1 tequila, 2 tequila, 3 tequila, D4

First, let's take a moment to really appreciate my tequila sub header. It's the little details that count. That's what D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die is all about. S?ure, when a catgirl is doing karate in your face it's easy to think subtlety has gone out the window, but then watch David piling and piling breadcrumbs in his chowdah over the course of an entire cutscene or sit down to brush up on obscure Stanley Cup trivia.

D4 is the same bizarre adventure, point and click style adventure game on PC. Detective David Young lost his w?ife and his memories, but gained the ability to "dive" back in time through items of, uhm, substantial memorial value. And there's weird Americana and avant garde fashionistas bedding mannequins and who the hell ??knows, it's great.

You can find Chris' original review of the Xbox One release here.

D4 isn't a robust PC port, but it's functional. There were two instances of models (once a full character, once a tie) kind of spazzing out and s??haking for a bit; I had a crash trying to bow out to the main menu between episodes; and things aren't crazy cleaned up from the Xbox One release, but the port is a fine option and not any kind of messy downgrade from the original.

It's clear a lot of work went into adapting usable mouse controls (replacing the stripped out Kinect controls), UI, and so on. Not that it needs much else. Xbox One DLC is packed in with a "free shirt" section of the store that hilariously gave me a Gears of War tee right o?ff the bat. Buying clothes is very important for no reason. Nice to see a game with different outfits in this day and age. There's some new DLC if you're into that sort of thing.

The controls are the big thing, though. Chris was sure it was better without Kinect when he played it, but I do feel there is something missing, oddly enough. Never thought I'd be going to bat for the Kinect. I also never used Kinect controls for longer than 30 minutes at a time, so maybe that would drag after a while. It's just that some of the mouse swipes, especially when you??r cursor is at the opposite end of where you're being prompted to begin swiping across, d?on't quite have that same tactile connection. It feels like flailing more than literal arm waving.

Clicking, pushing, grabbing -- those all work, maybe even better with point-and-click precision. But then I sort of miss those dramatic, painterly slashes across the screen. Particularly during big action sequences, but also for the rote swipe-to-do-somethings, like opening doors. And the middle mouse button to look around felt finicky to me, but that may have something to do with my broken finger. Mouse versus Kinec??t versus controller, it's mostly preference.

The best thing abou??t mouse controls is pure one-handed play, leaving the other hand free to sip some tequila.

The post PC Port Report: D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die appeared first on Destructoid.

Go for it

D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die was awesome on Xbox One, and it's looking awesome on PC. You can try it out starting today by way of a demo, which is up now on Access Games' official Japanese site. It looks like the English version is down right now, but it should b??e available later this evening.

Stay tuned for our thoughts on the PC version next week, and remember to check out our interview with the creator. It will launch on June 5 for $14.99.

The post You can download a demo for D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die on PC appeared first on Destructoid.

Controller and mouse support are a go

This year, D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die is coming to PC, and as soon as I heard the news, I jumped up and down. This is an adventure that needs to be in the hands of as many ?people as possible, and confining it to just the Xbox One platform would have been a sham??e.

Likewise, the game does not need to be chained to the Kinect, as I've experienced over the past week?? or so with ??the PC build. In fact, it's "Better Without Kinect."

The PC build I had access to only has a 10-minute exploration demo and three-minute action sequence, but it was enough to get a gist of the new control scheme. While the port of D4 will fully support controllers (just like the Xbox One version), you'll also have the addition of the mouse, which feels right at home given the old school adventure game feel. All the applicable buttons are mapped to the mouse, including interaction (left click), looking around (middle), and tapping objects (righ??t click). Completing QTEs takes a little getting used to as you'll need to flail about fairly quickly to complete sliding actions, but it's all very doable.

As a creature of habit I ended up plugging in my Xbox One controller for my second playthrough, and lo and behold, it feels like a 1:1 recreation of the console version, which is definitely a good thing. Everything looks very fluid and sharp on-screen, and even the early build is running smoothly at this time. D4 may not have the most impressive visuals in the industry, but it has a ton of character, which has been sufficiently represented ??in the port.

Since D4 is an adventure romp it doesn't need a whole host of options that other PC games might boast (check out the work-in-progress menu screen here), but at the very least I was disturbed to find out that I could not customize the resolution. When asked whether or not the PC ??edition would have resolution settings, a rep for Playism stated, "I have raised that issue with them, and they are working on it." Hopefully we'll see it in the final build.

