Return of the Obra Dinn

Played this in it's entirety over the course of two nights (which, can I just say, what an excellent length for a game like this!) with a friend who I now realise may be the world number one Lucas Pope fan internationally. He spent the entire game geeking out, trying (and occasionally failing) to restrain himself from spoiling crucial parts that he was excited about. It was an equal parts annoying and electrifying environment for a mystery game. The game itself is a thunderous accumulation of aesthetic force, in which pope wrangles every single possible element of dramatic tension out of a relatively flimsy plot, utilising nothing but stationary (and colourless) 3d environments, silent film-style title cards, and a seemingly impossibly skilled array of voice actors to do so. The music is the real secret (by which I mean not even vaguely secret) weapon, combining with perfect editing rhythms to position the player within their very own dvd boxset detective drama. I called the plot here flimsy because it is. But the most frustrating element of the game (and the biggest problem, including the inevitably repetitive nature of the gameplay / obvious total lack of replay value) is probably that this only reveals itself to be the case right at the end. Because information is revealed in such an invigorating and disjointed manner throughout, the actual story of events as you discover them is really compelling. But the conclusion can't help but leave a little to be desired. Nevertheless, this is probably the single best detective game ever made, and the only one I've ever played in which 'detecting' is rendered the deeply complex logic puzzle it should be, as opposed to a dialogue tree with obviously wrong answers.

it's wonderful

this game goes from great to horrible once you actually beat it

the gameplay was SO good that I found myself so absorbed into what I was doing that I just beat the whole game in one go around

but like.... THATS IT? what kind of fucking idiotic story is this like the whole time I was under the assumption that the extra chapter was going to be some kind of all encompassing thing but it just tells me information that I pretty much already just inferred while playing the game for fucking 9 hours

like what is the fucking point of finding all the fates of all the passengers if ultimately I have as much of a grasp on the story as I did when I was like an hour in

what did I gain from spending 8 entire hours finding all the rest of the fates?

maybe I'm just bad at this because this game had me STRUGGLING to find information for some people and I felt so happy once I beat it only to just like sit there looking at the credits with my mouth wide open and my hands on my head

I was going through so many emotions trying to find all the fates because in my head there would be some kind of reward for doing so and like don't get me wrong I had a TON of fun doing so, but like WHAT WAS THE POINT??

hearing everyone compare this to outer wilds makes me SO mad, because outer wilds has an ending that made me FEEL SOMETHING, this game just left me empty inside and now I want my money back

before i share my thoughts:
if the concept (early 1800s nautical detective game) is even remotely appealing to you, do yourself a favor--go in blind. don't read guides, don't watch videos. turn your lights down, pour a hot drink, light an oil lamp. play the game.

great. back to it:

i don't even really know what to say. this is one of the most impressive games i have ever played, and at the end of 9 hours it has planted itself firmly in my all-time top 10.
obra dinn is an amazing accomplishment of non-traditional storytelling, player trust, and world-building. it's a masterclass on how to use limitations to your advantage, from the limited but incredible art style to the sparse but impactful score to the very limited but eminently functional range of verbs available to the player. it accomplishes everything it sets out to do with confidence and style. hugely impressed by pope and his small team. papers, please was wonderful but this has truly blown me away. can't wait to see what comes next!

Return of the Obra Dinn is among the most popular and revered indie titles of the past decade and it's really easy to see why: extremely aesthetically pleasing style, unique gameplay, unique location/atmosphere, it checks a lot of bullet points you'd hope to find in the world of independent games.

Thankfully the puzzles range from properly difficult (with a nice range from "this is a given" to "how was I supposed to know that") but none reach deep into the territory of the worst traits of adventures games (not clicking a specific pixel to progress for example or completely non-logical puzzles solutions).

The only trait with these games that remains is any replay value: despite the title, you can not RETURN to the Obra Dinn. The game is beaten once it's done with little new material to discover on a second trip. Outside this, the narrative of the horrifying creatures (both human and non-human!) that exist on the Obra Dinn has the ability to come on a bit too fast leaving you with a giant ship with a bunch of puzzles and no ongoing narrative to push you further after you've discovered each cut scene. Even the finale for completing the game is not immediately satisfying with the casual lovecraftian beast reference reference which for me, felt more empty than the rest of the references in the game.

That's minor gripes for a game that's otherwise an essential adventure game from the era. If you haven't tried it and like this genre, I urge you to play it. When's the next game Pope?