80%PC

Great game, but after the 6 hour mark I just wanted to know how it would end. Can get a bit repetitive after a while. The art and the story I did really enjoy

70%PC

Like I can recognize that this game is a triumph in terms of solving a mystery with absolutely no hand holding whatsoever but In terms of fun I think the game is just OK. Some good ah-ha! moments and some great "I can't believe I got that right" moments but I feel like slowly walking around the ship the whole game really dragged down it's pacing? Again I'm not really too sure but bottom line is that the game is ok.

100%PC

Missing 2 achievements

100%Nintendo Switch

Amazing and uniqe game! Wish I could play it again for the first time again.

85%PC

Mechanically cumbersome in the late stages, but otherwise an incredibly fun little puzzle game with an interesting story and story telling method.

80%Nintendo Switch

A wonderful puzzle box full of moody intrigue and top-notch detective work. Wandering the ship in the search for truth is a blast, though the game is held back juuuuuust a bit by ambiguity on the periphery.

55%PC

The game is great overall, however since the main loop felt unrewarding to me i unfortunately got bored. Great game, just not really for me. Might return to it in the future to try again.

100%PlayStation 4

Return of the Obra Dinn
• Third time playing
• One of my favourite games.

85%PC

Fascinating story that I decided to play co-op with a friend using shareplay. It was great to treat this as one large logic puzzle with a story that keeps on giving. It feels great to be a detective.

100%PC

Wonderful aesthetic, gameplay, puzzles and story. Biggest shoutout to the audio work which is simply incredible. Couple that with the staging of the scenes and you get some truly amazing moments.

Small touches were great. Having it kick you out of a scene based on time was super helpful in forcing me to do the next action rather than just thinking constantly about things without trying them. Would like to have been able to force skip some of these and a faster way to access some things towards the end but ultimately it's a wonderful experience.

60%PC

Return of the Obra Dinn is definitely not a game for everyone- it's a walking sim but you're not going anywhere; it's a murder mystery but there's no culprit, and it requires 100% completion to reach the true ending. It's its own product through and through, and it tells its story through a series of flashbacks in vivid black and white imagery. The stories told through these 3D photos you're essentially looking into are good- IF you have the aptitude to piece them together yourself.

Truth be told, if you don't plan on 100%-ing the game and completing the sailors' diaries, then I can't say I'd recommend the game; watching a video might be better. Once you go through all of the set pieces the game allows, you'll find yourself with a nearly-empty journal, and your time spent playing this game is about to double, should you take on the task of filling it. This involves cross-referencing several of the flashbacks, analyzing and scrutinizing every detail, and even a small amount of guesswork. It's not for everyone, like I said.

With that in mind, I think the type of person who DOES enjoy those aspects will love this game. You've really got to put your all into revealing the secrets of the Obra Dinn, and gamers who like to think will definitely be able to think until they've thunked out.

60%PC

The idea is very interesting, but the implementation suffers. The premise is that we need to establish the identities of all 60 people from the missing ship and what happened to them. I successfully identified half of them because there were enough clues. But the second half was a nightmare... I looked up a walkthrough and was just stunned - "How was I supposed to figure that out?!" In this regard, the game reminded me of the "good" old point-and-click games, where the only way to progress sometimes is through trying everything and clicking randomly. The problem is that in this game you'll be trying things for hours. + The game has a very specific visual style and it's often very difficult to make out what's going on, which also affected the experience. Several times it was simply impossible to understand what actually happened, and I drew the wrong conclusions. I won't spoil the plot, but I didn't like it. I expected more.

85%PlayStation 5

This game is very unique.

It has a great detective system that is very in-depth and detailed. The way you slowly uncover the story by solving puzzles and finding clues is fantastic. It makes you very invested in the story and the situation that happened on the ship. It is surprisingly detailed with many hidden details that can completely change your perception on what happened.

The music is great, but feels a little out of place during many of the moments. Something grotesque or creepy might be happening, but it is often accompanied by somewhat upbeat and cheerful music.

85%PC

It's a really good and stylish game. I can definitely recommend it to any puzzle enthusiast out there. I had a great time slowly exploring each chapter of the story and anticipating what would happen next. However, once I had finished the story and was left with the task of finding the remaining crew member just basically replaying in order to unlock the final piece of the story, it became quite tedious. Repeating parts of the game just to look for details or things you might have missed isn't that fun and from previously being slow it starts to become sluggish.

Additionally, the Russian localization for this game is not that great. I don't know about other languages, but for this game, I think you should stick with the English version.

