Return of the Obra Dinn and Papers Please both have the personality of their creator, Lucas Pope, written all over them. Yet, they are both so distinct and original, you cannot compare the two at all.

Obra Dinn is such a unique and creative way of storytelling, and the setting for it is probably the most interesting one could imagine. It feels incredibly real, mostly because of design: the ship's crew is diverse and 18th century-like, the languages are spoken by native speakers, the ship's design is true to its inspirations, and the interactions and motivations of the characters are exactly how one might envision them when thrown into a tragic story like this. The voice-acting is full of emotion, allowing you to closely follow what's happening on screen, even though you aren't even seeing the characters move.

The string of clues the player must follow is laid out in a scattered pattern, but I never felt lost in the story. Sure, putting names to characters is difficult sometimes, but I always felt like I knew what was happening in every scene. When I completed the story, I immediately watched a video with all scenes chronologically, and it all made perfect sense.

The one thing I would have changed about this title, is to allow the player to control cutscene length; at certain scenes, I felt short on time to view everything that was happening, while at others I felt like I had to wait ages. It would have been great to be able to choose when you want to open the book to insert the scene, instead of being forced to wait a certain amount of time.

But, this waiting time also adds value to the amazing soundtrack that accompanies every scene. It was fitting and well-composed in my opinion, much like the soundtrack of Papers Please. It would have been a disservice to skip the music on my first playthrough in my opinion.

Overall, I think this is an amazing puzzle-adventure! It's easy to understand, and hard to perfect, meaning that anyone will get a good kick out of it. I sincerely hope that Lucas Pope will develop more games in the future, because they are an absolute joy to play through.

One of my favorite adventure games in awhile. The mystery in addition to the world building and story unfold in an immensely satisfying way. The mechanics are simple at a glance but they work perfectly for what this is going for and carry the game nicely.

Was also a huge fan of the aesthetics and different monitor settings. Could see myself returning just to play with those some more alone.

Can't wait to see what comes next from Lucas Pope.

Holy crap. One of the most unique games I’ve played in years.
It’s rare to find a game that delivers this level of immense satisfaction upon finishing it.
Getting that last confirmation that you have correctly identified every passenger on the ship and their cause of death is a tremendously satisfying accomplishment.

The game delivers on style, music, an intriguing story, and satisfying gameplay.

My absolute only complaint about the game is that going back and reviewing previous memories can be a bit of a pain. Especially when they’re nested a couple memories deep.

one of my favorite games of all time, and one i dearly wish i could experience for the first time again! i think about this game often and i listen to the soundtrack regularly!

the first time i played it, close to a year ago now, i copied down all information in a physical notebook (even printed out and glued all character portraits into it) and i had such a fantastic time piecing it all together, i don't think i've ever played a game before or since that possessed me to go such lengths to track information (the closest is lucas pope's other game papers please, where i made my own list of passport info). i've replayed the game several times with the personal challenge of not taking any physical notes and 100% relying on the in-game book and that satisfies that replay-itch somewhat but god, what i'd do to not be able to recognize characters' faces anymore, not remember their names and roles on the obra dinn

I love mysteries, but I feel like video games have always struggled to implement them.

Adventure games became notorious for their opaque, hyper-specific puzzle solutions that, at their worst, couldn't be solved without strategy guides, and at best rewarded players for memorizing specific dialogue cues and chaining together the right set of items in the right location.

Return of the Obra Dinn sets out to test your actual detective skills. Your goals are always crystal clear, and you aren't limited to a linear sequence of clue discovery to solve each puzzle. Rather, you're given an arsenal of tools, hints, and clues strung about through the story that you can use in any way you see fit.

Every solution can be reached through multiple paths and you always feel that you, the player, solved it yourself. This is easily the best puzzle-solving game I have ever played.

That's to say nothing of the masterful music, visuals, and storytelling, but I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll leave it there. If you have even the slightest interest in puzzles and detective work, this game is a must-buy.

Return of the Obra Dinn is just phenomenal and I can't believe that I'm saying this because I dropped this game twice last year, but then I don't know what happened but I ended up picking it back up again from the beginning and ended up getting (probably) the most immersive gaming experience I've ever had.

