D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die

D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die is an episodic graphical adventure video game developed by Access Games and originally published by Microsoft Studios for the Xbox One. The title represents the phrase "Dark Dreams Don't Die" and the fourth dimension (time).[3] The game is unrelated to the D video game series.[3][4] The initial release contains a prologue and two episodes that make up season one of the series. A PC version was released on 5 June 2015, published by Playism in partnership with Access Games. In October 2016, Hidetaka Suehiro announced via Twitter that he had left Access Games and that there would be no more episodes of D4.[5]

D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die
Developer(s)Access Games
Publisher(s)Xbox One
Microsoft Studios
Microsoft Windows
Playism
Director(s)Hidetaka Suehiro
Producer(s)Nobou Tomita
Artist(s)Hitoshi Okamoto
Writer(s)Hidetaka Suehiro
Hiroyuki Saegusa
Kenji Goda
Composer(s)Tomomi Teratani
Yuji Takenouchi
Rio Okano
Atsushi Yamaji
EngineUnreal Engine 3[1]
Platform(s)Xbox One, Microsoft Windows
ReleaseXbox One
  • EU: 18 September 2014
  • WW: 19 September 2014
Microsoft Windows
5 June 2015
Genre(s)Adventure
Mode(s)Single-player[2]

Gameplay
A screenshot of David and Amanda

The main character is David Young, a private investigator whose wife has been murdered.[3] The traumatic events surrounding her death left Young unable to recollect those memories, but has allowed him to travel through time.[3] Young travels through time to undo the murder.[3] The player cannot time travel arbitrarily, as the powers are activated upon finding certain objects that bring the player to specific points in time.[3]

D4 is an Xbox One title that uses Kinect controls with "simple gestures and voice" to uncover the mystery.[3] The game uses cel-shaded graphics similar to that of a graphic novel.[3] For the PC version, however, Kinect has been disabled in favor of mouse controls. Some improvements have also been implemented in the PC version, such as upgrading the frame rate to 60 fps, shortening load times, and fixing bugs that were present in the original version.[6]

Plot

After the death of his wife, former Boston police narcotics officer turned private detective, David Young gains the supernatural ability to travel into the past by touching left-behind items referred to as "mementos". Two years earlier David's wife was murdered and David received a blow to the head which caused him to lose his memory of the event except for his wife's final words "Look for D." David with his newly gained ability uses it to uncover the unknown assailant by investigating everyone whose name starts with "D". With help from his former partner Young gets a lead about a man, whose boss's name starts with D, who went missing on a plane after it was struck by lightning, and David uses a memento to travel back into the past to investigate.

Reception

The Xbox One version received "generally favourable reviews", while the PC version received "average" reviews, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[7][8] In Japan, Famitsu gave the Xbox One version a score of two eights, one nine, and one eight for a total of 33 out of 40.[11]

Digital Spy gave the Xbox One version four stars out of five and said that it "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."[22] The Escapist similarly gave it four stars out of five and said, "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!"[25] 411Mania gave it a score of 7.5 out of 10 and said, "If you want a game that will leave your jaw on the floor more than once, have at it. If you want something a bit more substantial, this may not be the game for you."[26] Metro gave both console versions each a score of seven out of ten and called the game itself "A worthy follow-up to Deadly Premonition, although whether it earns the same classic status will depend largely on the subsequent episodes" or "...on whether the story is ever finished."[24][23] However, Anime News Network gave the PC version a C+, saying, "The wheels of game production turn ever on. As the pressure of expanding budgets makes games like this the exception in a world populated by Final Fantasy, Assassin's Creed and, paradoxically, the Telltale Adventure Game model itself, the Season One moniker slapped on this PC port begins to feel like the twist of a knife: the mildly laughable suggestion that there would ever be a Season Two. Despite D4's ham-fisted grabs at Twin Peaks touchstones and its persistent supposition that "eccentric" is an express shortcut to "intriguing," somehow it's still disappointing we might never see any more of it."[27]

