D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die Reviews
D4 is all kinds of crazy, and you may not take to its unique brand of humor. But if you do, there's no forgetting it.
It ends on a cliffhanger, but D4 has me intrigued, mostly because I felt a genuine attachment to the characters. I want to see this journey through to the end, and the classic Swery wackiness kept me interested throughout the relatively familiar adventure genre gameplay.
D4 is ridiculous. It's weird, and silly, and makes very little sense. It's also hilarious, and packed with some of the most engaging motion-controlled sequences I've ever played. Coming from someone who generally doesn't like the Kinect, that's a damn big achievement!
D4 is so weird, strange and different that it's hard to pass up
It's very rare you find a game this self-aware about how ludicrous the situations you're in are. D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die is definitely a case you'd want to solve.
D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die is one of the more pleasant surprises of the year. When one hears "bizarre episodic mystery title that uses Kinect," a high-quality product isn't what immediately comes to mind, but that's exactly what D4 is. It feels like a Telltale Game on LSD, which couldn't be more of a compliment. This is a mystery that's hard not to get sucked into, as its "anything goes" logic will leave players wondering what's going to come next. From its insanely quirky characters to its underlying tragedy, D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die is oddity done right.
A worthy follow-up to Deadly Premonition, although whether it earns the same classic status will depend largely on the subsequent episodes.
If you're willing to give decent motion controls a shot, and like the idea of a bizarre private eye anime, I would say that D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die - Season One is well worth the investment.
The strange world Swery has brought to life is definitely worth exploring, though. There is a real richness of content and back-story that has been invented, and despite the feeling that you don't really make much progress in solving the case in question, I really wanted to press on and find out what was going on. Even though the atrocious voice acting and questionable conversation topics may make you laugh when you should be crying, there are few points when D4 isn't entertaining or emotionally engaging in one form or another – which is a far cry from the cookie-cutter titles that so often fill the shelves and make it something worth celebrating.
This is just the beginning for D4, as more episodes are forthcoming. But for now, it's a solid package. Swery's latest is off to a good start.
Fans of Deadly Premonition will love this bizarre, offbeat murder mystery.
D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die may just be the beginning, but it is easily one of the most delightfully bizarre trips of the year. It won't always make sense, but there is a consistent earnestness to its oddity that somehow makes it all work in harmony of '80s saxophone riffs and overly-affected Boston accents.
This episodic adventure succeeds in its storytelling and character development. The gameplay offering is all over the place, and often feels disconnected from the narrative flow
It is not at all easy to be able to appreciate D4 in its entirety, above all because the Japanese surrealism is one of those ways of narrating that not everyone is able to fully accept. And the same goes for the acceptance of an expanded story in an episodic videogame series. Once you have passed these rocks, what you will find in front of you is a work with very particular and refined features, an ode to the author's video game not sung out loud, which adopts its own register to communicate with the user.
Review in Italian | Read full review
D4 is a wacky and weird adventure game that takes a familiar core premise and spices it up with quirky characters, trippy plot developments, and time travel. Motion controls have been integrated in an intuitive way, which helps to invest the player in their role, but occasional recognition issues and arm fatigue might have you reaching for a controller instead. Either way you play, D4 is a solid start to the series, and it offers up enough offbeat humor and intrigue to satisfy the Deadly Premonition fans. There are gameplay elements that miss their mark, and the pacing isn't perfect, but it's not enough to kill these dark dreams dead. Someone tell SWERY that we're ready for more.
D4 is completely bonkers, with a cast of characters that range from the mundane to the downright strange and more twists than a M. Night Shyamalan film.
D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die is a unique and surreal experience from start to finish, but its episodic nature leaves players feeling unsatisfied. Open-minded gamers will enjoy the experience, but those seeking traditional story and gameplay should avoid.
Forget David Cage's Heavy Rain and Rockstar's L.A. Noire. If you want to experience murder mysteries like no other, look for Swery and his latest lovably weird masterpiece, D4.
Access Games' episodic follow-up to Deadly Premonition is a tremendously strange trip.
Swery's been compared to David Lynch before for good reason and I still believe the comparison to be a valid one. His style is very abstract and his stories are often tangled webs of mismatched storytelling that seem to go off the rails right when everything comes together to deliver a valid, oddly satisfying conclusion and I can not wait to see how this one ends.