Why D4 is the best game on the Xbox One at the moment

The Xbox One is now out officially in Asia. It sports heavy hitters in the form of Dead Rising 3, Titanfall, and the soon to be released Forza Horizon 2. However there’s one game you simply can’t afford to ignore. It’s a download-only adventure called D4 (short for Dark Dreams Don’t Die). Here’s why you should be playing it above everything else that’s available on Microsoft’s latest black box.

(See: Xbox One hits stores in 5 Asian regions today.)

The premise and cast are refreshingly different

D4 puts you in the role of David Young. Your wife is dead under mysterious circumstances that you cannot remember. The upside to this selective memory loss is the ability to travel through time (though this is possible when you come across certain items available during the course of play).

There’s a host of quirky characters to help you out as well. From your old partner who has more in common with a bear to a neighbor who thinks she’s a cat, it’s an eccentric cast that makes D4 a blast to play. And it’s a welcome change from the usual tropes found in most modern day AAA fare.

It works fantastically with Kinect

Yes, you read right. This is one game that works seamlessly with Kinect. From voice commands to gestures, all of it just works. Be it swiping the screen to turn around or knocking on objects with your fist to interact with them, it’s brilliantly done. Very rarely does it give away any sense of inaccuracy that have been present in other Kinect games such as Kinect Sports Rivals or Ryse. This alone makes it worth the price entry if you picked up the Xbox One with Kinect. And if you didn’t, don’t fret. Playing D4 with the controller is also possible.

It’s a Telltale game, only phenomenally better

Most adventure games, especially those of the Telltale variety, tend to take their plots and scenarios extremely seriously. This is not the case here. A lot of what happens isn’t exactly integral to the game’s end goal of finding your wife’s killer, but that doesn’t make it any less fun. After all, how many murder mystery themed games give gratuitous airtime to an oddball fashion designer extolling the virtues of being romantically involved with a mannequin? Or have an entire mission revolving around clam chowder of all things? These moments don’t necessarily take the game forward, but they make it all the more awesome. The frequent tangential jumps that follow spurts of concentrated storytelling and plot progression make D4 a joy to play.