D (video game)

Synopsis and gameplay

D is an interactive movie which features adventure game elements, a psychological horror storyline, and heavy use of full motion video. The player takes on the role of Laura Harris, played by a "digital actress" named Laura that appears in the other games in the series, although the stories are unrelated. The player directs Laura's movements as she explores the game's environment, solves puzzles, and unravels the story. The movements occur through FMV sequences as she walks to the desired location, from where the player is greeted with a static screen which may contain items they can interact with or other paths to direct Laura. The player is only given two real-time hours to complete the game and no save or pause function. Depending on the player's actions, there are different endings.

Taking place in 1997, the story begins when Laura Harris is contacted by Los Angeles police, receiving a disturbing message: her father, Dr. Richter Harris, has gone on a mass murdering spree and barricaded himself in the hospital. Laura rushes to the scene of the crime, desperate to find an explanation for the well-respected doctor's actions. Upon entering the hospital, she is so horrified at the murdered bodies lying about the halls that she covers her eyes. When she uncovers them again, she finds herself in an unknown medieval castle. Unwilling to give up her search, Laura continues through the dark corridors of the castle. While attempting to find her father, she experiences a series of flashbacks of her mother being stabbed to death. Laura's father (taking the form of apparitions) warns her to leave, saying that staying too long means being stuck in the alternate reality forever. He warns that he will soon become an emotionless monster and will eventually try to kill her. Still shaken, Laura proceeds to find her father.

Ultimately, Laura finds her father residing at the peak tower of the castle. Angrily, the father reveals the sordid past of his family: Laura and her father are part of a bloodline of cannibalistic vampires, dating back to the infamous Dracula. Laura had killed and eaten her mother years ago, but it was erased from her memory by her father. Dr. Harris begins to transform into a vampire. If the player shoots Dr. Harris with a revolver found earlier in the game, the bullet will kill him and stop his transformation. Laura cradles her dying father in her arms as he confesses that he allowed the transformation to occur out of scientific curiosity and thanks her for stopping him. With his death, the realm created by his mind fades and is replaced by the normal surroundings of the hospital.

Development and release

Development of D lasted about one year and was directed by WARP president Kenji Eno. Eno was heavily inspired by Polarware's Transylvania adventure game series and he believes D would have never been created if it were not for playing those games. Eno and WARP were still relatively unknown in the industry, D would would be their first major title. With this in mind, Eno felt that he was gambling his development career on D, and if it were not successful he would stop developing games. There were three phases to D's development: the adventure game structure, the story creation, and finally violence was added. Since the adventure gameplay was largely finished before the story began to take fruition, flashbacks were added to detail the plot. The plot was largely based on that of Dracula, but Eno found it too boring, and so added violence and cannibalism to make the game more striking. The FMVs were created using Amiga 4000s.

Eno believed D's violent cannibalistic themes would be deemed taboo or too horrifying by others and was worried the game would not be permitted for publishing. With this in mind, Eno kept many of the violent sequences a secret, including from other members of WARP. When the game was finished, he submitted a "clean" version (i.e. without the violent and disturbing story content) for approval. He deliberately submitted the master late, knowing that part of the penalty would require him to hand-deliver it to the manufacturers in the United States. While on the plane ride to the US, he switched the "clean" discs with the finalized discs including the horrific content, thus completely bypassing all censorship.

D was a success in Japan. In total it sold one million copies there and the Saturn version reached the top of the sales charts in its first week. It was one of the few genuine hits for the 3DO in Japan, and drew a significant cult following of hardcore fans even before being ported to other systems. A Japanese re-release for the 3DO titled D's Diner: Director's Cut contained additional content and a bonus soundtrack disc. The PlayStation release of D was set to be published by Acclaim and manufactured by Sony. Orders for around 100,000 units had already been made before Sony decided to give their other titles manufacturing priority. Sony told Eno they had only manufactured 40,000 units, which made Eno very upset, but ultimately, Sony had only manufactured 28,000 units. This shortage upset Eno so much that he later announced, at a Sony event, that he would release his next games for the Sega Saturn. WARP's later games, including those in the D series, Enemy Zero (1996) and D2 (1999), were released exclusively on Sega platforms.

Reception

The original 3DO release of D was well received. In their import review, GameFan staff stated they normally disliked interactive movie FMV games, but praised D for being innovative and creative, dubbing it "a masterpiece." In their review of the English release, they commended its horror elements and concluded it to be "the best FMV game likely ever to be made" and the best 3DO title at the time. GamePro staff gave the game high scores for its presentation and likewise commended its scare factor. They called it "a frightening work of art" but cautioned that it was not for everyone. A reviewer for Next Generation found the graphics were astounding and enhanced the player's involvement in the creepy storyline. He criticized the English localization's dialogue and voice acting, and said the game suffers from low challenge and extremely short length, but still found the game enjoyable. GameFan staff named D their 1995 3DO Game of the Year and the Best 3DO Graphic Adventure/FMV Game. GamePro staff dubbed it the third best 3DO game for their 1995 Editors' Choice Awards.

Reviews for the Saturn and PlayStation ports were mostly positive although some were mixed. Sam Hickman from the Sega Saturn Magazine commented that the game manages to be extremely creepy and terrifying despite having almost no bloodshed. He predicted that the game would be outclassed by Resident Evil (still in development at the time of the review), but concluded that D was the best horror game presently on the market. Four reviewers at Electronic Gaming Monthly commented that the Saturn version had reduced the load times seen in the 3DO version to almost nothing. They highly praised the storyline and intelligently designed puzzles, and described it as "scary enough to make you an insomniac." GamePro staff gave positive reviews for both the Saturn and PlayStation versions, recommending it to those looking for a horror experience. Maximum staff likewise gave positive reviews to both versions, saying that D is similar to Myst (1993) and Mansion of Hidden Souls (1993) but ultimately better due to its more enticing story. They also praised the FMV graphics and cinematic presentation, but criticized it for its lack of longevity. The reviewers felt its short length, addictive gameplay, and lack of overly challenging puzzles ensured that the player will be finished with it very quickly. Staff at Game Informer were more critical in their review of the Saturn version. They found the gameplay tedious but did praise the graphics and the storytelling, concluding the "story would make a great movie or book, but not a game."

Legacy

Modern retrospectives find D less appealing by contemporary standards, but have acknowledged its cult following and unique place in video game history. John Szczepaniak of Hardcore Gaming 101 could not find a reason to recommend D over other adventure games released prior or after, outside of the cannibalistic themes. He still recommended those interested to watch a walkthrough on YouTube. Alex Wawro of Gamasutra believed that D is worth studying as an early example of horror game design. Brittany Vincent of Rock, Paper, Shotgun called it a "quintessential example" of a period when developers were attempting to blend FMV techniques with traditional game design to build something coherent. She called it a "surrealistic" phase in video game development when it seemed that the worlds of cinema and games were colliding. Staff at Core Gamers called D a benchmark for horror adventure games and one of the first console games with a mature-themed atmosphere. In an article titled "The aging horror of Kenji Eno's D", Richard Mitchell of Engadget shared the same sentiments as others. He commended D for ushering in the era of survival horror by paving a path for games like Resident Evil, and said that without historical context, it's difficult to enjoy D in modern times. In 2008, Game Informer listed it among the worst horror games of all time. In 2016, Night Dive Studios, a company known for reviving neglected classics, re-released D on GOG.