I really enjoyed the first half of the game, altough some things didn't make lots of sense. And then came the gauntlet puzzle and the labyrinth, maybe the 2 most frustrating puzzles I've ever encoutnered in an adventure game, and I've played A LOT of them.
The gauntlet puzzle made absolutely no sense to me, even after consulting a step-by-step walkthrough. It took me about 1.5 hour, most of them spent on loading screens.
About the maze, I knew exactly what to do with it in 15 minutes but took me close to 3 hours to complete it. Had fun for 0 minutes doing it.
These 2 puzzles completely ruined the whole game experience of what could be a 4-star game.
This game was meant to be a spiritual successor to Myst, and I think it delivered on this. You play as an unknown character (you!), suddenly uprooted from Earth and thrown on a distant planet. The beginning of the game is really well done, as it presents you with elements both familiar and completely alien. Nothing seems to make sense at first, but you will piece everything together as you explore!
The puzzles are not dumped on you in an obvious way, rather, they are integrated with the world in a way that makes sense in regard to the story. Looking at everything, asking yourself questions, taking notes and photos is essential. Everything is there for a reason. Getting clues to solve the puzzle is only part of the gameplay ; most things are leftovers, bits of stories from the people who lived there and will help you understand who they were, what they wanted, why they left.
The game is quite brilliant with its environmental storytelling. A few journals help with understanding the story, but you will still have to think to understand what was really going on in this world, as well as what your role is within it. The moment when you'll go "oh THAT'S why this works!" are really memorable.
The immersion was so strong I bought an actual notebook to record my thoughts and the clues I found (felt like a real Myst character)!
PROS:
+ Very strong art direction with varied environments
+ Great environmental storytelling
+ Music is rare but has really emotional moments
+ Journals tell the story of the characters and don't dump lore on you for no reason
OK:
~ Little warning: there is a puzzle involving a bit of math (learning an alien numbering system). I loved it but if you are really not okay with math, check the wiki.
CONS:
- Areas are large, and backtracking can be a bit tedious especially with a particular puzzle (the node teleportation mode can help).
- Acting is okay but not amazing. You meet a couple of FMV characters and the green backdrop is a little noticeable
Riven is my favorite game of all time, and I am a fan of many genres. Myst 1 and 3 hit all of my favorite notes as well, although not on the same level. From what I can see here, Cyan knows themselves as the ones who brought high level first person story driven puzzle games into existence... I now fear they hope to have the same influence on the genre in VR... squandering away what little time is left, as they should focus on bringing great puzzles to the next generation instead. This game is gorgeous. Unfortunately that seems to be the main focus. In their early games you would walk up to a puzzle and be mystified, slowly unpacking it in your head. When you finally cracked the code it would feel like a miracle! What a joy. This game is wandering through a gorgeous fractured land. Most puzzles I solved accidentially just trying to figure out what the puzzle was about. The only difficulty is keeping the shattered map together in your head. I worry Firmament will be more of the same.. I'll buy it the day it comes out regardless. All I hope for is that Cyan can drop one more truly epic puzzle game before the doors close. Regardless, they will always be dear to my heart.
This is a great game, but marred by some issues. Great atmosphere, the story is passable, and the puzzles (most anyway) require a little head scratching. However, the game requires A LOT of backtracking, and this forced me to go through a walkthrough towards the end, as I was more sick of backtracking than anything else. Also, some puzzle designs are fairly obtuse (the maze is infamous), which are only made worse by all the backtracking. A couple I could not see how you would have arrived at the solution through logic alone, so was glad I had the walkthrough. Other than that, a well put together game, and great for when you want something slow paced but engaging nonetheless.
I played all the myst games in my youth and have now finally the opportunity to play Obduction. Everything seems so familiar, even though I haven't played it before. I'm very excited, I can't stop playing.
