CHIBA, Japan -- One of the more unusual games for Xbox One gets a surprise launch this week, Microsoft said at Tokyo Game Show.
D4 ("Dark Dreams Don't Die") is a double rarity for an Xbox One game: it's made in Japan, and uses the Kinect motion sensor. Directed by Hidetaka "Swery" Suehiro, best known for his divisive, weird Deadly Premonition, D4 is an adventure game resembling the recent Telltale Games adaptation of The Walking Dead, right down to the thick-outlined, comic-book aesthetic. And like that game, D4 is being released in episodes, with the first season costing $15.
The game tells the story of David Young, an odd detective with an odder talent. He claims he can see the past, and he is haunted by his wife's death two years before. The demo on the Tokyo Game Show floor was set entirely in David's apartment, where just about everything he can pick up reminds him of his late wife.
Rather than control David directly, players move their arms in front of the Kinect, swiping and grabbing objects with their hands to interact with them. (The game also can be played with a standard controller.) It's narration-heavy, as David is prone to film noir-style monologues. But while he's talking, occasional icons will appear on the screen, which you can touch to get extra points---a nice way to maintain player engagement while the protagonist rambles.
Beyond this point-and-click approach, D4 has its share of Kinect gestures to punctuate otherwise simple animations. When David downs a shot of tequila (and he is very particular about his tequila), players mime the experience by tilting back their hand, then slamming it down on the countertop. An action sequence also required frequent gestures, almost like a rhythm game.
D4 works best when David is thinking aloud. Unlike most video games, the dialogue is playful and inviting. Even if the "hero with a dead wife" and "hero can't remember important details" tropes are cliche by now, David is just strange enough to grab my attention.
The Kinect sensing works best during the quick-time action events and less so during the simple navigation scenes. It took me multiple attempts to rotate David's view of his apartment, but I got every action right when he fought with an intruder.
D4's surprise arrival couldn't come at a better time for Microsoft's Japanese Xbox launch. Microsoft launched the new console here last week, and it sold less than 24,000 units. That's significantly worse than even the previous two launches of Xbox hardware in Japan, where Microsoft has struggled for years.
One game won't turn the tide, but it's better than nothing.
