On Lost Games and D Review

Let's have a moment of silence for games lost to the ages due to bankrupt publishers, dead studios, and missing source code.

Or let's read on, because silence isn't exactly what a blog is about, now is it.

A couple of nights ago, I played through D for the Sega Saturn, a first person horror experience also released for the 3DO and Playstation. Developer Warp Studios closed up shop in the early 2000's after releasing D2. Whether the game is in demand by gamers now is in question, as the title, and others in its series, fetch between forty and sixty dollars on average in the aftermarket. Obviously, there is an interest, and some of it may have been sparked by the line of D reviews done by RetrowareTV series Happy Video Game Nerd.

Given the market for horror games, and indie titles as well, the time is right for this series to be revived on XBLA and PSN. A PSClassics release of D would be easy enough, but Enemy Zero and D2 would require ports from the original versions. A PC version of Enemy Zero exists, so there is that to help the process of porting the title if it ever happened.

Other titles aren't as fortunate.

The Panzer Dragoon series had a second chance on the X-BOX, and included a port of the original Saturn title, ported from the PC version. However, Zwei, and the incredibly expensive PD Saga still haven't seen new life. Zwei isn't impossible to find, but fetches a decent price. Saga however is rare. It's expensive. It's on a console that most people aren't interested in. But it was a title that could have sent ripples into the RPG genre had it been release on the Playstation. The original source code for this game has long since vanished, making a port almost impossible.

So, I know I've probably talked these series into the ground (and I still have D to dig into later on this post), but there is a reason. Games like D need to be remembered. Sure it's not perfect, but there is no other experience like it. Panzer Dragoon Saga hasn't been copied by anyone to date, and that is a concept that could be used for great inspiration in a title this generation. Or if nothing else, get these titles ported. Older games need to be kept alive, preserved, and as such, carried on as tradition in this art form. Film and music receive this treatment, so why won't games?

So before I move on, allow me to ask the question-- How does one go about staring the Criterion Collection for Video Games?

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D.
Warp Games
Sega Saturn

I'm going to ignore the presence of the uncanny valley for the purpose of this review.

D was released at the tail end of the FMV game trend, and was the first game to use CGI for everything in the game. It plays like Myst, in that the solving of puzzles allows progress through the game. Tonally, it's more in line with The Shining, using a very deliberate pace to tell the story. The voice acting is limited, and still weak, but it doesn't ruin the experience. Neither does the early CG video. The story is decent, and only made fluid by the game itself. Laura Harris has to enter a creepy hospital/castle to find out why her father is killing patients, experiencing bizarre hallucinations, and solving puzzles along the way. Nothing about the game is challenging beyond a couple of a questionable puzzle decisions and the QTE with the knight about 2/3 through the game.Well, there is the two hour time limit you have in which to complete the entire game, but that can be handled with patience on the part of the gamer. Still, D deserves to be played. Seek it out, and experience one of the most unique games you could ever play.
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Short but sweet, just like the game. Alright, Script Frenzy starts in two days. I will be writing for a concept I'm calling Memphistopheles for right now. Also, I need to figure out how Criterion got started.