For the thousands of Swery fans out there who don't own an Xbox One, the PC port of D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die is a great opportunity to see what the hubbub is all about -- plus, it will make a great Steam sale gift for? people who are on the fence. Once it hits, let's just hope? that this is enough for Access Games to fund the conclusion of the story.

D4 for PC wi?ll launch on June 4 on Playism, GOG, the Humble Store, and Steam for $14.99.

The post D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die is better without Kinect on PC appeared first on Destructoid.

Kinect didn't make the game

To say that developer Hidetaka Suehiro -- or, Swery65 as most everyone knows him -- has a knack for creating unique and strange videogame experiences would be an understatement. He has a loyal cult following, as anyone that loves his works tends to really love them; the opposite is just as true for his detractors. It's what has led to 2010's Deadly Premonition being named the most critically polarizing survi??val horror game. You either get it or you don't.

While the fandom may not be as severely fragmented, the same can be said for last year's Xbox One exclusive D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die. Unfortunately, D4 has a release structure that doesn't j??ell with the prospect (or reality) of uncertain sales. It's an episodic story, and thus far, only the first part of an unknown number of entries has been told. The narrative?? has been left teetering, the same cliffhanger that the future of the game delicately balances on. We don't know yet if the story will ever see advancement or resolution.

What we do know is that D4 is making lateral progress of sorts. A PC port of the game is being made by Swery's team at Access Games, allowing exposure to an entirely new audience. The true D4 experience was originally highly contingent upon the use of Xbox One's Kinect. On PC, D4 will be controlled entirely with the mouse. Despite the change in inputs, in an interview with Destructoid, Swery insists that both methods are "100 percent bona fide D4."

The reason that Swery doesn't feel that the Kinect-to-mouse transition is a concession of sorts is because control method isn't what's at the core of D4. Swery elaborated "D4 is a game that doesn't derive its entertainment value merely from the fact that you can control it. My design has always been focused around the 'sensory replication' element. All input devices have their own special characteristics, and I feel that I've cr??eated separate control schemes that are all designed specifical??ly for the Kinect, controller, and now the mouse."

This "sensory replication" Swery speaks of isn't some marketable-sounding term that he tacked on to describe control schemes; it's something he spends a lot of time thinking about and crafting experiences around. In fact, further hypothesizing by Swery is the reason the P??C port is even happening.

He explained how D4 on PC came to be by saying "I started working on th?e PC version at the end of last year, through to GDC this year. At that time, I had m??ade no plans about releasing it. It ??was just an experiment to help prove the contents of my GDC speech. To sum up [my speech]: 'Even without Kinect, the theory of symbolization and sensory replication through minute observations is still possible, and pieces that replicate sensations in this manner can enhance the overall empathy that people experience.' In order to prove this, I started making a sample version of the game that could be played using only the mouse. I revealed it to people at GDC and PAX East, and since people responded more positively than I had expected, I decided to develop an official release."

That official release won't come as easy as one might think. This is Access Games' first time working on a PC title. (The poorly-received PC port of Deadly Premonition was controlled by another studio?, and Swery says that A??ccess wasn't able to exert control over the process because it didn't own the rights to the game.)

Because of Access' inexperience developing for PC, Swery describes the process as including "a lot of unexpected surprises and problems." He went into detail by saying "Like I talked about earlier, we had to figure out how to create sensory replication with the mouse. Since we couldn't use Kinect, we needed to figure out how to make the PC version a game that anyone could easily enjoy with the mouse. Our game designers, programmers, and UI designers really had to rack their brains about this. Next, we had to think about adding user options and confirming minimum system requirements and recommended specifications that didn't exist in the console version. Since we created an original shader for D4 using our own code, it was hard to make it backwards comp?atible simply through changing settings in Unreal Engine, so we ha??d to adjust the code and add new parts to it. Since we've only worked on console games so far, this was a brand new experience for us."

Above all else, Swery's says he's dedicated to not letting the PC version of D4 go the way of Deadly Premonition. "The team that worked on the Xbox One version of D4 is in charge, and I've also been taking part in the adjustments. We're really serious about this, and intend to treat the D4 IP with the utmost care."

One thing that he wasn't too serious about was commenting on his feelings about Microsoft announcing one year ago that it'd release a version of Xbox One without Kinect. After all, Swery had likely undertook this project with the understanding that Kinect would be something that's in every living room that an Xbox One is in. All of a sudden, that wasn't the case. Swery took the high (and humorous) road by simply chiming in "#ThanksObama."

