D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die Reviews

D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die is ranked in the 67th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
9 / 10.0
Sep 18, 2014

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.

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Mar 2, 2016

Swery's trippy, time-traveling tale of love and murder is one of the best point-and-click adventure games on PC. If you like strong stories, humor, and memorable characters, get this game.

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Sep 27, 2014

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.

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SECTOR.sk
Sector.sk Staff
Top Critic
9 / 10.0
Oct 23, 2014

D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die is definitely not a game for everyone. Whether the theme, processing, content, control or even graphically.

Review in Slovak | Read full review

86 / 100
Sep 3, 2020

A clear demonstration that a Kinect experience, if designed well, can be a lot of fun.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

8.5 / 10.0
Jun 8, 2015

I'm thrilled it's on PC, and I'm delighted we'll finally get to see the series continued – this prologue and two full-fledged episodes are great, but I really need to know what happens next!

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8.5 / 10.0
Sep 25, 2014

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.

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Pardis Game
mst
Top Critic
8.5 / 10.0
Jul 22, 2015

Dark Dreams Don't Die is a good serial title that can entertain you for a few hours and bring you the experience of a hearty edone. A game that allows you to thoroughly search its environment and test your detectiveness.

Review in Persian | Read full review

Sep 29, 2014

Access Games' episodic follow-up to Deadly Premonition is a tremendously strange trip.

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USgamer
Top Critic
Oct 8, 2014

Once again, SWERY injects a detective story with his patented brand of weirdness, though this time he's finally free of the technical limitations that hampered his past work. D4 isn't a flawless experience, but, as with Deadly Premonition, it offers a world and set of characters you won't want to leave behind.

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Sep 29, 2014

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.

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8 / 10.0
Sep 22, 2014

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.

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8 / 10
Jun 5, 2015

Swery does Telltale, by way of an obsessed, time-travelling detective and lots of references to Boston. D4 is as unique and strange as you'd hope; and (unlike Deadly Premonition,) a decent enough PC version.

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Sep 18, 2014

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!

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Sep 23, 2014

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.

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NZGamer
Top Critic
8 / 10.0
Sep 22, 2014

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.

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4 / 5.0
Sep 19, 2014

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.

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8 / 10.0
Sep 24, 2014

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

8 / 10
Jun 8, 2015

D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die will likely be the most unique title you’ll play this year. Playing on the serialized format of episodic games, it weaves a tale that hits all the right notes while still being its own unique beast. If you’re looking for something out of the ordinary, you most certainly have found it.

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8 / 10.0
Oct 23, 2014

D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die may be a short game, but it takes strides to be memorable. The presentation is a little rough in parts, but it's still miles better than what the developers had come up with before. The gameplay mechanics are varied enough to keep from being monotonous, but they're also streamlined so those who dislike the tediousness of most adventure games can get into this title. The story, which is equal parts odd and compelling, will draw you into the game. Fans will love this title, and those who want to know what a good Kinect game looks like will enjoy this experience.

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