I feel that this is one of those games that truly defines what separates video games from other visual mediums thanks to, what I consider to be the best use of the video game medium ever. This game is basically a murder mystery where you go to a ship lost at sea to investigate what happened there, and if this sounds boring to you, just give the game 5 minutes to change your mind. The more you investigate, the more you learn about the tragedy. The story itself is a fantastic one, mainly because of its out of order presentation. One moment its just a simple murder mystery, and the other moment it's.... well I suggest you see for yourself.

But despite all of my praises, this game definitely isn't for everyone as it very much asks for all of your attention, and there's also a possibility that you'll lose track of all the information that you've collected at some point if you don't pay attention. The game demands you to keep the story you've uncovered thus far on your mind at all times. The game itself isn't all that long, and can be finished in less than 5 sittings(like me), but the fact remains that this isn't one of those games you should push yourself into finishing. Lastly, for all the "gameplay outweighs story" people, the story is the gameplay for Obra Dinn, so.....

READ THIS
1) Try not use a walkthrough. You're missing the whole point of the game if you're using one, and you're better off dropping the game if you're doing that. If you're completely lost, checkout one of those on google. Don't watch the youtube walkthroughs at all, you'll end up ruining your experience.
2) I think this is something that anyone who's trying to get into this should know: the game, despite being confusing as fuck is very linear. It subtly does do a lot of handholding. So yeah, for those like me who were scratching their heads all the time in the first 1-2 hours, I hope this was relieving to hear.

All that being said, Return of the Obra Dinn is an experience I'll definitely never forget. The absolutely gorgeous art style, the soundtrack, the story, everything about this game is perfect. Definitely the best game I've played all year(so far).

Pros:
+ unique 1-bit visuals ooze style
+ central deduction mechanic is singular in the medium
+ the murder mystery hooks you from the first minute
+ death memories are incredibly designed and full of details
+ the game tells a fully realized story in a handful of static scenes
+ supernatural elements add a lot of intrigue to the story
+ faces slowly appearing on the sketch serves as a smart guidance system
+ the three-correct-solutions design is a great idea
+ the guidance book is well-designed and mostly quick to use
+ clues can be gathered in many different ways and places
+ some murder scenes accept various causes of deaths
+ incredible sound design and voice acting
+ the game can be finished with any number of correct solutions
+ the soundtrack is tailored to each chapter and serves secret hints...

Cons:
- ...but is far too blarring for my taste and cannot be volume adjusted
- no in-game system to record clues and possible connections
- memories play out twice for no apparent reason
- ghost animations after a death memory cannot be skipped
- memories cannot be played from the book
- not all causes of death are identifiable without some guess work
- some victims' memories can only be identified via other death sequences
- not all people can be identified in a given memory if they are too far away
- the final chapter is a letdown and reveals nothing interesting

Playtime: 11,5 hours with the entire book filled. A few solutions were lucky guesses.

Magic Moments: Realizing for the first time that there are supernatural elements to the story. Finally identifying that one guy with the beanie hat who is in practically every memory. Guessing corectly which place some of the crew disappeared to on my first attempt.

Most Difficult Deduction: The name and fate of the circus strong man.

Verdict:
Return of the Obra Dinn is nothing short of a masterpiece. Lucas Pope careful, precise creation of not one but 60 murder mysteries is simply incredible, and there are enough smart design ideas here to fill at least three other games. While the journey across and below the ship to each corpse and their death memories can get a bit tiresome over the course of a playthrough, the audio-visual style more than enough for it with a unique look that oozes style. It is save to say that Obra Dinn will feel just as fresh and exciting in the future as it did on its initial release all thanks to its daring but detailed art direction, even if the story of its crew and their often violent demise can only properly be experienced once due to the nature of the game.

One complete journey on the Obra Dinn however should be absolutely mandatory for any fan of deduction games, Sudoku riddles, or players interested in the dangers of maritime life in the 19th century. You will not regret it.

