So... Daikatana...

If it's a video game it goes here.

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Kyosho
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So... Daikatana...

Post by Kyosho »

I have to admit something. I've always been very curious about this game. A game almost universally hated. I remember reading the previews and things and being a bit excited for it. And then it came out and was horrible, based on reviews. And the graphics looked like a 1997 or 1998 game years too late. Etc. I never bought it.

Some one made an offhand comment about it on another forum today. Well, people do that every day. But I decided to head over to youtube to see what the game looked like in action. Back then, I never even tried the demo. Only saw screenshots. Well, the game does in fact look like crap. The character models, at least. They look like something out of an early PSX game. The level geometry looks pretty standard for that engine (Quake 2). Sharp corners and whatnot. That itself isn't entirely a turnoff. I play old games all the time. And then I watched the intro video. I'd always known the basic story, but for some reason that video has made me want to play this game. While there was some cheesiness to it, the story still sounded interesting to me.

Who here has actually played this game? Is it a complete waste of time, or is it at least somewhat interesting? Does the game support high resolutions? Even the crappiest looking game can be tolerable in high resolutions. Should I shell out the $5-10 (shipping included) for a copy from ebay or should I just forget this all together?

I tried to find out if there were any fanmade graphics upgrades to the game like lots of old FPSes these days. But, I suppose, there really aren't many fans in general so it was kind of pointless to even bother.
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Re: So... Daikatana...

Post by Blackhawk »

Kyosho wrote:A game almost universally hated.
A game almost universally hated by people who never played the game, who only played the demo, or who hated it because it was 'cool' to hate Daikatana. You hear constantly about the frogs and mosquitoes. Those represent only the first level out of like 40, but interestingly, most of the demo.
Kyosho wrote:
Who here has actually played this game? Is it a complete waste of time, or is it at least somewhat interesting? Does the game support high resolutions? Even the crappiest looking game can be tolerable in high resolutions. Should I shell out the $5-10 (shipping included) for a copy from ebay or should I just forget this all together?
Played it through a year or so after release. Yes, the graphics were dated on release, but they weren't that dated. They were 1998 graphics in early 2000. The graphics weren't up to the Quake III engine stuff that was just starting to show up, but it blew the Quake II engine stuff released a year or so before away.

Daikatana wasn't a great game. It wasn't even a 'better than most' game, but it was fun. The first couple of levels stank, but once you got through them, it picked up. It was worth playing through, and there were a few levels that I thought were really neat (I thought the ancient Greek levels were great.) The real problem was the sidekick AI, which was solved only by leaving them behind, clearing the area yourself, then bringing them through afterwards. It was deeply flawed, yes, and frustrating sometimes, but there were moments when it was a really fun game.

When it comes right down to it, Daikatana wasn't so much a game that was behind the times as it was a game that was behind its own hype. It would be like Half-Life 3 coming out as a slightly above mediocre shooter. People would dish out the hate left and right because it was so far below what they expected, and it would achieve a reputation as the worst game ever made, even though it was better than most of the B-shooters on the market.

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Post by CeeKay »

I played about 15 minutes off of Gametap. It was so horrid I had to go kick a puppy afterward to feel better :wink:
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Post by Dan_Theman »

Although the disks are laying around someplace collecting dust, I didn't play it because I've never been a huge FPS gamer. That's why I generally only play the super-hyped and well received examples of that genre. However, my recollection of how people viewed the "true" game is much the same as Blackhawk's. Having been the victim of mediocre reviews, myself, I tend to think people put a little too much stock in those. Unfortunately, it seems as if much of the terrible reviews (outside of the obvious bandwagoning which always occurs in both directions) were based off of people being more dissappointed than anything else. It was a very overhyped release, and just didn't seem to come close enough to that level of expectation.
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Re: So... Daikatana...

Post by Giles Habibula »

Blackhawk wrote:... The first couple of levels stank, .
Yes they did.
And unfortunately, that's when I quit.
Since I paid the full $34.99 when it was first released, I think I owe it to myself to give it another chance. It's still sitting on the exact spot on the shelf where I left it.
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Post by Big Jake »

Wow, blackhawks post was spot on. Daikatana may be the biggest *failure* in gaiming, but it's far from the worst.
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Post by Davidbld »

The save game "feature" turned me off. Save points (where you needed Gems or some such crap) reminded me too much of a console shooter and I didnt like it in Daikatana. To frustrating, at least for me. I quit around level 2.

