Return of the Obra Dinn

Return of the Obra Dinn is a fascinating mix of adventure and mystery of one lost ship, disappearing on its way from London to the Cape of Good Hope. And five years later the ship appeared in Falmouth with no traces of crew on the board. You have to investigate this mystery, but download Return of the Obra Dinn Review at first.

Graphics 5/5

Graphics of the game is unique, black and white stippled and looks like a piece of art.  While there are not many movements in the game, but it looks very realistic. Not many games can amaze us with extraordinary, barely moving dots that give us a whole picture.

Perhaps, it was developers’ plan all along. They made game design looks minor comparing to the story they wanted to tell. And this combination definitely captures our attention. The atmosphere brings us back to the 1807 year.

Gameplay 5/5

Return of the Obra Dinn review claims that it is definitely a thinking game. The story consists of small puzzles with information, which you can’t stop gathering. The excitement is rising with every new story revealed. You need to complete a book about Obra Dinn with names and stories of 60 dead passengers. There are only a map, names’ list and one sketch of all people who were onboard.

An empty, at a first glance, the ship has lots to tell you. Things you will never forget. There is no similar game existed. You play the role of insurance evaluator. You will see the damage of Obra Dinn ship, returned 5 years after the disappearance.

Each corpse you find on the ship keeps the memory of the last events, sounds it heard before death. Now you have to gather bits of information and find out what happened. The coolest thing that investigation looks completely natural, not forced. You get involved in the game very quickly and start looking for clues. No hints or highlighted items for convenience.

Controls 5/5

This is a point-and-click type of the game. Navigation is not as important as a story that is why it is easy. You have to gather all tiny pieces of information from rooms, skeletons, one photo, and list of names.

The character you are playing could definitely move faster, and it would be so much fun to enter and leave memories with several options instead of one magic door that is hard to find. And yet, it makes the game challenging.

There is lots of information that is hard to remember. You will need to go back to a book, that keeping it all in one piece. And there is no alt-tab option for switching windows during the game.

Replay Value 3/5

This game does not have a direct answer to all your questions. And still, it lures us to play more and more until all characters will be revealed. After that, you can’t just stay away from it, want to try again, and want to find new answers.

Meanwhile, it is not so fun, if you already memorized all the fates or wrote it down and now it is just cheating. Your options are:

• amnesia.
• writing angry letters to developers and forcing them to give us more.
• bringing the game to your friends, enjoying their unsuccessful attempts, laughing demonically behind their backs.

Conclusion

Return of the Obra Dinn is a special game for true detectives and puzzle fans. The luck of colors can be confusing at first, but then, together with music in the game, it creates a special atmosphere of secrets and tragedy. It helps to travel back in time as well.

The most important this game is honest with you. It does not play around, and you will not receive any false memories or fake characters. It is possible, that Return of the Obra Dinn is the best detective game of our time.

• Graphics 5
• Gameplay 5
• Controls 5
• Replay Value 5

Pros

The fascinating mystery you need to solve;
Atmospheric graphics;
A lot of thinking involved.

Cons

Replay value is low;
Consumes all your time.