A Vicious Murderer Holed Up in a Hospital. Why Did He Do It?

Mitsuki Nonaka
2 min readAug 5, 2023

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#3 Horror Game 100 story challenge

Image Citation: From Amazon, a game package by Meals of D

Title: Meals of D (Dの食卓)

Compatible hardware: SegaSaturn

Publisher Release Date: Sanei Shobo 1995.4

In 1997, a mass murder occurred at Los Angeles General Hospital in California, USA. The culprit was the hospital’s director, Richter Harris. Without warning, he shot and killed patients and staff, then holed up in the hospital with the surviving patients as hostages. The police called his daughter, Laura Harris, for backup, and she rode to the hospital to persuade Richter to stay. She was In a hospital full of bodies while searching for Richter, she was suddenly pulled into a different space. She found herself in an old castle, and this world was Richter’s mental world.

This was a time when game consoles were improving in performance and graphics were shifting from 2D to 3D. While the PlayStation was overwhelmingly popular, the Sega Saturn was not to be outdone, releasing many new software titles, these could be called the two giant gaming consoles of the time. Characteristically, the Sega Saturn released a lot of game software that was great for young men (yes, adult games!).

This “Meals of D” was a pioneering 3D game at the time, and I remember being surprised by the image quality. The story was dark and complex, and as a lover of Evangelion, I found it very interesting. It is interesting to know why the father committed the murder, but what is deeply related to the story is the existence of the “mother.” This is done by collecting an item called a tamamushi during the game, which gradually revives Laura’s sealed memories and reveals the truth. It is one of SegaSaturn’s best-known titles, with many ports and sequels released!

See you tomorrow!

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Mitsuki Nonaka

Freelance writer/blogger 🖋 loves horror 👻 beloved horror novel, comics and films.