D: The Game Review (PC, 1995)

I recently acquired D: The Game by the Japanese company Warp. In this spooky FMV heavy adventure game, you control Laura who enters a hospital to stop her father’s murderous rampage only to be magically transported into a spooky castle where she slowly learns her own dark family secret.

D is similar to The 7th Guest in how the gameplay is oriented entirely towards puzzle solving with the occasional cutscene breaking up the monotony, but also similar to another FMV heavy title Burn:Cycle, in that the game has to be completed within a 2 hour time limit. Unlike either of the former, the game has no save feature though, so the game has to be completed as a single session.

On with the review…

Gameplay: 3/5 – Laura literally only has two kinds of actions. She can move around and then interact with the game world. Some of the puzzles have dedicated puzzle view but unlike The 7th Guest, you also do receive inventory items which you have to use at the correct locations to make things happen (most frequently using some kind of a key to open a door). There is also one Quick Time Event.

My biggest gripe is that Laura walks painfully slowly as her movements are dictated by FMVs, but it’s maybe not as egregious as the 7th Guest. There’s also some decent variety with the puzzles though they’re a lot easier than in most adventure games of the day.

The game also has a few hidden secrets but I do wish the movement was a bit faster.

Graphics: 3½/5 – What was probably a sensible memory saving measure at the time but sadly comes to bite the game in modern times, the game is entirely interlaced. Yes, the entire game, not just the cutscenes. This admittedly hurts the game’s visuals and I might even go so far as to recommend playing it windowed rather than full screen. That said, there is an impressive amount of detail in the 3D rendered castle and the rooms look distinct. With the courtyard and various props, this prevents the game from looking too monotonous. That said, the graphic details aren’t amazing but there was clearly an effort to make the game stand out.

Animation: 4/5 – Similar to the graphics, I think the interlacing hurts the game, but I think there was a lot of care in the individual cutscenes of Laura seeing her past and the various things trying to kill her in the castle. The framing is excellent and the game has a cheesy over-the-top energy to it. However, the cutscenes of her walking up and down stairs did start to get on my nerves a bit.

There are four insects you can discover which contain cutscenes to Laura’s past which you can miss on your first playthrough. This adds a bit of additional replay value, I suppose.

Music 3½/5 – The music is appropriately spooky and I especially love the little choir sting when you use an item. The music does really add a lot to the atmosphere. Sadly, during regular gameplay there is often no music at all. The Armour QTE theme is pretty good though and the ending credits theme is almost inappropriately rocking.

Sound: 3/5 – The sound-effects are okay but there is rather sparse audio real estate whenever you’re not solving puzzles. The voice actor performing Laura’s Dad is clearly trying to be a bit menacing but it honestly just doesn’t work, his delivery is too flat. The voice-acting isn’t really ha-ha terrible but I also don’t think it ruins the game. I feel there could have been more spooky ambient noises to keep the game world more alive.

Plot: 2½/5 – The eventual revelation of the meaning of the title is where a lot of people are split over wether they love it or hate it. I’m honestly a bit mixed, Laura’s f***ed up past does give the story a certain degree of weight but since you learn the truth so late, I think a lot of people might get a bit drowsy over the story. There’s at least nice breadcrumbs with the insect animations and two alternate endings. However, I feel the story is a bit mediocre.

Difficulty: Easy (and a bit tedious) – D: The Game has some incredibly easy puzzles and only two I think require a lot of thinking (the safe and the two spinning wheels). If you do find yourself stuck, Laura’s magic compact will flash you a hint about what to do next. In fact, once you get into the spinning room in the game’s second half, I think the game becomes more tedious than anything because it takes so long for you to travel between the different rooms.

Score: 65% – D: The Game clearly banked hard on its (at the time) state-of-the-art CGI and spooky atmosphere and at least on some levels, it still has a nice spooky appeal. I do feel a lot of the cutscenes are entertaining and there’s an eerie mood to the proceedings. However, as a gameplay experience, it’s very basic and kinda tedious. As an adventure game, it’s almost disappointingly easy with most of the puzzles not providing much challenge. If there was at least a risk of dying, the player would maybe be a bit more motivated – but I do think the game has aged a bit poorly.