Gaming Return Of The Obra Dinn

[Solius]

Anyone else played this?

Been on Steam for a while but just been released on PS4 and Xbox.

Its basically a puzzle game where you’re an insurance agent on a boat that disappeared years ago but has now been found with all the crew dead. You walk around the ship with a logbook and a watch thing that lets you see the moment of everyone’s death and walk around the scene. It’s your job to figure out who everyone is and how they died. Pretty fun and interesting game. Certainly something different.

Currently solved about 40 of the crew. You feel like a little genius when you figure parts out.

 

[ivaldo]

I don't think I could handle those graphics.

 

[Redlambs]

Reminds me I've got it in my library, always meant to sit down and go through it.

Might get it on Switch now though to chill out at night with whilst the mrs reads.

 

[Solius]

I don't think I could handle those graphics.

You get used to it. I think it would be too easy in colour to work out who is who.

 

[Dante]

I solved about 4 and got bored. It felt like more of a novel then a game.

 

[Solius]

I solved about 4 and got bored. It felt like more of a novel then a game.

Well like I said it's basically a puzzle game with a story. Not sure what you expected.

 

[Dante]

Well like I said it's basically a puzzle game with a story. Not sure what you expected.

Something a bit more like Broken Sword or Monkeys Island.

 

[Volumiza]

Had a day off work today and downloaded this out of curiosity. Really cool game, very different and I love the retro graphics.

Dunno where the day has gone

 

[Solius]

Glad someone else liked it

It’s different to a lot of games out there which helps. I get bored of all the usual AAA games.

 

[Volumiza]

No, I love the odd little game to fill the blanks between bigger titles. There’s some great little independent titles out there and this is one.

It reminds me visually of games I used to play on the spectrum 48 and Commodore 64. I don’t mean that I’m a bad way, just the monochrome visuals tickled my nostalgia bits!

 

[dumbo]

I'm Obra done. It took me just under 15 hours with no peeking. I thought it was great. A clever mechanic, elegantly designed dioramas of beautiful little onboard dramas. An all round great game. It gave me that puzzle solving gratification I'd not felt since Braid.

A shame you can only really play it through once.

 

[Vidyoyo]

Well done Dumbo.

I just picked up The Witness and Baba is You in the Steam sale (both very similar games, I think). Will eventually get around to this one too.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

I'm Obra done. It took me just under 15 hours with no peeking. I thought it was great. A clever mechanic, elegantly designed dioramas of beautiful little onboard dramas. An all round great game. It gave me that puzzle solving gratification I'd not felt since Braid.

A shame you can only really play it through once.

I thought it was fanatastic but I found it too difficult so ended up cheating a fair bit. I do wish they had toned down the extent of effort you have to figure some stuff out.

Also, Braid

 

[dumbo]

Well done Dumbo.

I just picked up The Witness and Baba is You in the Steam sale (both very similar games, I think). Will eventually get around to this one too.

Nice. I picked up The Witness too, with Obra, Edith Finch, Rime, Sexy Brutale and a couple of others. I'm about to give Little Nightmares a go. Baba is You has gone on the wishlist for when I'm done with this batch.

I thought it was fanatastic but I found it too difficult so ended up cheating a fair bit. I do wish they had toned down the extent of effort you have to figure some stuff out.

Also, Braid

It seems to have taken me slightly longer than average (most are saying 10-12 hours to 100% it) but I always felt like I was making progress each session, no matter how small, which meant I could stave off the temptation. I took a break when I would get really stumped, and coming back with fresh eyes would do the trick. I'm having slight withdrawal symptoms now and might need to go and solve some crime scenes around my house.

 

[Vidyoyo]

Nice. I picked up The Witness too, with Obra, Edith Finch, Rime, Sexy Brutale and a couple of others. I'm about to give Little Nightmares a go. Baba is You has gone on the wishlist for when I'm done with this batch.


It seems to have taken me slightly longer than average (most are saying 10-12 hours to 100% it) but I always felt like I was making progress each session, no matter how small, which meant I could stave off the temptation. I took a break when I would get really stumped, and coming back with fresh eyes would do the trick. I'm having slight withdrawal symptoms now and might need to go and solve some crime scenes around my house.

Sexy Brutale is really good! Great atmosphere, good music, tricky-but-fair puzzles.

The Witness is also amazing so far. It's really hard but brilliant when it finally clicks what you're supposed to do. I read loads about the game before release and J.Blow (guy who made Braid too) said that's what he was aiming for was to inspire players to slow down and really understand something - also why the game is littered with philosophical quotes. Probably sounds pretentious but the experience is delightful. It's similar to Braid in that respect (but better IMO).

If you aren't exhausted by all those puzzlers then I'd also recommend The Talos Principle (one of my favourite ever games).

 

[dumbo]

I went ahead and bought The Talos Principle, it semed to be a good price, thanks.

 

[Solius]

Disco Elysium is another good game along this vein.

 

[Vidyoyo]

I went ahead and bought The Talos Principle, it semed to be a good price, thanks.

No probs. Hope you enjoy it.

 

[Maxii]

I went ahead and bought The Talos Principle, it semed to be a good price, thanks.

Bought that last week and really enjoyed it. Puzzles become a bit repetitive towards the last phase but overall it’s a solid game with an interesting narrative. Especially for €5

 

[Ainu]

Sexy Brutale is really good! Great atmosphere, good music, tricky-but-fair puzzles.

The Witness is also amazing so far. It's really hard but brilliant when it finally clicks what you're supposed to do. I read loads about the game before release and J.Blow (guy who made Braid too) said that's what he was aiming for was to inspire players to slow down and really understand something - also why the game is littered with philosophical quotes. Probably sounds pretentious but the experience is delightful. It's similar to Braid in that respect (but better IMO).

If you aren't exhausted by all those puzzlers then I'd also recommend The Talos Principle (one of my favourite ever games).

In my opinion the true brilliance of The Witness is that it manages to teach you a set of rules which eventually gets quite complex without ever giving you an explicit rule book. It's not just a collection of clever, increasingly difficult puzzles but also an incredibly intuitive approach to puzzle game design. Having said that though, the game gives you quite a bit of freedom and some paths shouldn't be attempted before certain other paths, which might lead to some frustration if you don't realize what you're missing.

On the topic: I liked Obra Dinn as a short diversion between other games but I didn't think it was particularly great. I initially really enjoyed the atmosphere and puzzle style but the novelty wore off about halfway through. Mopping up clues you might've missed wasn't exactly fun and there were one or two cases where it was almost impossible to see what was going on for me. I had to resort to guesswork and when I got the right answer and reviewed my information, I remember thinking that really wasn't presented as well as it could. Still, fun and intriguing for a couple of hours but if you compare it to other puzzlers, it certainly feels like style over substance.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Nice. I picked up The Witness too, with Obra, Edith Finch, Rime, Sexy Brutale and a couple of others. I'm about to give Little Nightmares a go. Baba is You has gone on the wishlist for when I'm done with this batch.


It seems to have taken me slightly longer than average (most are saying 10-12 hours to 100% it) but I always felt like I was making progress each session, no matter how small, which meant I could stave off the temptation. I took a break when I would get really stumped, and coming back with fresh eyes would do the trick. I'm having slight withdrawal symptoms now and might need to go and solve some crime scenes around my house.

I was doing fine for the first 20/30 fates. But I struggle to understand how you all figured out everything. You have to understand all the different designations well, and then often walk through various scenes to investigate. Just seemed like too much eventually. I did as much as using clues from the scenes and some guess work (nationality etc ).