Temporary comedic relief aside, Swery seems very serious about D4 and its future. When asked about reading fan theories (a pastime that's dominated the Destructoid office at times), Swery said that he refrains out of respect for the fans. He clarified by saying "D4 is of the mystery genre. With this genre, the fun comes from 'enjoying' all the mysteries up to the end. I think it??'s natural for people to closely watch the developments, hypothesize, and then think up their own opinions and theories. That's what's so great and important about the mystery genre. With that in mind, I think I have no right to take part in those sorts of discussions."

For all the transparency and openness behind the whole process of getting D4 to PC, Swery turned mysterious again when the topic on everyone's mind came up: Is a second part to D4 ever getting made? "I still can't talk about what'll be coming next. All I can say is that I'm working my hardest!," he said. Figures. But, maybe with the help of a PC audience pushing for more D4, we'll get the resolution we need. Or, maybe we'll get more fights with a cat lady. Both ?are welcome with open arms.

The post Swery: D4 on PC is ‘100 percent bona fide D4’ appeared first on Destructoid.

If only it were real

Deadly Premonition's Francis York Morgan and Dark Dreams Don't Die's David Young, together under one roof? Now there's a conversation I?? want to overhear. Someone's been reading m??y mind.

Designer Swery65 tweeted this image for his next game, Dark Dreams Don't Die with Deadly Premonition, before noting it was ju??st a gosh-darn April Fools' Day joke. Of course it is.

As much as I want this to be a real game (or even just get some closure with another episode of D4)??, I can't be mad -- Swery dropped #ThanksObama in his tweet. Haha.

The post Dark Dreams Don’t Die with Deadly Premonition appeared first on Destructoid.

He never said anything about PC

I was enamored by D4 recently. Swery's signature charm was all there, and I especially liked that the Kinect-only mechanic was dropped in favor of ?an optional controller. A lot of people out there have expressed interest in the game, only to find out that it's an Xbox One exclusive.

Over Twitter, creator Swery re-iterated that the game will "never" be on PlayStation 4. He was pretty quiet about a potential PC release though, and g??iven Microsoft's history, anything is possible.

Swery [Twitter]

The post D4 will never appear on PS4, says Swery appeared first on Destructoid.

Damn! Dang! Darn! Uhh... Dildos!

I think the lesson Bill and I learned playing D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die is that we need to calibrate the Kinect, an??d make sure it can see us properly. Beyond that, I'm still unclear what this game is about, and it's vaguely upsetting to try and make sense of it.

It feels a bit like some kind of crossover between Cheers and The Butterfly Effect, but through a glass darkly, and from within a thick cloud of paint fumes. Is tha?t a good thing? I don't know. But we sure look stupid playing it.

The post Our D4 playthrough part 2: send in the clowns appeared first on Destructoid.

Look D4 you leap

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Okay, so Chris Carter absolutely loved D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die, so Bi?ll and I figured we'd check it out... and ??uh. Wow. Goodness gracious.

That certainly is some sort of ??video game. I think. Honestly, if I didn't have this whole experience on video, I might think there was a gas leak in my house making us go all stupid and insane.

The post We attempted to play D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die appeared first on Destructoid.

Either TGS is the best, or Swery is the best

Was that headline not descriptive enough for you? What did you think would be in this post? There's Swery nonchalantly holding a stuffed monkey next to a weird yellow plastic statue thing. He did that during the entirety of his presentation. Just Swery and a monkey hanging out in a hotel like a gritty reboot of Dunston Checks In.

Oh yeah, D4 got an imminent release date in the same meeting, bu??t?? there's decidedly less primate awesomeness attached to that tidbit. This is the real hard-hitting info you need.

The post Here’s Swery holding a monkey and standing next to a yellow plastic woman appeared first on Destructoid.

Unfortunately, weirdos abound when you're looking for D...

Swery65 brought us Deadly Premonition, so you know D4 is going to be weird. In fact, Swery told me that he drafted s?ix or seven different stories to work on next and in his partnership with Microsoft, w??ent with the "most bizarre."

While the new, Kinect-free Xbox One means the team has had to add controller support -- w??hich Swery says is also very good thanks to a lot of work -- Swery says the Kinect is still the way to go, so that's the way I went. 

D4 (Dark Dreams Don't Die) plays like an adventure game with motion controls. It's a lot like the recent The Walking Dead, except without free movement. You can reach out towards footprint icons on screen with an open hand and effectively "grab" them (close your hand) to move spots. You can also swipe away left or right at the screen to rotate perspective. You can at times move you??r head and torso to adjust the camera as well, like while you're looking in the mirror.

