Reviews

• gamedeal user

  Sep 30, 2021

  OF CRITICAL IMPORTANCE!!! If you have any train knowledge at all, this game will actually BE HARDER unless you know this: running through switches doesn't break them, and you can pre-set a switch to the direction you want to go back through it before entering it. I spent several hours stuck because I assumed you couldn't run the cart through a switch that was aligned against the direction from which I was coming. It wasn't until I reached the junkyard, and was basically stuck unless I ran through the switch, that I realised this. Great game otherwise, if you like Cyan's other titles, you'll enjoy this one.
• gamedeal user

  Jan 17, 2023

  As a classic adventure puzzle game, Obduction seems somewhat competent. There is a lot of walking back and forth, and in the first 2 or so hours of the game, there are a few points where I was confused on where to go or what to do exactly. I did hear this game becomes more obtuse or tedious later in the game, but I sadly could not get to that. There is a vehicle early in the game that runs on tracks that is used in some puzzles. I parked it somewhere and went off to do something else. When I returned and entered it, it got teleported to a place off the tracks and was stuck, unable to move. Since this game only keeps one save unless you copy it (a very weird save system btw) and does not automatically keep multiple autosaves or quick save copies, I effectively softlocked and lost all my progress about 3 hours in. Other reviews mentioned some bugs and glitches, so I guess I should have seen this coming. I was at least a little bit intriguided even with some tedium at the beginning and the world had potential, but if I can lock myself out of progress this easily without doing anything wrong, then I won't waste any further time and I can't recommend this game to anyone. Shame, as it had potential.
• taviow

  Mar 20, 2023

  I can recommend this with a few caveats. I think all the major problems with the game can be summarized in 3 points: 1. Being required to slowly walk back and forth for puzzles (your character feels too slow even when running) 2. Long, stretched out animations to sit through repeatedly. 3. Puzzles that require sitting through load screens over and over. These things combined have the capacity to almost ruin the game. Everything just feels too slow. Even opening up the menu to look at your photos is slow, because the menu isn't brought up instantly when you press ESC, and there is no shortcut to open the Photo album (that I know of). Sometimes it happens that, long after you've intellectually solved a puzzle, you still have a lot of rote mechanical busywork or walking back and forth to do before you're done. And finally, long stretches of the game will pass with you staring at load screens. I don't know what percentage of my play time was load screens, but I guarantee it adds up in an annoying way. On the other hand, even these puzzles I find annoying to execute, I think are clever and inspired. I recommend this game because it delivers where it truly matters: the ideas are sound, the puzzle design is great, the game looks good, the story is intriguing. I enjoyed my time with it. I feel that, for Cyan's next game, a few adjustments is all they need to deliver a truly wonderful experience. The challenges they have to face in the future all lie in making the puzzles not just fun to figure out, but also fun to mechanically execute. There aren't many games out there to scratch this particular itch, and Obduction does a great job of it. I recommend it, if you have experience with this type of game and don't mind the annoyances that happen to come with this one.
• schiggakigga

  May 6, 2023

  one needs to be immensely patient in order to enjoy this game. soooo much slow walking and "running", the mini train thingy, the loading times, the swapping is just way too much time-consuming so i just went ahead and checked how the story ended because the story and graphics were 1A and i really wanted to love this game but nah i dont want to waste hours of my life walking around for nothing :D
• koralee

  May 8, 2023

  If you loved Myst, you'll love this game. I guarantee it. The puzzle design of this game is phenomenal, and I was able to finish it without hints or too much frustration, and it did take me quite a while to figure everything out (which is a plus in my book for a puzzle game.) SPOILERS AHEAD The only really frustrating puzzle for me was the pods on Maray. I didn't know the true solution until I looked it up after I finished the game (you had to bring up the mayor's pod to open the door, I am unsure how I should have known that). I just went through every pod until the door opened. I ended up doodling the codes on a piece of paper in front of me rather than try to go through the photo album, as it was much too slow for me to open up the photo album for reference every time. It was pretty brutal if I'm gonna be honest. It did however give me fond flashbacks of pouring over handwritten notes while playing Myst and Riven. I feel that there could be some improvements made, adding a shortcut to see your photo album quickly, for example. That being said, every other puzzle in this game took my breath away. It had the same satisfying feeling of accomplishment that Myst game me back in the day. 9/10, would recommend overall. I absolutely cannot wait for Cyan's next game.
• Նɿც૯Ր੮ע