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Kyosho
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Post by Kyosho »

Davidbld wrote:The save game "feature" turned me off. Save points (where you needed Gems or some such crap) reminded me too much of a console shooter and I didnt like it in Daikatana. To frustrating, at least for me. I quit around level 2.

Dave
Ugh. I hate that. That alone might stop me from getting the game. Blackhawk's post made me more interested, but this save feature might turn me off entirely.

Anyone else want to chime in on the save system? Is it extremely annoying? Some games it is, some it is slightly less.
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Post by MonkeyFinger »

An interesting review of the game on Firing Squad from June 2000:

http://www.firingsquad.com/games/daikatana/

The save system gets a brief mention on page 6. End result is a 25% and a 'Microwave Award'.
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Post by Gwog »

The patches add in the ability to save anywhere.
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Re: So... Daikatana...

Post by rezaf »

Giles Habibula wrote:
Blackhawk wrote:... The first couple of levels stank, .
Yes they did.
And unfortunately, that's when I quit.
Since I paid the full $34.99 when it was first released, I think I owe it to myself to give it another chance. It's still sitting on the exact spot on the shelf where I left it.
Same here. These early levels are full of horrible design choices, imo.
The starting weapon (maybe the 2nd as well, I don't remember after all these years) was horrid, the enemies were annoying and it was annoying to fight them with the crappy starting weapon. I tried to play the game "properly" numerous times using different approaches, because, hey, I had paid good money for the game... but I just couldn't get into it at all. 'twas shite.

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Post by Giles Habibula »

Kyosho wrote:
Anyone else want to chime in on the save system? Is it extremely annoying? Some games it is, some it is slightly less.
It was annoying as hell.
But not a game-killer.
Back then, it was a small part of why I quit playing it. Won't stop me from trying again, however. My memory of how it worked is fuzzy, though.
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Post by Rumpy »

I think it's not so much the game itself that made people hate it, but the marketing campaign behind it, right down to John Romero's attitude, so confident that it was the best game he ever made. The hype surrounding it was majestic, so it was no surprise that people felt turned off.

Due to this however, the underrated gem that the same studio produced, Anachronox, was almost universally ignored due to the backlash that Daikatana received, and received almost no promotion from Eidos who was still trying to recover from Daikatana's marketing nightmare.
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Post by LawBeefaroni »

Heavy Metal FAKK2 came out the same year, IIRC, and kicked the crap out of Daikatana. Granted it was the QIII engine but even design items like dual wield, maps, and the puzzles were far superior.

And Heavy Metal FAKK2 was merely decent.
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Post by Eel Snave »

Rumpy wrote:Due to this however, the underrated gem that the same studio produced, Anachronox, was almost universally ignored due to the backlash that Daikatana received, and received almost no promotion from Eidos who was still trying to recover from Daikatana's marketing nightmare.
(sigh)

Someday I want a sequel to Anachronox. I never will see one, but maybe my children, or my children's children, or my children's children's children will.
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Post by Jeff V »

Romero said he was going to make me his bitch...so of course I hated it.

Eidos sent me an unsolicited copy. I asked my editor at CGM: WTF? She said, "Aieeeeeeee.....you've been marked for death!"

I gave it away to a coworker. He stopped talking to me after that. :?

I remember playing a multiplayer beta. There was absolutely nothing enjoyable about the game, I never even considered installing the thing.
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Post by jpinard »

Rumpy wrote:I think it's not so much the game itself that made people hate it, but the marketing campaign behind it, right down to John Romero's attitude, so confident that it was the best game he ever made. The hype surrounding it was majestic, so it was no surprise that people felt turned off.

Due to this however, the underrated gem that the same studio produced, Anachronox, was almost universally ignored due to the backlash that Daikatana received, and received almost no promotion from Eidos who was still trying to recover from Daikatana's marketing nightmare.
Yes, and the opulant and ridiculous spending that went on by Romero also didn't help. What was the total bill on Daikatana in the end? I believe it was ~$30 million or some utterly ridiculous amount. For the amount of money they spent, Daikatana was pretty bad.
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Post by Bruce »

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Re: So... Daikatana...

Post by Smoove_B »

Finally - it's now available on STEAM for $6.99.
Maybe next year, maybe no go
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Re: So... Daikatana...

Post by Daehawk »

They could give ME $6.99 and I still wouldn't play it :)
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Re: So... Daikatana...

