D2 | 2000

 

D2 is a survival horror video game developed by Warp for the Dreamcast. Directed and written by Kenji Eno, it was released in Japan in 1999 and published by Sega in North America in 2000. D2 features a protagonist named Laura, a "digital actress," and has an independent story from the original D, shifting from puzzle-centric gameplay to action-focused mechanics.

The gameplay incorporates various elements. Most of D2 takes place in a third-person perspective while exploring the Canadian wilderness, with indoor areas being navigated in first-person. During wilderness exploration, players experience random encounters similar to role-playing games. In combat, players cannot move Laura but can aim weapons. Defeating monsters grants experience points to Laura, which can be used to level her up and increase her health limit. Initially, Laura is equipped with an unlimited ammo submachine gun and a hunting rifle used to hunt animals for health recovery.

Regarding the hunting aspect, the number of animals Laura kills for meat is tallied throughout the game and can be viewed in the options screen. Players can also track her collected kills and awarded medals. Additionally, Laura carries a camera that allows her to take photos at any time during the game (except during cinematics), which can be saved to the VMU for later viewing.

The game begins with Laura Partin falling asleep on a plane heading to an unofficial location. She wakes up to a warning from the plane's PA system and a friendly conversation with fellow passenger David, only to find the plane violently hijacked by terrorists performing a mysterious ritual. David, revealed to be an FBI agent, attempts to thwart the hijackers, but the plane is struck by a meteor, causing it to crash into the Canadian wilderness.

After experiencing a disturbing nightmare, Laura awakens in a small cabin cared for by Kimberly Fox, a poet and songwriter. Kimberly explains that ten days have passed since the accident, during which Laura’s identity remains mysteriously undisclosed. Their peaceful moment is disrupted when a surviving terrorist stumbles into the cabin, transforming into a grotesque plant monster. Laura and Kimberly meet Parker Jackson, a CETI researcher, who helps them drive away the creature, but Kimberly distrusts him and forces him out.

Laura ventures into the wilderness to contact the outside world and search for other survivors, discovering more bizarre and horrific creatures lurking about. These monsters have transformed the crash survivors, and Laura must fight them while exploring. Her quest deepens as she enters an abandoned mining facility to search for a missing young girl named Jenny, whom she and Kimberly discovered together.

The development of D2 began as a major title for the canceled Panasonic M2 console, the successor to the 3DO. Warp had a good working relationship with 3DO, which suggested that they create a sequel to D for the new console.

In early versions, a pregnant Laura boards a plane to Romania, which is attacked by supernatural forces. The plane crashes, and her fetus is taken by a demon to medieval Transylvania, where it becomes the child of a widowed duke who sacrificed his soul. Players would take on the role of Laura's son, escaping a large castle and battling demons to save his father. Unlike the original D, the released D2 features full-motion video cutscenes, with gameplay conducted in real-time combining puzzle-solving and combat elements.

D2 was the first M2 game to showcase playable screenshots. Warp employed unusual marketing strategies during development, celebrating the arrival of cherry blossom season at the Tokyo Game Show in April 1997 without showing any games on the first two days, then revealing a demo of D2 on the final day. Although D2 was believed to be nearly complete, after Panasonic officially announced the M2's launch, Eno stated that the game was "about 50% complete." After the M2 was abandoned, Warp began porting the game to the Sega Saturn, but ultimately Kenji Eno decided to abandon the original concept and create an entirely new game for the Dreamcast.

In Japan, a demo version of D2 was packaged with Warp's other game, "Real Sound: Kaze no Regret," a Dreamcast remake of a Sega Saturn title. The early preview, D2 Shock Demo, features modified opening credits and a heads-up display compared to the final game. This demo includes a save file that can be copied to the Dreamcast VMU, unlocking a "secret movie" in the retail version of D2 in Japan. This movie previews the M2 version of D2, which was removed from the North American version but briefly appears during the hijacking scene.

In December 2019, a playable animated demo of the M2 version of D2 was discovered, coded to run on M2 kiosk hardware. This demo features the protagonist Taren performing a backflip attack seen in an alpha version preview of D2 from 1997.

The game was released in Japan in one standard edition and three limited edition variants. The standard edition features Laura on the cover, while the limited editions come in white, silver, and black, representing the Hope, Bliss, and Eclipse variants. The limited editions included a 2000 calendar packaged in a jewel case size, printed on a single translucent plastic sheet available in red, blue, or green.