The Isle Tide Hotel

The Isle Tide Hotel is a live-action FMV (full motion video) adventure game that immerses you in a mysterious hotel with a dark secret. You play as a father searching for your missing daughter, who you believe has been taken by a strange cult that gathers at the hotel every three years. With an award-winning cast and branching narrative, The Isle Tide Hotel creates an eerie yet engaging experience.

The game opens with a cutscene introducing the creepy, old-fashioned hotel and some of the eccentric guests you'll encounter. You quickly learn about the secretive cult called The Process that meets here, and how your daughter got caught up with them. Your goal is to infiltrate the cult and find your daughter before their gathering concludes in three nights.

Ghostly Guests and Occult Oddities

The hotel itself feels like a character, with its dim lighting, intricate woodwork, and foreboding atmosphere. The cult members you'll interact with are an eclectic bunch, ranging from friendly to fanatical. The stellar acting brings these characters to life in unsettling ways. Conversations with them lead to clues about The Process and unexpected revelations that make you question everything.

While the story starts slowly, the pace picks up as you unravel more of the mystery behind this cult, their beliefs, and their possible connection to your daughter. Finding clues in the hotel's hidden areas and following up on cryptic notes opens up side quests and alternate endings. Like in The Complex, careful attention to detail is required to peel back all the layers of lore and fully complete the game.

A Web of Conspiracy Theories

The core of the game lies in interrogating and influencing the other hotel guests through dialogue choices. As in Five Dates, these conversations branch extensively based on your responses and approach. You need to gain the trust of different characters to learn their secrets and hidden knowledge about The Process.

This leads to weaving an intricate web of conspiracy theories, occult rituals, and estranged family drama. Your decisions shape whether guests see you as trustworthy, hostile, or a fellow believer. The personality tracker changes dynamically based on your actions, limiting or opening up paths as you play. Solving the hotel's mysteries requires wits, discretion, and even manipulation at times.

Hunting for Answers

Puzzling out the right choices to rescue your daughter gives The Isle Tide Hotel a sense of urgency and purpose absent in some other FMV titles. Occasional action sequences and timed responses raise tension and keep you engaged.

The game's hardest puzzles lie in piecing together the fragmented story based on limited information. You won't unlock all the lore and endings in one playthrough. This encourages replays where you can skip to key decision points that open up new possibilities and conclusions.

Pros:

• Immersive atmosphere and set design
• Standout cast performances
• Intricate web of conspiracies and secrets

Cons:

• Slow start before mysteries pick up
• Replay required to see full story
• Some convoluted puzzles