By: Noah Nunez
General Reporter
My game data finishes saving, and I check the time difference between the last save and now.
From 8:20 p.m.-10 p.m., I played through the last chapter of “Last Window: The Secret of Cape West,” and with the million thoughts that rushed through my head as I reflected on the game, I stopped for a second.
I sat there with my finger hovering over my mouse, just like it had done for the past hour and 40 minutes, and I thought about what had just happened.
As a sequel to the 2007 “Hotel Dusk: Room 215,” “Last Window” could easily have been the same game with a new cast in a new setting with a few references to the first game thrown in.
Instead, “Last Window” takes the doomed path it was set on and asks: how do you send a character into the unknown without it feeling sad?
Sending the protagonist, Kyle Hyde, into an unknown limbo, leaving us with only the knowledge that he has changed for the better.
Unlike the first game, where his help with the guest at Hotel Dusk felt more accidental than compassionate, Kyle sees his fellow tenants of Cape West suffering and wants to help, even if it just happens to serve his quest.
Kyle is no longer tearing out the truth from people who have made mistakes; he is helping them move on from their past and find a better path.
Each character carries mistakes or accidents from months, years or even decades ago, and they weigh on their minds and control their every action.
They all want someone to talk to, someone to help them move past this pain that sits inside them like a rock tied to a fish; no matter how hard they flail, they cannot escape the pull.
But despite this, they are still able to move on; able to find something to live for in life, another reason to get back up.
Each conversation feels as though you are watching two people talk, not two puppets mouthing symbols back and forth, making these conversations even stronger.
But these issues are never solved with a happy ending, rather sending the character off into a better spot but still leaving the onus of growth on them. Kyle is just here to help.
It has been 16 years since Last Window was released, and I do not think we will ever see Kyle Hyde again.
But despite that, I think Kyle will be just fine.
When thinking about what you have done, all the mistakes that piled up throughout life, the pain you feel inside each day, it can begin to feel as though this is how the rest of your life is going to be.
“Last Window” shows that this isn’t true. No matter how long it takes, no matter who the cause of this pain is, it will get better.
Even in just the transition from my desk to my notebook, I still struggled to write down my notes.
My extended practice session with the last chapter was me taking the lessons of “Last Window” and applying them to myself. I waited and took my time because the problems I faced in each puzzle or dialogue box were eventually solved by me.
