D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die - Season One

If you are SWERY fan, you probably should be aware there are some port problems. For those who are not aware who SWERY is, the game is not mechanically competent. The game's strength lies entirely on narration. The plot of the game centers around a character named 'David Young' a detective who lost his wife to a criminal related incident. He only has two clues to find who killed his wife : initial D whispered by his wife and Real Blood, which was found in her corpse. All of the characters are insane. From safety crazy Deborah, 'fashion designer' Duncan & 'Sukey' (totally not a mannequin) you will be eager to learn more about them. So, what about the gameplay? The game, sadly, fails expectation in the gameplay department. The game put plenty of 'credits' you can click to pick up. The credits can be spent on food, which replenishes your stamina, vision, life, and cosmetic options. I appreciate the game has quite extensive cosmetic options, BUT random 'credits' scattered around and appearing in the cutscenes as well, detracted from the game at least for me. Furthermore, most of the minigames are . . downright terrible. One of them is basically catch the fruit flash game except worse! HOW?!? How is that possible!? Lastly, the PC port is bit shoddy. No, it isn't Dark Souls level, but there are some frame rate and resolution issues. There are moments in the game which tanks frame rate for some reason. I tried to reduce the resolution to improve frame rate, other options didn't fit in my screen. Despite all my complaints, I am giving the game 4/5. As you can see, this game isn't for everyone. I can't recommend the game if you are looking for mechanically competent experience. You will have a better experience in online flash game. However, if you are interested in whacky silly story with excellent narrative, go ahead.

Just a short, spoilerless review. The port is OK although bare-bones, also seems to have a memory leak, playing for several hours had it using more than 10gb of RAM which might explain why it has performance issues. The game itself is fantastic, a mix of point and click, shenmue and heavy rain but blowing all of those out of the water with the totally absurd yet somehow intriguing characters and plot. The mini-games fall short, but i found the quicktime sequences fun due to the amazing choreography and the Boston-punk soundtrack that plays when shit gets real. The music in the game is also great and I wish GoG had included a soundtrack. The only real flaw is chapter 2 is clearly rushed and lasts much less than chapter 2. Personally I find the stamina mechanic fun but it still seems like a strange choice in a game like this, although it at least justifies filling the protagonist with tequila and hamburgers. All in all it's a great game, I just hope it sells enough for a sequel as the ending is frustrating to say the least.

D4 is, and probably will remain, unfinished. The entire series consists of the Prologue, EP1 and EP2. That's it, maybe about 5, 6 hours, and you'll never know the answer to the questions raised during the plot. Bear this is in mind when you buy the game. I bought the game on sale so it was still ok, the game does offer solid fun... D4 is what I call a "TV series game". It's like watching a TV series but as a game. There aren't almost any puzzles to be solved through the game and you are taken completely by the hand (you don't even need it ,but you can use the Night Vision feature to make your way even easier). This is not necessarily bad, but having the game categorized as a detective-mistery game can induce in error. Your interaction is mainly walking around, looking, talking and of performing a couple of combos - fortunately quite easy - swiping your mouse in this or that direction. Having said that, this is still a fun title, the game is really weird and it somehow keeps you wondering what will come next. The artwork is really good and the voice acting also (although not everybody will like the guy in w h i t e... ;-) ) Well, if you like "watching" a game, give it a try!

ONE-SENTENCE SUMMARY: A refreshingly unique adventure that masterfully mixes gameplay and narrative elements from a multitude of influences and combines them into a cohesive, quirk-filled romp. @@@@@@ STRENGTHS: + Diverse recognizable influences include: * Martin Scorsese's "The Departed" * Christopher Nolan's "Memento" & "Inception" * David Lynch's "Twin Peaks" * Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney * Shenmue * Telltale Games + In-game choices and point system reward players for staying in character + Real-time detail hunting during cutscenes keeps players engaged and promotes immersion + Quick-time events are seamlessly integrated, nicely choreographed, and actually pretty fun to play + Free-roam RPG/adventure segments ground the in-game world and gives opportunities for optional exploration + World design and scene detail is immaculate and makes the game world a joy to explore + Visual planning, art style, and cinematography are excellent. It feels like a nicely-produced TV show + The characters and writing are wonderfully bizarre, often hilarious, and magnetically alluring @@@@@@@ WEAKNESSES: - Controls during free-roam adventure parts can be a bit awkward at first - Some mini-games are not well-realized and break immersion - Dialog trees sometimes get a bit confused and repeats things - Most of the acting and characters are pretty good, but the main love interest comes across as annoying in English @@@@ NOTES: * It's awesome to see a high-profile Japanese indie game with a day one DRM-free release at GOG! Show your support! * An inventory system might have been nice to have in this game, instead food and water needs to be consumed on the spot * The animation is excellent in some spots, but sets the bar high and misses the mark sometimes * This is an episodic release, with this game giving episodes 1 & 2. If the game doesn't do well commercially, we might not see further episodes.