95%Nintendo Switch

Acho que quando eu for jogar outro jogo de investigação, será impossível não comparar com essa maravilha de formúla feita aqui. A forma que Lucas Pope te faz se sentir o investigador dentro daquele barco e toda sua história perdida no mares é algo único, algo que somente um jogo poderia trazer. A jogabilidade em si poderia ser simples, somente andando pelo barco enquanto analisa os restos mortais, porém, graças ao relógio, aqui revivemos cada morte, com isso, toda exploração e expansão trazida por ele ganha um fator a mais e muitas mais formas de progredir. Sua história também é outro elemento que poderia ser dada de maneira mais simples, um filme poderia mostrar, mas somente essa forma de arte chamada videogame pode proporcionar a aproximação e interação de ser o detetive no caso, e, por essa história, vale a pena tal busca.

Viver Return of the Obra Dinn é participar de uma lenda urbana, um conto fantástico, uma história pirata que, claro, ninguém vai acreditar.

85%PlayStation 5

Spoiler Free Playstation 5

Obra Dinn was great. Essentially just a huge logic puzzle. Some answers were stupidly difficult to get without a little bit of guessing though and I didn’t care too much for the extras at the end

8.5 out of 10

100%PC

Really unique game with a really good ost and graphics i didn't expect in a modern video game that the game really takes advantage of which is really really good. The main thing about this game is the story that goes hand in hand with the gameplay.
Some parts were hard to figure out (i spent some time with my bf to find some stuff lol) but in the end it was satisfying.

Excellent game i recommend 10/10 :3

90%PC

Fantastic detective game with a story that gets more interesting as it goes on. Only problem would be accessing the memories again after the first time. You have to out the memory you are currently in and then find the body of the memory you want to go to and sometimes the body you want to go to is within another memory and the whole process starts becoming tedious after a while.

100%PC

The Return of the Obra Dinn is one of the hardest games I have ever played. This investigative mystery aboard the ghost ship Obra Dinn was one of the most engaging and delightful experiences I ever had in gaming. By the end of the game I was so happy with all that we had accomplished!

95%PC

Extremely fun to play, and a couple of my friends surprisingly got into it too! The audio design and music are outstanding, voice acting is good and allows you to identify certain characters based on accents or the languages they speak. There was one "puzzle," being the Chinese topmen, that was a little obtuse and not particularly creative because the solution to the puzzle was essentially already used, and the hammocks aren't in the current day, so you HAVE to go into a memory to access it.
Felt like a genius, highly recommend.

80%PC

Muy bueno

80%PC

Finished it now, though I ended up looking up a bit over half the names of characters in order to be able to see the last chapter.

I probably liked the game less than others, but I absolutely acknowledge that it's mostly due to me not liking puzzle games in general. I had a grand time slowly exploring each chapter of the story and anticipating what happened, but once that was done and it came down to slowly figuring out every crew members names and fates in order to unlock the last piece of the story, it got really tedious for me, and started to feel like work. At that point I was very tempted to drop the game actually, and rather felt like playing something else that's more enjoyable.

After having looked up the remaining unsolved crew members on the wiki, I'm glad I didn't spend ages trying to figure them out myself. Some of them were very obtuse. If you're someone who enjoys that kind of thing though, I can absolutely see how this game could be near perfect.

For me, I really wish there was a hint system, or at the very least a way to quickly jump into a fate straight from the book, without having to leg it to the location on the ship first. That more than anything felt like the game wasn't appreciating my time as a player.

I really enjoyed the story in this one though, with the way it was being told so disjointedly. Really built anticipation and made me want to dig into it and learn what took place.

Loved the sound design though. The recording quality was really nice, and I loved the OST, ambient sounds and the little jingle when you correctly figure out 3 fates. Was also very happy with the voice acting.

I'll give the game an 8/10 trying to be objective, though for personal enjoyment it would be more of a 7/10.

90%PC

Really satisfying game that slowly grew on me. Initially didn't enjoy being completely lost, and low graphics. Fascinating and sad story and creative gameplay - nothing else like it. Learnt a lot about sailing, and terminology. Heroic characters.

70%PC

Return of the Obra Dinn is a really cool experience, with a bunch of hiccups along the way.

Some of these are somewhat inherent, as the non-hand-holding nature of this game will lead to some parts just not being intuitive to some users, but there are definitely some features that could have been helpful that just aren't present. I think a good solution to this issue would be that, perhaps once you've solved 75% percent of the fates, the game would allow you to just access each memory from the journal, with maybe a few more hints available, so you aren't trying to figure out what the game wants you to classify a death as.

Anyway, enough complaining, this game's artstyle and vibe are just simply too good for this to not be a great game. The lack of color works really well, the music adds to the nautical vibe, and the concept, especially when you get on a streak of not being stuck, truly does make you 'feel like batman a detective.' Some people will definitely love the story too, although without any characters to really care about, it was hard for me to really get invested in all of the shenanigans unfolding, even if the non-linear storytelling was sick.