  Aug 8, 2023

  A good successor to Myst. This means, puzzles are not easy and consequently the game is not suitable for everyone. The surrounding setting could have been better exploited (it is large but with little interaction) for example, many kilometers traveled on foot to press a button as if it wanted to be an open space but in fact it is not. The story is unsatisfactory in many points ... Overall rating 7/10 good longevity but the full price is not worth it.
• magic.mugger

  Aug 15, 2023

  This Game is completely addictive the worlds are each spectacular. The puzzles are so clever and fun you won't want to stop until you have solved every part. the story is intriguing and very well thought out. My hats off to Cyan. they knocked it out of the park with Obduction .
• gamedeal user

  Aug 24, 2016

  TL;DR: They meant it when they said this was going to be a spiritual successor to Myst. It's exactly that. You have no idea what's going on, it's gorgeous, and the puzzles are clever (neither too easy or difficult). Playthrough time is about 12 to 14 hours. Performance/Stability I ran the game at max settings and it ran very smoothly, 60 FPS, with the occasional drop in frames, but infrequent and not that noticeable (i7-6700 / GTX 1070 / 16 GB / 2560 x 1440). The game never crashed on me, but I could never get the "Photos" thing to work properly. The thumbnils wouldn't match the photos I took, some photos didn't take properly... the whole thing was unreliable. Thankfully it's not really a useful feature, though I wish I could have taken high res shots of the game and saved them somewhere. This was coded for PC, with Unreal Engine 4. You can tell it's not a crappy port from a console game. Graphics Graphics and scenery are amazing, it looks as advertised (or better). It really makes you goes "holy shit, that's amazing". The recorded live scenes look a bit low res though, and it does stand out among the high quality scenery. Gameplay The interface is simple and intuitive. I wish there was more music more often! It's mostly ambient sounds. Playthrough took me 13 hours; I've played all the Myst games before, but an average adult player should take between 10 and 16 hours. It sounds short, but it's quite an experience. Some of the puzzles are really clever, and it's fun to run around the worlds to solve them all. There are some loading times, though they're somewhat cleverly disguised, and usually don't take too long. Story A bit of a let down to be honest, though the concept around it is really neat. It just feels like it hasn't been fleshed out enough, which I was expecting near the end, but it didn't happen. Either way, I did enjoy not knowing what was happening, so there's that. Pros Beautiful graphics Clever puzzles Overall a very enjoyable experience Cons Buggy "Photos" feature, some people reporting minor bugs/crashes but I've never had any problems like that. Music isn't as impactful as in the Myst series. I hardly ever heard it. One of the puzzle, where you have to figure out an alien number system, is a bit over the top in terms of complexity. I got stuck in a playthrough without having had the chance to "learn" it first, and I just had to look it up online, and even then it was a head scratcher. The pros far outweight the cons, I'm just being picky. If you enjoy puzzle games, Myst/Riven, The Witness, or "walking simulators", I highly recommend the game. You're talking 12 hours of solid fun for the price of a couple movie tickets. Arbitrary rating: 8.75/10.
• gamedeal user

  Aug 26, 2016

  Got stuck on the first puzzle. Walked around for an hour in the same area pulling random levers until hoping they would do something. Still stuck. If anything my short time with this game has reminded me why I loved Myst and Riven so much as a kid. I remember sitting with my Dad and taking notes on the generator puzzle in the original Myst and my Dad explaining to me the sound puzzle on Riven and how the animals sounds related to a puzzle. I still have my old notes on both games. Obducton reminds me of those days. Now here I am again pulling random levers and working on new maps and notes. The team at Cyan made me love puzzle games as a kid and the satisfation of getting that rocket to work in the original Myst for the first time was like magic to me. Now I'm back again but this time older and wiser. The puzzles are still as challenging and the story still as obscure. For the first time in a long time I'm a kid again and my Dad is here with me taking notes on it all. Maybe one day I can do this with my kid and this time I'll be there to draw maps and he can push the buttons and we can blast of on the rocket together. Thank you Team Cyan for making a game like this. Now if you'll excuse me I've got levers to pull and books to link.
• gamedeal user

  Aug 26, 2016

  Just finished (18 hours of play time). Puzzles were clever, and neither too hard nor too easy. The science fiction setting was intriguing. The environmental storytelling masterful. Music could have been a little better, but who cares. I'm very satisfied with what I just played and am rooting for a sequel.