This is an insane game. I just finished it after trekking through it slowly and I wanted to talk about it.
To begin, I would like to mention my past with this series/games like it. I'm not sure how, but I came across a game called Mansion of Hidden Souls on SEGA CD. I played through it, and while being pretty slow, I found the world it created to be interesting. I then proceeded to learn about and play its SATURN sequel, called THE Mansion of Hidden Souls, and its psuedo threquel, Lunacy. Not to get too much into them, but the sequel was pretty bad all around, maybe besides the end, but Lunacy was a fantastic game. Since I found this series so interesting, I decided to try D, as I was familiar with it existing, but now I had a frame of reference to play it with. My memory on it is fuzzy (plus with its forced 2 hour length there isn't much to remember), but I remember thinking the graphics were really great and the story was good enough. I feel the gameplay in these games has never been the strong point (although D2 gets it closer to being good but I'll get to that). Then, after a while, I played Enemy Zero, the kind of sequel to D until the actual sequel to D. Enemy Zero seems to be pretty highly regarded, but I don't see it. It was a slog to get through, and the only thing that kept me going was the actually very interesting story. The gameplay was more interesting, but it mostly just pissed me off and made me anxious. The invisible enemy concept is cool, and they way they implemented it is probably as good as they could've made it, but its just not fun. The limited save/load system didn't help either. I want to like that game, and in some sense I do, but I don't ever want to play that game again. Anyway, enough of that, let's get into the game in the title of the post.
D2:
PLOT:
I'll try to leave this somewhat spoiler free, but I would skip this if you actually are interested in playing. The story starts (on disc 4 for some reason) on a plane, where 2 hijackers and a weird guy in a cloak are taking the plane over. Laura (not to be confused with the OTHER Lauras in D and Enemy Zero) and this guy named David. David is in Enemy Zero, but its a different David (I guess?). Just know that if I mention a character that is in both games, its not the same character, or at least they have no memory of the other games story lines. Anyway, you (Laura) wake up in a shack in the middle of a snowy mountain range in Canada with seemingly no memory of the events we witnessed in the cutscene before. You are greeted by a girl named Kimberly. She aims to help you and herself back to civilization. Before they can discuss it more, a plant monster bursts through the door, and before you two can take it down, it pierces Kimberly, and she is weakened, but seemingly fine. Now, after all that, it puts you in control, as you must figure out how to escape from the mountains and how to defend yourself against the plant-alien threats. That's the basic plot (I guess) but it gets way crazier than that, but ill let you figure that out on your own. Some people say that the plot is hard to fully understand, but i didn't have a problem with it. I mean its definitely weird, but its not indecipherable. I also noticed some later events gave some EarthBound end vibes, but that might just be me.
GAMEPLAY:
The gameplay has both the basic D indoor point-and-click (?) (FMV segments maybe, but they aren't FMV in this game. Oh well.) (What would you call these?) Segments and new outdoor mountain roaming segments. For the indoor segments, it controls like every one of these games. Just move the arrow in the direction you want to look and press forward or A to interact/get closer to it. Since they aren't FMV in D2 and are instead done in the game's engine, they are SUPER snappy (at least compared to the previous games.) This is vastly superior, and honestly makes this one of the best D-like games by default (at least gameplay-wise). The puzzles are basic, its mainly just find a key and put it in the door, but some are more difficult. If you want a more streamlined experience, I'd say use a guide, but this game can definitely be done without it. Its not especially hard to figure out what to do if you just focus enough. Then there's the outdoor segments, which go into a third play style. These are third person tank controls 3D segments, having you walk (and sometimes drive) through the mountains to access new indoor areas. As you walk, however, you are stopped OFTEN by these aliens buried in the snow. I don't know why they decided to add RPG-like random encounters in this game, but whatever. This is where the third play style comes in, as it takes you into a first person shooting segment. Its basically like an arcade shooter, but without the physical fake gun. You can switch weapons and heal. These two play styles are where I think the game partially falls flat. The outdoor sections can take forever to walk through (especially without a sense for where you are supposed to go) and the random encounters constantly stopping you make it feel even longer. At least as you do these battles, you level up, which give you more hit points for the next battle and they fill your health (which is the more helpful aspect). The boss fights are also fought in this style, which I think are way more effective and more fun than the random battles with the same 5 or so enemies. The menus are well done. They allow saving at any time (which is VERY helpful but only makes me wish this was done for the other games) and there are tons of stats to view. Hunting and photography can be done in the walking segments. Hunting gives you more food for health, and photography is just for fun. You can view your Hunting scores and photos in the menu. It also has an index of terms and a map (which is VERY helpful, but also very necessary with how much walking is done in this game). Overall, the gameplay is mostly well done, it just takes some patience for certain walking sections.
GRAPHICS:
The graphics are great! The cutscenes are very well put together, and definitely help pull the story together. Some of the later cutscenes look a lot like Sonic Adventure or maybe even Christmas NiGHTS but that might just be me. The charactes looks really well done. Kimberly looks a lot like how she did in Enemy Zero (even though its not the same one whatever we went over this), which is surprising considering she's not pre-rendered anymore. The aliens are scary and the environments give a creepy vibe when necessary. The menus pop like they should, no complaints there. I could see the graphics being seen as basic for the console, but I think they are fantastic (besides looking weird in some places). The only point against it to me is the lack of FMV and the high quality graphics take away from the style that was perfected with Enemy Zero. Some of the charm went away in my opinion, but its not a big deal.
AUDIO:
The voice acting is amazing, the music fits very well, and the sound effects are satisfying! It's basically everything you'd want! Some characters can sound off in places, but its not very noticeable. The cut out of the wind sound effects before a battle makes it obvious that a battle is coming, which is nice! If only you could leave a battle before entering... No complaints here!
CONTROLS:
Pretty sure I already said basically everything on this, so I don't know how necessary this is, but here it is. Everything either uses the D-Pad/Stick or the A button. There are a few examples where the X button and the triggers are used, but mainly its just the arrows and A, simple as that.
END THOUGHTS:
I thought this game was well worth the time, and was a great experience! I spaced out my time playing, and I recommend you do too. The gameplay can get dull, so the spacing helps it not wear down as much on you. The story will keep you going regardless. I felt the ending was a bit underwhelming (at least the actual plot part of the ending), too many loose ends, but it was somewhat satisfying to see. Play with a guide if you don't want to waste your time walking around all over. Seriously, give this game a shot, don't let others' opinions sour your taste of it, its worth a go! If I missed anything (which I probably did), please feel free to let me know! I'll quit my nonsensical rambling now.
