Skip to main content
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ The Games, Movies, TV & Comics You Love
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Games
  • TV
  • Movies
  • Hardware
  • Video
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Guides
  • Deals
  • More
    • PS5
    • Xbox Series X
    • Nintendo Switch
    • Nintendo Switch 2
    • PC
    • Platforms
    • Tabletop Gaming
    • Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Newsletters
    • About us
    • Features
Total Film
Gaming Magazines
Gaming Magazines
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe from just £3
  • Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$12
Subscribe now
Trending
  • Gamescom 2025 schedule
  • Gamescom
  • Battlefield 6
  • New Games for 2025
Don't miss these
Rei Shimobe points aggressively in Shuten Order
Adventure Games Shuten Order review: "The Danganronpa creator's new multi-genre mystery feels like a forgotten DS cult classic I would have been obsessed with"
A screenshot of the upcoming PC game, There Are No Ghosts at the Grand.
Adventure Games Fresh from the Xbox Showcase, There Are No Ghosts At The Grand is the supernatural powerwashing musical I didn't know I needed
Death Stranding 2
Action Games I'm glad the heatwave is over, because if it wasn't I'd think I hallucinated these weird Death Stranding 2 moments, from dancing dolls to sci-fi directors fighting while making pizza
New screenshot of Keeper, showing a Lighthouse exploring a cave system
Adventure Games Keeper is quintessential Double Fine, a strange creative concept with a truly wondrous execution: "We wanted to make something that we could probably never have gotten signed and published"
A greasy-looking monster stands in a black hallway
Survival Horror Games Bloober devs say Cronos: The New Dawn is a "strange combination" of horror greats like Silent Hill, Dead Space, and Bloodborne, but they wanted a sci-fi story "deeper" than a typical Resident Evil: "Not to offend, of course"
Moichiro points in Kumitantei: Old-School Slaughter
Adventure Games These devs basically made their own Danganronpa, and I already feel at home in its mysterious Steam Next Fest demo
A woman turns to look at an unseen person while standing in front of crew mates behind a glass screen in Directive 8020
Horror Games Until Dawn studio's first sci-fi game is a body horror fest inspired by John Carpenter with tons of Lethal Company tension, and I've never been so excited to turn into a pile of sludge
Stranger Than Heaven protagonist up close
Action Games I was sad it wasn't Judgment 3 at first, but RGG has officially sold me on its gritty, time-hopping, jazzy action game now officially titled Stranger Than Heaven
Darksiders 4
Action Games I spent 15 years waiting for Darksiders to fulfill the best cliffhanger of the PS3 era, and now the M-rated Zelda-like is finally poised to deliver in Darksiders 4
Neil leads his squad in front of fireworks in front of a church on fire in Death Stranding 2: On The Beach
Open World Games Death Stranding 2 hands-on: An emphasis on combat and vehicles feels like an evolution of Metal Gear Solid 5, while continuing to push the first game's in-depth hiking physicality
Death Stranding 2
Action Games Hideo Kojima says "I always think of other, more weird stuff to make" but he can't just do that when it also has to sell or "my studio will go bankrupt"
Death Stranding
Adventure Games 6 years too late, I bring lukewarm takes: Death Stranding rules, and we should all play more games outside of our comfort zone
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 screenshot of the Paintress painting the number 33 onto a distant pillar while Gustave and Sophie watch from the harbor port, framed by a circle of light
RPGs Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's success impressed Death Stranding 2 director Hideo Kojima so much he invited its devs over to his studio to sign copies of the French JRPG
A walking lighthouse runs across a barren environment while the sunsets in a screenshot from Keeper.
Adventure Games You simply will not guess the main character of the Psychonauts studio and Brutal Legend art director's new mind-bending adventure
OD game Hideo Kojima logo
Horror Games Hideo Kojima's OD: Everything we know so far
  1. Games
  2. Adventure
  3. D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die

D4 is the weird Xbox One adventure you'd expect from Deadly Premonition's creator

Features
By Henry Gilbert published 20 September 2013

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Stop making sense

Stop making sense

Xbox One has a number of big exclusives coming, but likely none are as odd as D4. Short for "Dark Dreams Don't Die," the Xbox One-exclusive is the next game from Hidetaka "Swery" Suehiro, the creator of Deadly Premonition. We finally saw the episodic game in action--or maybe we just dreamed it. It's hard to keep track in a game like this.