Post by Carpet_pissr »

When I hear things like "title X was not nearly as bad as the reviews say", I immediately think "OK, and that would be important if I had already played every great game out there, and had nothing else to play." As for me, I have such a magnificent backlog full of treasured, highly regarded games, I don't ever see myself "settling" to play something that is merely average, ever again. There are just too many quality games out there now, that it seems my bar has been raised to almost ridiculous levels.

Merely an observation, no judgement involved, as I know there are many here who are just waiting for the next good game to drop, because they have almost, or have exhausted the AAA titles, just like there are many who have shameful backlogs full of games considered to be tops in their genre, that have never been installed. I've been in both camps, but currently in the latter.

Exec summary: I will never install or play this game. :D
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Re: So... Daikatana...

Post by El Guapo »

I'm looking for the cook, to bake me a Daikatana.

I wonder how many Daikatana sales were motivated by morbid curiosity or the search for ironic humor.
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Re: So... Daikatana...

Post by NickAragua »

Some people are probably curious what it is like to have John Romero make them his bitch.
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Re: So... Daikatana...

Post by Daehawk »

Him doing the ads where he was going to make you his bitch didn't help either.
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Post by Skinypupy »

CeeKay wrote:I played about 15 minutes off of Gametap. It was so horrid I had to go kick a puppy afterward to feel better :wink:
Side note: For the last week or so, I've been trying to remember the name of the 'on demand' gaming service I used to subscribe to. For the life of me, I couldn't remember what it was called and it was bugging the crap out of me.

It was Gametap...now I can finally put that out of my head.
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Re: So... Daikatana...

Post by Blackhawk »

Carpet_pissr wrote:When I hear things like "title X was not nearly as bad as the reviews say", I immediately think "OK, and that would be important if I had already played every great game out there, and had nothing else to play." As for me, I have such a magnificent backlog full of treasured, highly regarded games, I don't ever see myself "settling" to play something that is merely average, ever again. There are just too many quality games out there now, that it seems my bar has been raised to almost ridiculous levels.

Merely an observation, no judgement involved, as I know there are many here who are just waiting for the next good game to drop, because they have almost, or have exhausted the AAA titles, just like there are many who have shameful backlogs full of games considered to be tops in their genre, that have never been installed. I've been in both camps, but currently in the latter.

Exec summary: I will never install or play this game. :D
I wouldn't install or play it now, either. At the time, though, money was tight and Steam/GoG did not exist. That made it worth the time to play Daikatana, along with any number of other games I wouldn't think twice about today.
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Re: So... Daikatana...

Post by McBa1n »

I just wish I kept the box it came in... I purchased the game for 5 bucks at a local Microcenter in Cambridge just to say I bought it - to be funny. What a wise choice it was. I wish I kept the box - it might be worth something now. One of the worst games ever made made by some of the TOP level designers at the time - and tested by some of the BEST doom/quake deathmatchers back then (and by best, I mean, the ones not smart enough to do what Thresh did - but would pwn you all day/night).

I was fortunate enough to tour the Ion Storm studios whilst the game was being developed. It was pretty awesome being met by a friend that worked on the level design (amazing story he had) that met me at the security desk -- whilst wearing no shoes on. He made a quip about wearing the clothes he did and going to the top floor of the building, whilst others whom wore suits/ties and that, and they got off on a lower floor. My biggest memory at Ion was that everyone was huddled around a 'really early' version of the Dreamcast - playing a fighting game I do not recall. It was an incredible experience. It was fun watching a ship that had a ton of TOP people and a complete moron running it. I did not get to meet John Romero properly, he was playing that game on the pre-Dreamcast at the time (yeah, U2K might've been jealous). For me, it was a great experience on the eve of Quakecon that year. I was real lucky to see what I did. What a trainwreck of awesome Ion Storm was. I miss Bitch X's commentary about it - it was a fun time.
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Re: So... Daikatana...

Post by The Rocketman »

Quite the coincidence, RPS has just posted some -rather late - first impressions: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/10 ... ore-170998" target="_blank.
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Re: So... Daikatana...

Post by Hipolito »

Daikatana 1.3 fan patch updates graphics, makes AI sidekicks smarter and invincible.

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Re: So... Daikatana...

Post by Rumpy »

And to think it took 19 years to make the game more playable :twisted:
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Re: So... Daikatana...

Post by Jaymann »

I thought I bought it back in the day, but after watching that video I'm glad I didn't. Hexen and Heretic were the real deal though.
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