Posted on: January 3, 2022

NeoRanger

Games: 517 Reviews: 24

MY BUDDY, SUPERFLY

There are some games that were panned upon release that benefit from hindsight. Maybe the time wasn't right. Maybe development was troubled. Maybe the execution doesn't quite land, but the ideas are good. Daikatana isn't one of those games. This was bad by 2000 standards, it was bad by 1997 standards, it was bad by 1993 standards. The thing about Daikatana is that it was definitely ambitious; a transchronologic adventure, with AI partners and a whole host of diverse weapons, as well as an overwritten plot. Certainly for its time, it could even be considered innovative for the genre. The problem is that the execution isn't there and it's not there in a big way. Buggy and glitchy; AI partner pathfinding breaking or getting stuck in geometry (leading to entire level reloads). Level design that is tedious at the best of times. Melee combat that is woefully unresponsive (big problem when your game is centered around a magic sword). Ugly, with repetitive music loops and sound effects. Even the story, as innovative as it might sound as an idea, is terribly written. What the game does have is a nice combat flow; shooting and movement feel good, but this is not enough to balance out everything else. Don't play it. Don't buy it. Even as a curio. It's not worth it. Even the 1.3 fan patch, as much as it fixes some things, can't fix the shattered foundations of this disasterous piece of electronic abortion.

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Posted on: February 19, 2025

IncarnateAlpha

Verified owner

Games: 55 Reviews: 21

Disappointing but playable when patched

The 1.3 update fixes the technical flaws, so I'll bump it up to 5/10. It's tolerable as long as you adjust the AI settings and unlimited saves. Operating as intended, Daikatana is still lame. Hitscan enemies nail you with 100% accuracy the millisecond you open a door, and the early weapons and enemies were poorly designed for the environment. It's not "the worst game ever," at least the PC version isn't. Whoever says that hasn't played many games. A depressing number of games then lacked manual saves. The sadistic level design is way more forgiving and intuitive than Hexen. Unreal, C&C Renegade, Red Faction, and Halo had levels just as inept and frustrating as Daikatana's jungle sequence. Hell, Daikatana can't even claim the title of most atrocious jungle mission in the year 2000, that goes to Hitman.

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Posted on: August 31, 2025

i1ilan

Verified owner

Games: 93 Reviews: 5

I like this game very much.

I played it with unofficial patch 1.3. Only thing to say, it was very ahead of its time and the used quake2 engine was not ready for all the features it should have. Game has very good level design, music plays very well along. Puzzles are good. Weapons also fit in. You can even "level up" some perks (power, speed, etc). You should really give it a try. In todays fancy graphics, cheap stories and toddlers gameplay stands very well. Go and try for your self.

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Posted on: February 7, 2013

Karekristensson

Games: 714 Reviews: 42

Actually rather fun and enjoyable.

Even though the game has the reputation of being the worst game ever, it has its fair share of fun moments. The enviroments are quite nice and different kinds of weapons and enemies spice things up. Although the AI of your partners are rather lacking and it can lead to them getting stuck at a point that eventually kills them and you will be forced to restart or reload a save file as it is impossible to progress any further without them.

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Posted on: February 8, 2013

Br0seidon

Games: 20 Reviews: 1

Fun, with a few flaws

As much as everyone craps on this game, I enjoyed it to a degree. It suffers from lackluster design and story, but otherwise; it's enjoyable. If you can pick it up for three bucks or less, it's worth a play. More than that? I can't really say it's worth it.

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