D2 is a Dreamcast survival horror kind of RPG game that has nothing to do with the original D and is the third game in the series.

Set in Canadian snowy mountains, you play as Laura (but different Laura from D) just trying to survive as people turn into weird plant monsters.

The game is a 4-disc behemoth and feels very inspired by Metal Gear Solid. In fact, I'd say it has more cutscenes than MGS. Whereas MGS used codec for a lot of it dialogue, D2 REALLY wants to be cinematic, featuring a lot of unique animations just for picking up things. It really didn't need that, and while it's unfortunate that it didn't sell well, I wonder if it even could sell enough for being a dreamcast exclusive considering how much money likely went into it.

The story is strange. Just the first 5 minutes of the game feature an evil wizard, a magic mirror, terrorism, and a meteor. It doesn't get much saner after. Most of the game is spent with characters and their motivations and thoughts, and while the voice acting is alright, the writing leaves a lot to be desired. For every interesting and touching scene there's at least one that feels like a cheap imitation of "can love bloom on the battlefield?" from MGS or a scene where characters suddenly become 10 times dumber.

There's something about this game that feels like Silent Hill titles. Not in terms of depth or scares, but in the fact that characters often talk past each other and everything feels very dream-like. The first person you meet traumadumps on you immediately and decides you're friends for life while Laura says absolutely nothing. In fact, you might get the impression that Laura is mute. She isn't. It's not a big reveal or anything, she just doesn't talk for 90% of the game, and knowing now that she COULD talk makes every cutscene even weirder in retrospect.

Just like the original D, the game tries to deal with heavy topics such as drug abuse, sexual violence, and others, but feels very unfocused. At times the game feels like it's really into enviromentalism, but it never commits. It also feels like sexual themes are there just for shock value, but they end up being really funny when a man just decides to act like a rapist for no reason or when you shoot what's literally a robot vulva in one of the boss fights. Weirdly enough there's nothing as shocking as the final flashback cutscene from the original D.

As for the gameplay, it's a weird mix of genres from point-and-click to RPG and I'd say nothing feels really that great. The biggest issue with the game is that it loves to waste your time. Each disc features fairly open maps, but progress is very convoluted, sometimes involving immediately going back or talking to one character 4 or 5 times (even as they fall asleep which I'd think would signify the end of dialogue tree). Random battles aren't scary and consist of you standing and shooting at monsters in first person, but I will say that the music and general vibe of the world work well.

Is it worth playing? I'd say no. Is it worth checking out through the magic of Youtube? Yeah. D2 is a weird game, often unintentionally funny, but charming nonetheless.

Strong contender for the best game ever made. It's crafted with so much love and care that it's easy to overlook its many flaws, and its central message just propels it to an impossible level of achievement. Why this isn't as celebrated as some other, similarly off-kilter and narratively rich games I don't know.

My one major gripe with this game is the voice dubbing. It actually sucks. Like the dubbing is really, really bad. Except for Laura's english voice actor, she does a fine job (granted, she has like, two lines in the game).

The gameplay really works with me. The gameplay is a combination of on-rails shooting, jrpg random encounters, third-person exploration, hunting simulation, point and click adventure segments, puzzle solving, and resource management. This all sounds like a lot, but it's honestly pretty easy to get the hang of.

Of course, the main draw of the game is the story. It's a strange, slow paced, high stakes horror that takes inspiration from the works of Lovecraft, John Carpenter (mainly The Thing), and David Lynch. And it ends with one of the most hopeful, yet sobering endings I have ever seen. Overall, I highly recommend this, but it may take some time to adjust to the game's slow pace.

Happy New Year 2000.