The Kinect 2.0 fueled title has you play as David, an amnesiac the can "dive" into powerful memories in search of his wife's killer. The killer goes by "D," and in the first demo ever shown, Swery took us through a memory on a commercial airliner. Using the touch controls, the player had David touch numerous things in search of clues or food to deal with his slowly lowering stamina. Then, after searching the plane, Swery cut to a fight later in the episode, which is where things get really weird in a drawn-out fight scene.

The cinematic battle played out like Heavy Rain. Players wave their hands and replicate actions on screen to pull off an attack. The battle on a cramped airplane mid-flight only got weirder as the battle would come to include hitting a baseball with a wooden leg and ballroom dancing a woman safely out of harms way. The battle ended in a stalemate, as David lands a knockout blow but then gets kicked in the crotch.

The release date of the first episode, nor the total number of episodes planned, but murky non-answers are par for the course with Swery. On the plus side, Kinect-haters should be pleased to know Swery confirmed the game can be played entirely with a controller. Other than that, the title is still a mystery to us, which is likely how Swery wants it to remain.

Page 1 of 6
Page 1 of 6
Early on David runs into a woman that looks like his dead wife

Early on David runs into a woman that looks like his dead wife

Page 2 of 6
Page 2 of 6
This sleepy fellow was the bad guy for this scene

This sleepy fellow was the bad guy for this scene

Page 3 of 6
Page 3 of 6
The game strikes a number of clever camera angles during comat

The game strikes a number of clever camera angles during comat

Page 4 of 6
Page 4 of 6
Swery wants to put his own stamp on motion controls

Swery wants to put his own stamp on motion controls

Page 5 of 6
Page 5 of 6
Not picture: The wonderfully off-kilter dialogue being spoken

Not picture: The wonderfully off-kilter dialogue being spoken

Page 6 of 6
Page 6 of 6
CATEGORIES
Xbox One Platforms Xbox
Henry Gilbert
Henry Gilbert
Social Links Navigation

Henry Gilbert is a former GamesRadar+ Editor, having spent seven years at the site helping to navigate our readers through the PS3 and Xbox 360 generation. Henry is now following another passion of his besides video games, working as the producer and podcast cohost of the popular Talking Simpsons and What a Cartoon podcasts. 