?I was started in protagonist David Young's home. You have a stamina meter in the top left corner and interacting with things, like flushing toilets, uses up some of the gauge. In a pretty lengthy examination of his abode, it didn't seem near to running low, so I'm not sure if the cap will become strenuous at all.

You can also put both your hands to your head to activate an internal monologue which acts as a sort of hint system and will direct David to something he needs to interact with to start pushing things along. In this case, it was a file on his wife's murder. He can't remember all the details around it, only that his wife told him to search for "D." 4D also references t?ime, and the trauma h?as given David a limited time-hop ability that activates under certain conditions.

All of that is the sort of set up. The rest? The rest is Swery. He has said that his main in??spiration for his games are his own life and e?xperiences.

Later in the demo I met Amanda. The heterochromatic, bunny-eared blonde was frantically trying to (and successfully does) break into the apartment. The game goes into a combat scenario as she bursts in and you do various swipes and movements to try and corral her, which was surprisingly trying for m??e only because I made the ill-advised decision to try and spend the day before E3 playing pick-up basketball.

After you catch all the dishware thrown at you and the "fight" winds down, I realize Amanda has had a mouse in her mouth all this time. She "just? started living with us one day," David's internal monologue explains. "Sometimes she helps with the groceries." The text under her name reads "Freeloader/Grocery Shopper?"

Once you get over the weird barrier of remembering how the Kinect and motion controls work, D4 is actually surprisingly polished. In what I played, the motion controls also felt a bit more interesting for the otherwise mundane actions the game wants you to be a participant in. It gives it a little more energy than, say, the simpler Walking Dead interaction mechanics.

For all the flying coffee mugs, there are also prompts to draw a line with a pen or grab a remote to turn on the TV. If D4 is going to live in this minutia and be more about the story, I t?hink I'd be fine with playing with the Kinect. But if not, controller support is there now, too.

The post Swery65’s D4 is all about finding D, dodging weirdos appeared first on Destructoid.

TGS preview

Upcoming Xbox One title D4 was designed for use with Microsoft's Kinect sensor. Game director Hidetaka "Swery65" Suehiro made it a point to stress this during our Tokyo Game Show meeting. D4 can be played with a controller, but his personal preference is that you play it wi??th Kinect.

When we saw all of the weird things you can do with your hands in D4, this makes perfect sense. D4 looks fun to play with Kinect controls. 

D4 (Dark Dreams Don't Die) is a TV show-like murder mystery where you play as a strange and cocky investigator, trying to uncover the details to explain your wife's murder, with the letter "D" being his only solid clue. Oh, and there's a game mechanic that lets the protagonist use found objects to time hop. Weird, right? It's got that cult hit vibe that Deadly Premonition had with its odd humor and funky production values. Ther??e's a sort of charming clunkiness about it. 

Swery65 (pictured above in a pose he gave for us following our meeting) gave us a live demo of D4 at TGS this week. In our meeting he said he wanted players to be able to sit and relax while playing D4, so while you're using your arms often, it's fine to take a seat. Most of the play involves using your right hand to manipulate the game's?? scenes. Swery says that hand?? shapes can be identified with Kinect, so open-handed movement works for movement, while closed hand moves work as a selection. Think of the motion as sort of virtually grabbing what you're looking to interact with.

Our first peek at the interface had the protagonist, David Young, in an airplane bathroom. We ??saw how swiping a hand left or right had the player's view changing?, allowing him to look around the bathroom. By moving his right hand to move a cursor, he could explore and interact with objects. For example, reaching his hand out and closing it over the toilet's button allowed him to flush it. 

The entire demo was packed with scenes where contextual hand motions were required, so while you may be able to sit, you're going to have to do some moving. They can be as simple as moving your hands upward to wash your face, or pointing forward to move your character to an interest point. You'll look for clues with your hands, using motions to do things like open up luggage compart??ments and sort through them. One neat move has players touching their heads with their finger tips like some superhero to initiate Head Vision, a system that highlights points of interest. The moves become a bit more exciting in the action-heavy combat sequence we saw.

There is combat in D4, though it's not quite wha??t you may be expecting. David ends up on this plane looking for a marshall that is somehow tied to his wife's murder. This marshall is with a known (and cr??acked out) drug dealer that completely loses it. The drug guy kicks the marshall to death, and then takes after you, complaining that someone messed his eye while he was sleeping. He screams, "My beautiful eye is fucked!" Yeah, I don't know. This game is weird.