D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die was nominated for "Destructoid's Best of E3 2014" as "Best Xbox Exclusive" at E3 in 2014.[28] It was also nominated for "TGS Awards 2014" in the category Xbox at TGS, and for "4Gamer Awards" as "Rookie Exclusive" on 1 October 2014.[29] At the 2014 National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers (NAVGTR) awards the game won Camera Direction in a Game Engine.[30]

References
  1. Darwich, Aki (1 December 2014). "D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die (Prologue, Episodes 1 & 2) AUTOMATON Review". Automaton. Archived from the original on 4 December 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  2. "D4 Brings the Bizarre to Life, David Lynch-Style". Xbox Wire. Microsoft. 11 June 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  3. Arendt, Susan (13 June 2013). "D4 Brings Stylish Murder to Xbox One". The Escapist. Defy Media. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  4. Mooks, Kevin (18 September 2014). "D4 and the Evolution of the Noir Adventure Game". Xbox Wire. Microsoft. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  5. Suehiro, Hidetaka (30 October 2016). "Day 360, Unfortunately I retired from Access Games after all". Twitter. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  6. Jenkins, David (12 May 2015). "D4 on PC interview – SWERY talks PC gaming and Deadly Premonition". Metro. DMG Media. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  7. "D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  8. "D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  9. Carter, Chris (19 September 2014). "Review: D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die (Prologue, Episode 1, Episode 2) (Xbox One)". Destructoid. Enthusiast Gaming. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  10. Edge staff (December 2014). "D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die (XOne)". Edge. No. 273. Future plc. p. 123.
  11. Romano, Sal (21 October 2014). "Famitsu Review Scores: Issue 1351". Gematsu. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  12. Reiner, Andrew (23 September 2014). "D4 [Dark Dreams Don't Die] (XOne): Murder With A Sense Of Humor". Game Informer. GameStop. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  13. Vazquez, Jessica (10 June 2015). "D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die (PC) Review". Game Revolution. CraveOnline. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  14. Vazquez, Jessica (30 September 2014). "D4 Review (XOne)". Game Revolution. CraveOnline. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  15. VanOrd, Kevin (19 September 2014). "D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die Review (XOne)". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  16. Navarro, Alex (30 September 2014). "D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die Review (XOne)". Giant Bomb. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  17. Shea, Cam (22 September 2014). "D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die Review (XOne)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
  18. Conditt, Jessica (24 September 2014). "D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die review: True Kinective (XOne)". Engadget (Joystiq). Oath Inc. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
  19. Wilson, Aoife (29 September 2014). "D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die Review". Official Xbox Magazine UK. Future plc. Archived from the original on 1 October 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
  20. Blyth, Jon (5 June 2015). "D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die review". PC Gamer. Future plc. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  21. McElroy, Justin (19 September 2014). "D4 review: fire walk with D (XOne)". Polygon. Vox Media. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  22. Nichols, Scott (24 September 2014). "D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die review (Xbox One): A delightfully bizarre trip". Digital Spy. Hearst Communications. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  23. Jenkins, David (11 June 2015). "D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die PC review - second premonition". Metro. DMG Media. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  24. Jenkins, David (22 September 2014). "D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die review - crazy premonition". Metro. DMG Media. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  25. Sterling, Jim (18 September 2014). "D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die Review - Thirsty For The D (XOne)". The Escapist. Defy Media. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  26. Meekin, Paul (15 October 2014). "D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die (Xbox One) Review". 411Mania. Archived from the original on 18 October 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  27. Riley, Dave (10 June 2015). "D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die (PC)". Anime News Network. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  28. Aziz, Hamza CTZ (12 June 2014). "Destructoid's Best of E3 2014 nominees!". Destructoid. Enthusiast Gaming. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  29. Taitai (1 October 2014). "メディアアワード「4Gamer大賞＆優秀賞」の結果を発表！――TGSで4Gamerが選んだタイトルは「Evolve」と「Never Alone」の2作品" [Announced the results of the Media Awards "4Gamer Grand Prize & Excellence Award"! Two works of 4Gamer chose title in --TGS the "Evolve", "Never Alone"]. 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  30. "NAVGTR Awards (2014)". National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers. 16 February 2015. Archived from the original on 22 March 2017. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
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