Daikatana

For the Game Boy Color version, see Daikatana (Game Boy Color video game). For the type of sword, see Katana.

Daikatana
Developer(s)Ion Storm
Publisher(s)
Producer(s)Kelly Hoerner
Designer(s)John Romero
Programmer(s)Shawn C. Green
Artist(s)
  • Jeremiah O'Flaherty
  • Eric Smith
Writer(s)Jorge Gonzalez
Composer(s)
EngineQuake II engine
Platform(s)
ReleaseNintendo 64
Windows
Genre(s)First-person shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Daikatana is a first-person shooter game developed by Ion Storm. It was published by Eidos Interactive for Windows and Kemco for Nintendo 64. Players control a swordsmaster who travels through various time periods using the eponymous Daikatana, a powerful sword tied to the fate of the world.

Daikatana was directed by Ion Storm co-founder John Romero, a co-developer of the influential first-person shooters Wolfenstein 3D (1992), Doom (1993), and Quake (1996). Announced in 1997 as Romero's first game after leaving id Software, it underwent a troubled development that saw a change in its engine, release date delays, and the departure of several staff members. The protracted development, combined with promotion that focused on Romero's involvement over the game itself, resulted in negative publicity for Daikatana prior to its release.

Released in May 2000, Daikatana received generally negative reviews for its outdated graphics, gameplay, repetitive sound effects, and poor artificial intelligence. It also sold only 40,351 copies, becoming one of the biggest major commercial failures of the video game industry. Due to the negative response, a separate version for the Game Boy Color did not receive a North American release; it was released in Europe and Japan to a more positive reception.

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