hotel Dusk" is a roadside Hotel.)

Kyle Hyde is a retired New York Police Detective. Several years ago, his partner, a man named Bradley, began to do some undercover work against a criminal organization called Nile. Bradley beings to act weird and Kyle finds out that Bradley is actually a dirty cop.  Kyle chases Bradley down to the docks and then shoots him when  Bradley wouldn't surrender.  Bradley fell into the water and disappeared. Kyle was fired from the force and got a job working at Red Crown Delivery Services.  It's a door to door salesman job with a side business of finding things that may not want to be found.  It's not specifically illegal, but it's not promoted in their fliers either.  

Years go by, and Kyle finds himself at Hotel Dusk.  In one of those coincidences that only work in pieces of media, every single person in the Hotel has something to do with at least one other person.  Some of those people deal with Bradley, others do not.  

In the course of one night at Hotel Dusk, Kyle finally manages to find out what happened to Bradley.  Nile had found out Bradley was an undercover cop and kidnapped his sister. If he didn't do what they said, then his sister would die.  They killed her anyway.  However, Bradley survived being shot at by Kyle and made his way around the US and eventually lures Kyle to Hotel Dusk in order for him to solve pretty much everything.

Which he does.  In the space of one night, he reunites families, solves almost everything with Bradley (All Kyle knew when he entered was that Bradley was dirty, not why or what happened after) takes care of little girls who can't talk, and solves the mystery of an old painter that isn't really that old.

Then we get to Last Window.  While Kyle has stopped searching for Bradley, he is in a complete funk.  A forgotten job leads to Kyle yelling at his boss and Kyle being fired.    He mopes, distrusts his neighbors, finds out his apartment is being sold in the upcoming weeks and someone personally gives him an order for something to find.  Oh, and someone is snooping into his past.  

Also, in the process of doing this, I realized exactly how much I forgot about Hotel Dusk.  

What do we know about Kyle? 

1) He needs a reason.  Once Kyle lost his reason for living (searching for Bradley) he turned into a laze about.  He was much more focused in Hotel Dusk then Last Window. When he has no reason to do anything, he falls apart.  He just simply doesn't know what to do with himself.

2) He's clever.  The puzzles he solves are an extension of the player themselves.  And make  no mistake, the puzzles can get tricky.  And Kyle solves them.  He also solves the plot focused puzzles.  The ones about Bradley, Mila, his mysterious neighbors, all of them.  He was also a detective before that.  He knows how to solve problems.

3) He actually does care about the people around him.  While he may not seem like the ideal candidate, he IS the person who solved several other people's problems and reunited families.  Then there are the side incidents.  He made a Christmas Tree for Melissa and Mila in Hotel Dusk.  He got Helen and Martin to meet up (While not family, they did share a past)  and he got Melissa's father to actually connect with her.  And that's not mentioning him reuniting Dunner and his daughter. 


Kyle Hyde is one of my favorite protagonists.  Unfortunately, I can not do him justice. He can be a huge jerk, but underneath that facade is a very frustrated and very caring detective. 

11 comments:

  1. Oo, I haven't played Last Window. I'd have to import it though, right? Psh.

    By the way, do you have a 3DS by chance?

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    1. Nope, which is why I could play it! GO DSLITE!(cough) anyway, importing for me was easy. I just went through Amazon ;)

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    2. Ha, yeah. I never got a DSLite. I went from the original DS to a DSi then to a 3DS.

      I could import it too I see for not that much but since I'm trying to cut back on the spending on video games, I will just have to keep it in mind for a future purchase.

      If you ever get a 3DS, let's exchange friend codes if you want to!

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    3. I can see how that could work.

      All considering, it wasn't too bad. And the game is good and, so far, I haven't run into any localization difficulties.

      Of course! I will have to get one for KH3D. I am NOT missing out on that!

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    4. That's good to hear re Last Window.

      But your excitement for KH3D is a big part of why I'm trying to cut back on spending on video games because the problem is that there are so many must haves/top priority coming out this year for me: The Last Story, Xenoblade, Luigi's Mansion 2 (IF it comes out this year), KH3D and of course, Animal Crossing! Love Animal Crossing!

      And who knows what else I've forgotten...

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    5. I know, so many good games! And, well, I have no job and no source of income so I have things I would LIKE to buy and I can't. Like a 3DS. And KH3D. And Last Story. And Xenoblade. And Luigi's Mansion 2. And I want to increase my comic book collection. (honestly, my only spending is 2 comics once a month.)

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    6. Sorry to hear about the job situation. I know it's tough out there.

      Another horrible thing too is that for some with jobs, people have gone through cuts - always in fear of not making the next round of cuts within the company - and then with the limited staff, they've been expected to take on the work of so many more people without an increase in pay. Companies know they can get away with it so they keep doing it and it's incredibly depressing. I'm speaking from personal experience and it's really scary.

      But! Don't let that get you down! Like I said, it's not everywhere and I'm wishing you the best of luck on finding something soon!

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    7. Well, the best of luck with you and that. I hope this blog can give you something to smile about. I hope something is done soon so that the companies must treat their employees fairly.

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    8. Thanks. It's fun reading your blog! My sister and I have one too that we keep but I don't vent over on it about work. It's good to keep fun and personal things separate from your worries I find because then it'd just consume you and I worry enough about work as is. Don't need it invading my blog (or yours either!).

      But thank you and best of luck to you too.

      If you ever wanted to check out my blog, you can just click my name and it should re-direct you to it.

      If that doesn't work, this is the address:

      http://hochies.blogspot.com/

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    9. I looked at your blog yesterday. It looks like it's fun. And, yes, worries shouldn't invade our blogs. Mine is simply about gaming and analysis. Thanks for the luck.

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