D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die Season One

D4 is one of the strangest games I have played this year, let alone in my entire life. I came into this game without any knowledge of the developer's previous games. I knew only one thing and that it was an adventure game with mystery elements in it which automatically made me sign up for a point and click game. Interestingly enough, it was not initially released for the PC but was rather planned as a Kinect game.

I can safely say after checking out this game, I got immediately curious for the developer's other projects since D4 just breaks the formula for your typical genre. That's not to say good Adventure games are common nowadays (Although I am starting to notice their rebirth despite their outdated mechanics). D4 is a very eccentric game in all shapes and forms and you can notice my hesitation since I am not sure where I start from but I'll jump right into it.

You play as David Young, a detective that can travel through space and time to discover the mystery of his wife's death.... From his bathtub. The setup sounded really serious and that was the reason I actually wanted to play it in the first place. However, it turned out to be one of the most fun rides I have ever witnessed. It's hard to talk about this game without spoiling so if you are curious to find out yourself, stop here.

David Young along with his partner, Forrest solve other cases along with the main case of his wife's death. The last word his wife, peggy, told him was to find D. David, ironically starts finding anyone that has a name starting with a D since that is all he remembers from the incident.

Yes, David. It is normal to wake up in your bathtub every day.

Controls are pretty basic if you are playing it on PC, almost every object is identifiable and can be examined, which leaves a huge room for exploration for fanatics like me. Examining an object earns you credits and with credits you can buy apparel for your characters as well as food. That's right, every action you take here takes a bit out of your stamina and when your Stamina is depleted, it's basically game over. Another bar that you can use is the vision bar which is basically the game's hint system where it shows you your next objective or it can highlight items that you haven't examined yet. The Vision bar is replenished with Alcohol.

The more you leave your cursor on an object, the more you learn about it

Best advice this game ever gave. Keep  your stamina up.

A very interesting concept but in my opinion is quite fun and leaves room for more interactions for the player since there is a lot to collect and explore including flashbacks for David in the form of letters from his wife, magazines that have trivia in them, side quests for each character you meet in the season and a huge food list to cover with its own trivia that you get to share with Forrest. The side quests range from mini games to pop quizzes. All in all, I assure you this is one hell of a ride for those that want no more than mindless fun or a mindful if you want to answer those pop quizzes.

You can also find collectible uniforms

D4 is fairly short if it was tackled from point A to B however, the whole purpose about it is to approach it with a curious mind since you are role playing as a detective. Speaking of which, the game rewards you if you stay in character depending on your dialogue options, although you are not forced to remain in character, it is still hilarious to see the reactions of a flight attendant slapping David for him staring at her rack.

All cutscenes are Quick Time Events and I know QTEs are most of the time disengaging and boring most of the time, but not this time since at least it is not a button prompt and David also has a health bar that depletes if you dont follow the QTE accurately. The scenes have things getting out of hand in every way and I suggest you put up a counter to how many times you go like "WTF"

That's right, CHOKE HIM CHOKE HIM!!

The game is planned to be episodic and only one season is out so far. I loved how every episode actually has an opening just like a TV show and not only that, but there is a recap of the previous episode in each one. I suppose the only thing I hate about it is I have to wait for the next season but then again, the whole project was experimental initially. In my opinion, it succeeded enough for another season and I can't wait to review the new one.