Return of the Obra Dinn

As usually the first and the positive reviews are the only ones with any visibility I don't think that you will read this but... I did not like this game. The visual aspect is amazing, the sound design is out of this world, and the walking simulation aspect of triggering different flashbacks to join the dots is cool. But then you are left with "tell who was this character, how it died and if someone killed it, who". As if that mechanic could hold the entire game. Spoilers: it does not because Obra Dinn barely defines the characters, barely defines the motivation and barely defines anything. It has a couple of wonderful ingredients but it leaves you just with trial and error between people from the same nationality in combinations of 3 or 4. Moreover, I can excuse the gaps in storytelling as gaps that you can fill yourself, but this game seriously lacks for some common element that could push you to feel the tragedy of the ship. It feels gamey, it feels artificial, it feels even pedantic and it feels, most of all, like a waste of serious technical talent.

(Completely subjective) Beautiful and unique art style paired with matching atmospheric music set the stage for a delightful experience while slowly solving/deducing the book of the obra dinn. ...but when I finished the game and connected the last piece of the puzzle, last piece of the story, I've realized there was nothing waiting for me and the whole buildup of the characthers and the story just crashed like a ten story building. I don't know how to express my dissapointment with how hollow the ending left me. No murder mystery, no plot twist, no major puzzle pieces that change or provide further explanation of the 'mystery', nothing that would leave me satisfied apart from the fact that I finished lackluster ending ruined it for me

Had fun with the game for two hours, then the game crashed, corrupted the save file and reset all my progress. This is why you should have save file rotation in your games, even with auto save.

I would very much like to review the game content, but that stays inaccessible to me. There is no known way to remap the key bindings. I searched the forums on several sites, checked support, readme files - nope. Controls hardcoded, no config files anywhere. (I'd be glad if you can prove me wrong). So Unless the pre-set controls happen to match your preferences and hands, it might be very tedious to play. Serious WARNING for those with non-standard hands/input facilities.

Though the game might be fun, the lack of any way to change the controls means it will forever be unplayed. It's the 21st century. games have offered key control rebinding since marble madness on the Amiga, there is no excuse.