I get those who really love this game, and even if it's not perfect for me, I still think it's pretty great.

7/10
Game #16 of 2024, March 12th

100%PC

Adoro jogos de puzzles mas sempre sinto que sao injustos e esperam que suponhamos coisas muitos impossiveis, com obra dinn isso não acontece, o jogo te faz pensar muito mas seus misterios realmente so necessitam de um tanto de inteligencia, atenção aos detalhes e vontade pra desvendar, historia muito boa contada apenas com o cenario e uma trilha sonora e efeitos sonoros maravilhosos!

100%PC

+Great detective game that doesn’t hold you hand
+Excellent system where you are only rewarded after figuring out 3 fates
+Story told backwards but successfully gives you the opportunity to build the plot yourself
-First time seeing a scene blocks you from entering information for a minute
-It is not always possible to reach the people in a scene and sometimes hard to distinguish who they are
-Game can be very tetchy about whether a person was killed by an enemy or a beast
Review: Return of the Obra Dinn as is excellently done detective game where you are given the last words heard and last scene of the victim and use that to determine there death, what killed them and who did it. As the people don’t outright state there names at death you need to figure out who there via deduction by little things like what the do on the ship, there nationality, tattoos and who they interact with the most. It is not afraid to allow you to be incorrect which is the big saving grace in the game as you need to figure at least 3 fates before it will tell you are correct. This means that it is much harder to just guess your way to victory although the less fates less the more easier it is to guess the end. I cannot state more my love of this game to the point that all my criticism are just minor scribbles and that I fully recommend this to people who love deduction games

80%PC

This is a great couple's game. Work out the puzzles together

100%PC

Лукас Поуп гений, игра шедевр, проходил дважды

95%PC

Fantastic detective game, really tests your deduction skills.

85%PC

unique

70%PC

A nice detective game, it may be the only actual detective game there is actually. No hand holding through this

90%PC

Excellent detective game with a rather unique gameplay/puzzle mechanic. Complex enough to seem daunting at first, but successfully piecing parts together makes it satisfying.

80%PC

让我一口气打通的推理游戏神作，虽然说提到本作最令人印象深刻的是它的黑白美术风格，但是整个场景演出以及谜题设计都是一流的，自己一点点抽丝剥茧解开谜题的过程也是成就感满满。唯一不足的地方就是有些死亡方式在这样的黑白滤镜下非常难以辨识，再加上一些意义过于相近的词条让解谜有的时候变成了纯猜测。不过总体来说没有卡关的地方，各种细节方面也做得很到位，非常推荐爱好推理的玩家尝试。

80%PC

Achievement grind: 8/10. Dead men? Oceans? Piracy? Murder? Suicide? The Kraken? Solid game. Makes me use my brain in a way that stretches the muscles that don't get used enough.

75%PlayStation 4

Fantastic puzzle game about investigation and deduction. I spoiled some complex clues by looking them up, but overall it was immensely satisfying to piece together it's narrative. Hoping more games take inspiration from this.

Platinum Trophy #31: Return of the Obra Dinn

85%PC

Very good, i enjoyed the story and i love the style, but man is the game difficult to 100%. Hard to figure out names. But overall good.

100%PC

Obra Dinn is a complex mystery game with surprisingly high production value. One stat says it all; 43% of players have completed the game. When most games only get to 3-5%, that is phenomenal. I think this game is brilliant because the trail of bread crumbs is exceptionally well-paced. Giving you just enough to make you feel like you are making progress without handing you any easy answers or giving so little as to feel taunted. Everything in the game is a potential clue, and while there are plenty of red herrings, the very well-done minimalist art style actually helps keep you on track. While not perfect, I was very satisfied with the game, playtime, and price.

95%PC

Excellent puzzle game! Very interesting premise, hard but not too hard deductions, cool fresh looking graphics... what's not to like? I finished it in basically in a single day and loved every minute!

75%Nintendo Switch

There is a certain memory you need to revisit multiple times and for some reason I missed the clues. I felt like I had to guess at many of the crew's fate and a few times I disagreed with the final verdict. For a game made by a single person this is a really impressive experience but the fact that many of the fates tie to a certain memory left me wishing this game went through a bit more playtesting.

80%PC

I review games with all games starting at 5/10 (Average) and then deduct/add for negatives and positives:

Overall Thoughts:

Return of the Obra Dinn, is a detective game where the chief inspector player must investigate the abandoned ship the Obra Dinn, and find out what happened to it's passengers, using a magic compass that lets you see how someone died.