See more Xbox One Features
Read more
Rei Shimobe points aggressively in Shuten Order
Shuten Order review: "The Danganronpa creator's new multi-genre mystery feels like a forgotten DS cult classic I would have been obsessed with"
A screenshot of the upcoming PC game, There Are No Ghosts at the Grand.
Fresh from the Xbox Showcase, There Are No Ghosts At The Grand is the supernatural powerwashing musical I didn't know I needed
Death Stranding 2
I'm glad the heatwave is over, because if it wasn't I'd think I hallucinated these weird Death Stranding 2 moments, from dancing dolls to sci-fi directors fighting while making pizza
New screenshot of Keeper, showing a Lighthouse exploring a cave system
Keeper is quintessential Double Fine, a strange creative concept with a truly wondrous execution: "We wanted to make something that we could probably never have gotten signed and published"
A greasy-looking monster stands in a black hallway
Bloober devs say Cronos: The New Dawn is a "strange combination" of horror greats like Silent Hill, Dead Space, and Bloodborne, but they wanted a sci-fi story "deeper" than a typical Resident Evil: "Not to offend, of course"
Moichiro points in Kumitantei: Old-School Slaughter
These devs basically made their own Danganronpa, and I already feel at home in its mysterious Steam Next Fest demo
Latest in Adventure
Snatcher
Hideo Kojima's overlooked cyberpunk adventure game is one of the three games Atari's CEO would love to remaster: "I don’t know if it would do well, but I’d probably push it through"
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle screenshot of Indiana
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle director says gameplay has been one of the most "challenging aspects" of development because even Wolfenstein was "very linear"
Haunted Chocolatier
Haunted Chocolatier was announced almost 4 years ago, but don't worry, Eric Barone says Stardew Valley 1.7 won't "hinder" the development of his next life sim
Danganronpa
In the face of countless live service shutdowns, Danganronpa creator believes devs should be "taking responsibility" to give "players a sincere conclusion"
Honkai: Nexus Anima
Pokemon goes gacha in Genshin Impact devs' new adventure strategy game Honkai: Nexus Anima, with pudding-themed puppies and bunnies peddling "tainted donuts"
Out and About screenshot of the player character forager who has purple hair and wears dungarees
Out and About is a very cozy foraging adventure that's taking me back to my fish obsession in Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Latest in Features
The Outer Worlds 2 character holding bottle and glass, with the GamesRadar+ Big Preview frame and Reaction sticker
Channeling big Fallout energy means The Outer Worlds 2 could be the Starfield I always wanted
Cropped key art for Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles shows two characters stood side by side.
45 minutes of Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles has me certain that Square Enix "rebuilding" the remaster after losing the original source code was worth the effort
Battlefield 6 multiplayer screenshot
I'm still concerned about Battlefield 6's map sizes, but there's no denying it gets chaotic urban warfare right
Where Winds Meet hands-on preview
I played Where Winds Meet and fell in love with the RPG's open world so fast I could barely pay attention to any of the missions
Borderlands 4 screenshot shows someone holding a weapon forward towards the camera.
"We tend to commit to the bit": Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford talks Borderlands 4, the evolution of looter-shooters, and $80 game discourse
Valor Mortis
Ghostrunner devs abandon parkour for Valor Mortis, a first-person soulslike that might explain why the rest of the genre follows Dark Souls' lead
  1. Kaser clad in black and Victor in white clash swords in Lost Soul Aside
    1
    Lost Soul Aside review: "We (don't) have Final Fantasy Versus 13 at home"
  2. 2
    Hell is Us review: "The lack of waypoints and explicit objectives is a double-edged magical sword that pulls me deep into its harsh world"
  3. 3
    Shuten Order review: "The Danganronpa creator's new multi-genre mystery feels like a forgotten DS cult classic I would have been obsessed with"
  4. 4
    The Rogue Prince of Persia review: "I roguelike but don't roguelove this freerunner – there's just not enough to stand out"
  5. 5
    Shinobi: Art of Vengeance review: "So close to being to a pitch-perfect revival of a classic series, but just can't quite line up the killing blow"
  1. Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Ben Wang and more in The Long Walk
    1
    The Long Walk review: "One of the best Stephen King adaptations ever made"
  2. 2
    Frankenstein review: "A classy, if somewhat safe, adaptation"
  3. 3
    Weapons review: "A twisted fairytale that bests Barbarian"
  4. 4
    The Fantastic Four: First Steps review: "An occasionally thrilling heroic adventure that sits safely within a B-tier MCU range"
  5. 5
    Superman review: "A triumphant reinvention and a promising start for the DCU"
  1. John Cena as Peacemaker holds a gun to the head of a different John Cena as Peacemaker in Peacemaker season 2.
    1
    Peacemaker season 2 review: "Darker and sadder than the first year, but there's still a lot of fun to be had with the 11th Street Kids."
  2. 2
    Wednesday season 2 part 1 review: "Complex and exciting but weighed down by too many subplots"
  3. 3
    Alien: Earth review: "Arguably the franchise's strongest outing since James Cameron's Aliens"
  4. 4
    King of the Hill season 14 review: "Hank Hill himself has evolved into a much more open and accepting person"
  5. 5
    Eyes of Wakanda review: "A creative premise shortchanged by the runtime and Marvel bloat"

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...