Gameplay

The Third Circle of Pain

As if the physical pain caused by its graphics and sound aren't enough, Daikatana makes you hurt yourself. Have you ever found yourself playing a game and just gotten extremely frustrated by a stupid gameplay issue that you've began biting yourself like a madman? Well, up until Daikatana, I've only heard of this bizarre, creepy result of too much bad gaming. I'm usually relaxed, so the stupid points in a game will get a lot of cursing out of me and some laughs, or at worst a thrown controller. It was different with Daikatana...

There's da man himself, Hiro

Oi, trouble!

Daikatana has far, far too many stupid points to laugh off. The number of times you'll find yourself running back for your sidekicks is beyond count. Often, it's deliberate - they'll say they'll stay in an area while you go ahead and open a door. Sometimes - especially at later levels - it just happens. In Episode 1 we finally figured out how to get past this insanely pointless yet difficult and illogical puzzle, only to see that it's not the right way, the 'sidekicks-will-follow-you' way. Why is this a problem? It's a problem because you need both crack babies with you to leave a level.

DiE!	That's a prisoner. He's happy. I released him.

Fortunately, the puzzles ease up on later levels, but this only keeps the status quo. You see, as you progress through levels, you see the at-first useful and competent sidekicks degenerate into deranged morons who routinely wander off or go head-first into a trap.

Around the third or fourth time that one of the sidekicks shoots and kills itself, you or the other sidekick, you will probably be wondering why your mouse hand is sore and bleeding. Don't worry, that's only your own teethmarks on there. Generally it's not actually them killing themselves, it's you killing them. They are damn smart at times and interact with each other very well - they know splash damage ranges and limitations, they know not to shoot at each other and usually miss you too. However, since you are not AI and therefore not predictable, you might find yourself firing a rocket at a pair of targets with Superfly in the middle, punching them. To make things better, the death of either sidekick forces the game to restart. Joy.

Look at them enjoy their newfound freedom.

I'm not about to unleash that menace on society!

FPS Playing

The game itself is fast and lethal. Your characters move quickly and the weapons are powerful, leading to quick fights where a single mistake is generally a lot less easier to make up for than in most games.

The huge variety of weapons and monsters provide some relief from the constant suffering experienced from other parts of the game. Not all weapons are useful or cool, but they are cool enough. With anything from a rocket launcher through a giant hammer which does massive area damage (to you and your buddies too) to a simple crossbow and the wicked discus - it's an interesting arsenal.

Monsters might be varied in looks and behaviors, but they're not impressive. They don't work together like the marines in Half-Life did. They have only one or two unique attributes or behaviors, which is probably a worse decision than fewer monsters with more behaviors would be.