D, known in Japan as D no Shokutaku, is a horror adventure designed by Kenji Eno that walks the player through a hospital transformed into a dark mansion full of unsettling puzzles and visions, all unfolding in real time, where the entire game must be completed within two hours with no ability to save. The controls resemble an interactive film — the player character, a woman named Laura, moves through pre-rendered scenes, solves environmental puzzles based on observation and manipulating objects in the surroundings, and witnesses surreal, unsettling images revealing a dark family history, without the game offering classic combat or extensive inventory combinations.
On the Saturn, the game is defined by its cinematic presentation with pre-rendered backgrounds, smooth transitions between scenes, and unusual camera work, which combined with a minimalist, unsettling soundtrack creates a dense, claustrophobic atmosphere without relying on explicit horror or violence. The time limit for completion gives the otherwise contemplative pace of the game unusual tension and forces the player to think through every step and route between the mansion's various locations, making the experience feel more like watching a disturbing dream than classic adventure exploration.
D attracted attention primarily thanks to its unusual structure and the authorial vision of Kenji Eno, who presented himself as a striking and controversial figure of the Japanese gaming scene of the time and promoted the game with unusual marketing stunts, and it became the predecessor of the later title D2 for the Sega Dreamcast. Today the game is valued as a unique experiment straddling the line between adventure and interactive film and as a demonstration of how far the horror adventure genre on the Saturn could be pushed toward an authorial, art-house direction, one that retro players seeking unusual, atmospheric experiences still explore today.
Why play: For players seeking unusual, atmospheric experiences, D is a unique experiment straddling adventure and interactive film from the striking author Kenji Eno.
Game 63 of 90 for SEGA Saturn
