By today's standard's, D is a game that is more interesting in concept than in practice. The initial hook is great: the protagonist, Laura, has just two real-time hours to investigate why her father has gone on a shooting spree, or it's game over. The game is fully-animated with unmistakably retro 3D FMVs, and the gameplay consists of rudimentary puzzles and first-person navigation. Unfortunately, despite the strict two hour limit, the experience ends up being a slog due to the slow pace of every animation that plays during traversal and interaction with the environment. The most egregious example is a convoluted "puzzle" involving repeatedly turning a wheel to open different rooms -- trying to figure out the number of turns that correspond to each room would be nothing short of torturous without a walkthrough. The atmosphere is excellent and D is ambitious for its time (is this the first game with modern quick time events?), but it's probably better to watch your Let's Play of choice than to play it for yourself.

Reviewed on Mar 09, 2024


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