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Return of the Obra Dinn by RetroRomper 01/06/2019, 8:56pm PST
Apparently it is receiving a bit of press after being a finalist at the IGF, so I thought I'd check it out.

Developed by Lucas Pope who is famous for Papers, Please, the game has you step into the shoes of an insurance adjuster (or similar) as you go aboard the Obra Dinn, a ship that disappeared and has now floated back into civilization with no crew aboard. Its catch is that all visuals are heavily filtered through a classic computer lens (think green and black Macintosh display) and the game is played by writing a book (with pictures!) via seeing scenes that are activated by using a magic compass over a dead body to see themselves and their surroundings at their time of death.

Anyway, I sort of enjoyed it at first: the exploration aspect of going round and piecing together the cause of death of an entire crew of mysteriously empty ship really did catch one. The problem is that you don't actually do very much, as you literally wave a magic compass over dead bodies and see their time of death, while in conjunction the book fills itself with pictures of scenes that just duplicate the scenes you've already encountered. I struggled for a little while to figure out how to describe the game, because normal descriptors fail it: the track is very linear, actual game play is sparse and simple, and you are at best discovering the indie equivalent of a Nancy Drew crime scene. Then it hit me, this is a museum simulator more akin to that Smithsonian CD-I game from back in the day as you are literally engaging in an item that takes you to a display. My initial "wow... I could never think of this" and fascination with unraveling a mystery (the first few scenes suggest deeper problems among the crew, but then give way to Lovecraftian horror, which feels like a cop out for what should have been a murder mystery) to "oh... There isn't anything else?"

Add to the fact that at several points the game stops giving you anything to look at, essentially ending your journey until you find some obscure nook and cranny, the frustration of being a visitor to a museum that requires you to see certain exhibits before being able to explore the rest of it, really pushes the patience of the player, especially since even the "job well done!" dopamine rush isn't granted at all, even if it comes with the brutal crippling depression of being successful at propping up a dystopian society in Paper's Please. A few articles I read after playing explore the idea of Lucas Pope experimenting further with the concept of the player as a worker, doing a menial and otherwise unfulfilling task, but there needs to be some hook such as with point and click adventure games, where you are actually advancing the story.

On the whole, I wouldn't rec. Return of the Obra Dinn at full price - maybe five or six dollars - and could actually see it better as a itch.io game. That isn't to say the game isn't novel, well crafted, or interesting, but interesting is a lot different than enjoyable, fun, or entertaining and it needs at least SOMETHING to keep you playing. Even removing that aspect from consideration, Return of the Obra Dinn doesn't feel like it is doing anything new in terms of story presentation, storytelling, or otherwise changing the MEDIUM OF VIDEO GAMES AS YOU KNOW IT. There isn't any personal exploration - you are just a nameless insurance investigator - or real sense of wonderment of breaking new ground: this is the sort of game that isn't made often if it all, but that doesn't mean the ideas work or are somehow reinterpreting what it means to be a video game. I mean, I'm glad it was made as this sort of experience isn't that common, but there isn't a hook here at all.

--Retro
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Return of the Obra Dinn by RetroRomper 01/06/2019, 8:56pm PST NEW
    "think green and black Macintosh display" NT by I'm afraid I can't do that, Dave. 01/06/2019, 10:01pm PST NEW
 
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