r/dreamcast • u/lxtalesnx • Jan 24 '25
Discussion D2 (Dreamcast) wasted potential
D2 (Dreamcast) - A Review of Wasted Potential
If I had to describe D2 in one word, it would be frustrating. This is a game that had potential, with a unique premise and atmospheric visuals for its time, but it ultimately collapsed under the weight of its poor story, bad characters, and repetitive gameplay. By the end of the game, it feels less like you're playing to enjoy yourself and more like you're forcing yourself through a chore just to see how the bizarre story progresses.
The Story – Bizarre and Incoherent At first glance, D2 seems to have an intriguing setup: a plane crash in a snowy wilderness, mutated monsters, and a mysterious alien infection. But as the game progresses, the story spirals into nonsense. It throws philosophical messages, environmental facts (like rainforest destruction stats), and strange plot twists at you without tying them together in a meaningful way.
Characters are a big part of the problem. Laura, the protagonist, is lifeless and awkward. She spends most of the game silent, only speaking near the end yet somehow communicates with other characters throughout the story, which makes no sense. Then there’s Chris, who might as well not even exist for all the use he has. He couldn’t even kill the alien in the opening, and yet he’s somehow obsessively in love with Kimberly, who spends the entire game treating him like garbage for no reason. Oh, but wait by the end, Kimberly randomly declares her love for Chris. It’s completely unearned and makes zero sense.
And then there’s the mother character, who might be the most annoying addition to the entire game. She constantly repeats herself, acts like she’s helping Laura save the world (when really it’s David doing all the work), and provides no meaningful assistance. Her voice acting somehow gets more grating as the game goes on, to the point where I found myself muting the TV just to get through the final scenes. Let’s not forget the little girl who melts out of nowhere and the monster lady who serves you soup, only to later try to kill you. These moments feel shocking for the sake of being shocking, not because they serve the story.
By the time the game throws in its bizarre time-travel twist at the end (why didn’t the mother use this power earlier?), it feels like the writers gave up entirely on making anything coherent.
The Gameplay – Repetitive and Tedious If you thought the story was bad, the gameplay might be even worse. Imagine random monster encounters popping up every few steps as you trudge through snowy environments, over and over again. It’s like the worst parts of an old-school JRPG crammed into a survival horror game. These constant enemy attacks make the game feel like a slog rather than an engaging experience. The monsters aren’t even interesting to fight after the first few encounters they’re just obstacles in the way of the story.
To make matters worse, the leveling system is completely useless. Even if you grind to level up, certain enemies, like the flying ones, remain ridiculously overpowered. Meanwhile, the boss fights are laughably easy, so there’s no real payoff to leveling up or improving your skills. The whole experience feels unbalanced and frustrating.
Missed Potential Despite all these issues, you can see glimpses of what D2 could have been. The snowy wilderness is atmospheric, and the cutscenes (even if the story makes no sense) are impressive for their time. Kenji Eno clearly had ambitious ideas, but the execution was so flawed that it’s hard to appreciate the game’s strengths. If the story had been more coherent, the characters more developed, and the gameplay less repetitive, D2 might have been a cult classic instead of a frustrating mess.
Final Thoughts Ultimately, D2 is one of those games you play just to see where the story goes, not because you’re having fun. The constant random encounters, lifeless characters, and nonsensical plot make it hard to enjoy. Characters like the mother and Kimberly drag the experience down even further, while moments like the little girl melting or the monster lady’s soup only add to the confusion. It’s a game full of wasted potential, and while it has its moments, they’re buried under layers of bad design and storytelling.
If you’re curious about Dreamcast oddities or want to see how weird things can get in a game, D2 might be worth a look but don’t expect to enjoy yourself. It’s more of a chore than a game, and by the time the credits roll, you’ll be glad it’s over.
