In 1993 Myst splayed open the point and click adventure game by reducing it to its barest essentials. Where the focus was less on complex chains of inventory puzzles but instead on understanding the alien logic of the world. Its innovative prerendered graphics were a hit among a more casual crowd of PC owners which cemented the game as a success. D seems to be playing in this ball park upping the ante by having the whole game be fmv and prendered graphics that move in real time with the player. You see Laura's every move in a way that wasn't possible with the static screens of Myst.
The concept behind D is interesting. The contrast of the modern city and modern horrors in the form of mass shooters with the classic horror of a torture castle and vampires seemed tailor made to reach some deeper level of horror or story that never comes. Really minus the pretty prerendered environments there isn't much here. The gameplay is slow and tedious with the only threat being the very generous 2 hour time limit that is only made scary when you realize that the puzzles here include precise slot wheel timing and a section where you turn a crank for the game to randomly spit out a room. The story is just silly and poorly told across the game, with Laura's dad simply repeating himself in every cutscene until the very ending when the entire lore is dropped.
Normally I try to keep an open mind with older games but there is nothing here to wow but the now faded cutting edge graphics, and unlike some I really fail to the influence this had on gaming minus a few future myst clones. Despite this game being popular in japan any "influence" this had on games like resident evil and silent hill can be more easily and directly explained via other games like Alone in the Dark.
The concept behind D is interesting. The contrast of the modern city and modern horrors in the form of mass shooters with the classic horror of a torture castle and vampires seemed tailor made to reach some deeper level of horror or story that never comes. Really minus the pretty prerendered environments there isn't much here. The gameplay is slow and tedious with the only threat being the very generous 2 hour time limit that is only made scary when you realize that the puzzles here include precise slot wheel timing and a section where you turn a crank for the game to randomly spit out a room. The story is just silly and poorly told across the game, with Laura's dad simply repeating himself in every cutscene until the very ending when the entire lore is dropped.
Normally I try to keep an open mind with older games but there is nothing here to wow but the now faded cutting edge graphics, and unlike some I really fail to the influence this had on gaming minus a few future myst clones. Despite this game being popular in japan any "influence" this had on games like resident evil and silent hill can be more easily and directly explained via other games like Alone in the Dark.