The DS system is held like a book, which allows characters on the screens to face left or right for more realistic conversations. The unique controls let even novices enjoy themselves. The unique hand-drawn character portraits and their animations are in black and white, making them exceedingly distinctive and able stand out, graphically speaking, from the rest of the game. In the tradition of Trace Memory, the use of the DS to solve riddles is alive and well in Hotel Dusk: Room 215.