This game is an absolute treat. If you haven't heard of it, because not many people have, it's a game by the creator of Papers Please where you investigate the mystery of the Obra Dinn, an East India Company ship where all hands were lost at sea. You have a list of the crew, a few photos, and have to piece together who is who and how they died by traveling back to the moment of their death using a magical watch. Since people don't usually shout their names, what killed them, and who all the observers are from left to right, you have to use everything from uniforms to marks on the wall to make your deductions. The amount of clues and the cleverness of their placement is jaw dropping, and even minor crew members usually a solid clue to go off. The problem is it's "usually" instead of "always". While I didn't have to check a guide, I tallied up my solutions and only 3/4ths were done with direct deduction, and the rest were "I know your position or your race, and I'm sure of a few other people, so I'll just swap the information around until the game clicks into place". The game won't let you guess everyone, as you need to solve three at a time for the entries to lock into your solution notebook, but it's also loose enough to suggest the game is fully aware that some clues are way too hidden away and a couple characters are too ambiguous to be decisive until the end. The game's pacing certainly doesn't help, as you're forced to experience every memory before you're able to freely investigate. The other black mark on the game is its interface, presented as a book you're writing notes in. It's such a clunky way to navigate information that it feels like you're solving a rubik's cube with your elbows, and it took me a couple hours before I really understood how to navigate it. Even with the issues though, I love this game so much. It trusts players to be smart to a very gratifying degree, and I felt genuinely accomplished when I sorted out the mystery of the ship and each individual crewman. Absolutely play this game if you're even a little interested. It took me 7 hours to finish and it was so gripping I did it in one day. Really. Play it.

Mais uma obra-prima de Lucas Pope, Obra Dinn é um notório tributo ao jogo de tabuleiro Detetive.

A narrativa, baseada no livro de anotações do protagonista, é apresentada de forma anacrônica e confusa propositalmente, e cabe ao jogador montar o puzzle.

Confesso que não é um jogo pra todo mundo porque é relativamente difícil e pode causar frustração pra completá-lo, mas com certeza fica mais divertido se jogar com um grupo de amigos e um caderno para anotações e rascunhos (muito importante!!!).

Eu ainda não peguei o final bom mas ainda tenho vontade de tentar novamente em breve.

🎮 Platform: PS5
⌚ Time to finish - 5h
🏆Trophy completion - 100%
🤬Difficulty - Hard! I suck at these kinds of games and gathering clues in this game is a chore.
🌄Graphics – Horrible. It was so distracting and tough to look at.
🌦 Atmosphere/Music – dead bodies everywhere on a ship, i guess I felt like an investigator with a time warp machine?
📚 Main Story / Characters – As you uncover how people died, they die in some interesting ways. it was cool but whatever.
🤺 Combat – none
🧭 Side Activities / Exploration – had to do couple dumb things to get the 100% trophy, I don't know why. Those dumb things go against the theme of the game. Just give the 100% if you solve the case!
🚗 Movement/Physics – fine
📣 Voice acting – none
🥇 Best thing about the game - not a game for me
👎 Worst thing about the game - The look. The forced tracking to the same position 2 times, before a clue is revealed. First you follow a trail of smoke, then once you get there, it throws you back and you walk again to the same damn place. WHY!?
💡Final Thoughts:

I like puzzle and deduction games but in general is not my favorite genre. It has to really stand out. However, this game is not for me. The graphics made everything so hard to see, the pixilation was too much, the forced walking to same place 2 times was annoying. I did not mind ambiguous information, because that forces my brain to think, however the gathering of clues itself was a chore and a PITA. As expected for a game like this its very pedantic. Speared vs Stabbed vs Impaled... I don't know! I have to go back to the scene and examine it again.... damit where was that scene again... ugh i forgot. when will this game end? How can someone give this a 1 when the average score is 4 :)

Obra Dinn é como um novelo de lã emaranhado e cheio de nós que você vai lentamente desembolando. O destino das 60 pessoas que entraram no navio está entrelaçado e descobrir o que aconteceu com Fulano muitas vezes exige saber o que aconteceu com Beltrano, o que também vai te dar dicas sobre Sicrano e assim por diante. É possível passar alguns períodos consideráveis sem desvendar nada até que a resolução de um caso começa um efeito dominó que termina com várias resoluções simultâneas. A sensação de "eu sou um gênio" desses momentos é um dos grandes trunfos do jogo.

Claro, isso vai depender um pouco da abordagem de cada um com o game, e aí reside outro grande trunfo de Obra Dinn, sua não-linearidade. O navio é um ambiente perfeito para se colocar uma trama densa e convoluta e após a introdução você pode investigar cada parte dele na ordem que quiser. Essa não-linearidade não se limita ao espaço. O tempo também se tornou convoluto nessa arca amaldiçoada, com você revisitando os momentos finais de vários indivíduos em desordem cronológica. Ordenar cada uma das pequenas narrativas que você se depara de forma lógica e montar uma história que faz sentido é o grande quebra-cabeça que interliga os destinos de cada um dos tripulantes.