This ends up being a hilarious circus of a brawl?? in the cabin of the plane between the two. You'll dodge kicks and punches via Kinect prompts, with misses taking a segment off of a life bar. Executing the proper movement will give you an adva??ntage in the fight, but misses will show you getting your ass kicked a bit. 

It starts easy, with timed hand swipes a?llowing David to blocked flying purses and luggage. It becomes sort of a dance when he gets into it, though. Kinect movements have you pulling people out of the way, flipping over them, and even doing a quick waltz with one passenger, all while putting the hurt on the drug dealer. For all of these movements, a rhythm game-like scrolling meter at the bottom of t??he screen shows you that some required movement is coming. To put your mind at ease, these moves are less like quicktime events and more like reactions, if that makes sense.

Some of the fight had you pulling off what they ca?ll Synchro Stunts. The first one had the drug dealer picking up a softball to be used as a projectile against David. David picks up a mannequin leg to use as a bat to defend himself. The game quickly prompts you to take a batting stance. Swing properly and the ball flies back to hit the drug dealer squarely in the face, popping one of his (fake) eyes right out of his face in slow motion. Funny stuff.

My favorite Synchro Stunt had? David pinning the drug dealer down in a seat with a megaphone in hand. Players had to scream aloud to get David to yell in the megaphone to hurt the drug dealer's ears. 

The fight devolves into a slap ??fest, with the player doing the hand movements via Kinect. It en??ds in a Synchro Stunt where a fighting stance is required for punches, but that only lasts a short while until David ends up being kicked in the crotch, sending him crawling to a nearby airplane seat. It looked as if neither won the fight.

These Kinect controls make more sense when you see them in action. And unlike some other Kinect-controlled games, I'm glad to say that they're not a drag in D4. The required movements for navigation and exploration looked completely natural, and the ?ones?? for combat looked to be a lot of fun. All looked to be very responsive, too.

Beyond this exploration and combat, D4 has another attraction point with its quirky charm. The characters we ran into in this demonstration were so weird! One flirty flight attendant that was a dead ringer for David's late wife falls into him following some turbulence, spitt?ing her bubble gum directly onto his mouth. Gross! She starts out flirty, but ends up being quite scary, noting that David shouldn't even?? be on the flight. David ends up chewing that gum for the rest of the episode, by the way. 

The oddest encounter was in the plane's aisle with an over-the-top fashion designer named Duncan. He carries around a mannequin named Sukey that he seems to be in love with, and spews forth judgement on anyt??hing that he doesn't deem "avant garde." Duncan and his Sukey have matching green hair and distinctive sunglasses. 

I wasn't sure what to make of D4 when it was revealed earlier this year, but I had a feeling we were in for something pretty interesting when hearing that Swery65 was involved. My feeling was right. From this demo alone I was drawn into pulpy, peculiar world, wanting to see who David ran into next. The game rides that rare line that Deadly Premonition did, so if that kind of?? game speaks to you, this one will too. 

And then there's the Kinect bonus. I'd normally call Kinect controls in an action game unnecessary, but they've found a way to use them to make D4 more interesting. I was continually impressed t?o see co??ntrols that didn't seem gimmicky, and even more impressed to see that they worked properly. 

With this, D4 has shot to the top of my list of desired Xbox One game??s. I can't wa??it to get my hands on it. In front of it. Whatever.

The post D4, Swery65’s Xbox One Kinect game, is wonderfully weird appeared first on Destructoid.

This is one exclusive I think a lot of people can get behind

I don't think I've ever heard a collective amount of cheers and sighs so loud as when Swery65's new D4 project was announced -- only to have it become an Xbox One exclusive seconds later. Microsoft had a chance to sit down with Swery himself and talk about a few aspects of the projec?t, like his inspiration, some story bits, and why he went for exc?lusivity.

Swery says the game is centered around "empathy," and that the Kinect is the best way to express that. He notes that palm shapes can be detected, as well as posture, and voice input -- so the Kinect is perfect for "replicating senses." There is one potential dealbreaker for you a lot of you however -- "All of these controls use Kinect."

Ouch! Stay tuned for some extended thoughts from Swery straight from TGS.

D4 [Xbox Wire]

The post Swery65 talks D4 Xbox One exclusivity, and more appeared first on Destructoid.