The art style and music are some of the best I've seen out of a solo dev like this, the timing of the fates being counted at the end of the book, the art style while only 2 tones of colour at any time, the world and the characters have loads of detail to help you identify who and what characters are. So much effort went into making every part of this game intriguing.

The story is great and builds more and more wild from the perspective of the player, it starts off at the END, but as a detective you are always more interested in how things began, and this game nails the backwards story telling, keeping things within reach but not entirely clear until a little later. Honestly the objective to identify the fates of all the sailors and passengers is such a cool and unique idea that is really compelling, I find it hard to put into words how enjoyable figuring out who someone is from tangential clues in the world, and small clues from character dialogue.

Recommend:

Yes, if you've ever wondered if "Guess Who?" could be a good game, here it is.

Positives:

+Great art style
+Awesome attention to music and sound effects
+Great story pieced together from back to front
+Interesting and unique gameplay

+4

Negatives:

-Some "deaths" like speared/spiked are basically the same, but the game cares specifically and won't unlock the fate

-1

8/10

100%PC

Great detective gameplay. Complex story told in an interesting way. Fun music. I personally don't like the art direction, but I can get past it. Having to follow the smoke trail thing is awkward and unnecessary. After the first "reveal" (in the Abigail memory), I was 100% sold.

80%Nintendo Switch

I can appreciate that this game is masterfully constructed, but after a while it became boring for me. I kept reminding myself that games are supposed to be fun, but walking around the ship and reading the book became tedious towards the end of the game. And the game has a weird difficulty curve where the beginning is easier as it eases you in and then the middle is hard since there are so many options, then the end wraps up quickly as you only have a few remaining options. Granted, I was fed up towards the end and kept getting lucky guessing, so maybe I didn’t have as many AHA moments, but I honestly didn’t feel like I had many AHA moments throughout the whole game. You’d see a sword on someone’s bed or see two people together in a scene and correctly assume they are the mate you have been missing, but nothing really made me go goo-goo-gah-gah. The story was just a regular sea ship story and then the missing chapter didn’t have any last minute surprises. Then after painstakingly 100%, you get hit with an abrupt “The End”. It just ends. No big reveals or anything. I keep contrasting that with some of my other favorite puzzle games like Outer Wilds, Tunic, and The Witness, and all of those are fun to play minute to minute, as well as have great AHA moments. IDK I guess I just had really high hopes for this as I’ve been told to play it many times and it didn’t live up to the hype in my mind. I did really like it, I just wouldn’t rate it up there as one of my favorite puzzle games. Super beautifully crafted though - the art, the music, the unique gameplay. All of it really is excellently put together, it just overstayed its welcome for me I think.

100%PC

Wildly intriguing

85%PC

Jam packed full of surprises and presented in a distinct 1-Bit artstyle, Return of the Obra Dinn is a fascinating detective game on the high seas. I really enjoyed unravelling the dark fates of the ships crew without any handholding - even though the ending doesn’t quite hold up to the rest of the story. Plays especially well on Steam Deck.

95%PC

Unfortunately your policy does not cover acts of God(s).

100%Nintendo Switch

Masterpiece. Very unique experience.

90%PlayStation 4

Amazing! An incredibly engaging and complex murder mystery that I became quickly obsessed with. A masterclass in creating environmental storytelling.

70%PC

I hated this game for the first few hours because I could barely solve any of the fates and because it was leading me through them in an extremely linear way. It felt so tedious and frustrating. I had all but given up. But then when I had seen all the memories, I realized I could go back and figure everything out. I wish it had given me a better beginning experience. After that, I had a pretty good time with it. It's pretty much "notice small details: the game." Plus some process of elimination. This game was often compared to Outer Wilds, which is my favorite game ever. So I went into it with very high expectations. It came nowhere near those expectations. The story wasn't close to as engaging. The scope of the game is tiny compared to Outer Wilds. It utterly lacks Outer Wilds freedom to explore. And it completely lacked Outer Wilds emotional impact. My favorite thing about it may very well be the way it looks. I don't quite get the adulation.

100%PC

I completed this 4 years ago and I still reminisce about it.

80%Nintendo Switch

Moderately fun investigation game with an interesting story. Seemed a bit hyped up on podcasts when it was new.

Solving the simpler identities/causes of death was pretty fun but the remaining 20-30 of them that required in depth study of the audio and multiple dioramas was beyond what I was interested in doing, so I used a guide for some of the more obscure ones.

The visual style was interesting, as a throwback to the 80s graphical style. However I found that some of the detail was lost on me due to it, and a bit visually grating after a while, despite having played games back in the era.

It was fun, I don't regret playing it. Though I would have been fine had I not.