Como não há uma ordem definida para se experienciar os casos e a história do navio, alguns casos parecem carecer de informação crítica quando na verdade ela já foi mostrada umas duas horas antes e você não prestou atenção porque não parecia importante. No início do jogo isso é fácil de contornar devido à própria natureza não-linear da obra. Emperrou num caso? Sem problemas, parte pra outro. Provavelmente quando você voltar aqui vai ter uma visão geral muito melhor do que aconteceu ou terá eliminado outros suspeitos. Entretanto, nem sempre as coisas prosseguem de forma tão graciosa e seria mentira de minha parte se eu não admitisse que encontrei algumas soluções na base da força-bruta — principalmente no capítulo VII.

Dito isso, pelo menos em princípio a força bruta não parece ser estritamente necessária. Um guia bem interessante que me deparei depois que zerei se chama How you're supposed to identify people e elabora quais são as dicas ou passos dedutivos que podem levar à identificação lógica de cada tripulante do navio. Mesmo após ler o guia ainda teve uns momentos que pensei "ah, qualé, quem é que iria descobrir isso?", mas Obra Dinn não seria um adventure sem pelo menos um ou outro puzzle que só é óbvio para o designer.

Por fim, não posso deixar de elogiar a estética visual magnífica. Tenho certeza que deve haver ensaios inteiros sobre como Lucas Pope reimagina e resignifica as imagens em preto e branco cheias de dithering dos antigos Macintosh, então vou poupar a internet de mais um. Em vez disso, gostaria de dar destaque para a atenção que Pope deu para que todo o cenário, roupas, apetrechos que as pessoas usam, ferramentas e etc fossem o mais genuínos possíveis. Um trabalho colossal que tem meu respeito de historiador.

I cannot believe something this cool exists. I'm a sucker for old timey salty sea tales, and this games setting was a perfect example of why. Within the first 30 minutes of playing this game I knew it was going to be special. It's one of those games that I became obsessed with and stayed up late at night thinking about it. The aesthetics and 1-bit design were incredible. The puzzle solving was outrageously addicting and satisfying. The story and the way it unfolded had me hooked from the get. The notebook system was unique, effective, and minimalist, although admittedly it could've used a couple of QOL additions (an in-game note taking feature would've been great).

Overall this game was freaking awesome and right up my alley. Greatest detective game I’ve ever played and it isn't close.

100/100

This is the first - and as it stands, only (though i'm not finished putting my backlog on here) - 5 star, 10/10 rating i've given to a game.

I'm usually one to nitpick, I always find one thing holding a game back from true perfection, the full distance. And with this game, that's replay value. Once you're done, there is no reason, or WAY to return. But god damn my brain, because truth be told, I do not believe that can be fixed without worsening the experience.

By every account, this game is perfection. Sheer, unadulterated perfection. The sheer immersion I had with my friends & my dad (two separate occasions) trying to solve a mystery with seemingly endless depth is an experience I haven't ever forgotten. Putting together a huge piece of the puzzle, celebrating, only for there to be more and more and more. It makes it all the more satisfying to have it all fully laid out, fully complete - not much unlike a jigsaw puzzle. It's a genuine work of art, an honest-to-god practically flawless game.

A friend I have on this site, revachol_4eva, put it best. "My only complaint is that I wish I could erase my memory of it and experience it for the first time all over again."

Probably the best puzzle game I've ever played, I'm not kidding.

Return of the Obra Dinn is one of those "detective games", where you find leads and the smallest details to solve the mistery it asks you. Something like "her story", for example.

It's so well structured, well written, so many tiny little aspects you'll just find out playing it again.

Also, It has an unique visual, an AMAZING sound design and holy moly I better stop typing, cause I swear, I could write hours and hours of how good this game is...

I'm honestly shocked of how much I liked this

I played this game for an hour or two and was very much smitten by its artstyle, and its painterly death-moments, and its unconventional game mechanics, and its general sense of mystery; but I started to feel weirdly ambivalent every time I geared up to play it. Soon, I found myself avoiding it entirely.

And I suddenly, just now, realized why. The game feels like homework. It gives me the same low-level anxiety as doing research for a history project at school. I honestly don't even know if that makes it bad! I just know that it's not for me, right now, at this moment in my life.

I have to stress: It's 100% worth playing the first hour or two just to soak in the vibes, and see the kinds of cool, unique stuff the game is asking you to do, even if, like me, you don't want to do it :D