qolelis on 19/9/2016 at 19:11

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Obduction is in my opinion pretty good (it being also pretty is a bonus not to be entirely scoffed at) and is probably going to be my Game of the Year (with (https://infragame.net/) INFRA as a most competent runner-up): it has a few quirks and some design decisions that I don't necessarily agree with (as does INFRA), but, all-in-all, this is my kind of game: lots of exploration, varied puzzles, huge machinery, abandoned locations, plus an okay story. It shares a lot with INFRA (not only the urban exploration theme), but Obduction, with it being set in an alternative universe, gives more room for fantastic, out of this world scenery. The visuals are nice too and I might even admit that great graphics can add a lot to the experience when it doesn't get in the way of the actual game, which I think Obduction abides by pretty well (the graphics support the gameplay and overall experience -- and not the other way around).

Obduction could also, with just a slight stretch of the imagination, be compared with another game I quite enjoyed, namely (http://kairo.lockeddoorpuzzle.com/) Kairo, but while Kairo forgot leg day, lots of leg day, Obduction did not, and, continuing the bodybuilder analogy, one could also say that Obduction is Kairo on steroids totally legal protein-shakes, lots of totally legal protein-shakes, so if you liked Kairo for its huge machinery, but thought the urban exploration theme was a bit weak and the story non-existent (as well as the graphics being a little too simple or maybe taking the idea of "function over form" a little too far), you might like Obduction even more, a lot more.

Disclaimer: I may have missed a lot of the competition, so my talk about Obduction being my Game of the Year might be a little unfair.

Edit:
After having actually finished it once, I am a little undecided about it being my favourite game of the year, but, among the 2016 games I've played, it is a definite contender. Right now I'm running around looking for more clues about any possible alternative endings (if there are any).

Edit 2:
And, yeah, it looks kind of "clayish"; realistic, but still off somehow. It's most noticable in the intro, though; the proper game just has a tint of the unreal (no pun intended).

qolelis on 22/9/2016 at 18:19

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I want to play this a second time before making a final judgement, and take things slower the second time; there was one part I kind of hasted through, which I later came to regret, but I feel that this was partly because the game allowed me to, when maybe it shouldn't have (and later also closing off my way back), although also partly because I grew impatient when it instead might have been better to take a break and return to it later. I'm still going to give a few preliminary thoughts, though:

* I really liked the main gameplay mechanics; it felt new and innovative, maybe because it actually was new and innovative or maybe because it was very well executed -- either way I had fun figuring it out and playing with it.
* Except maybe for one of the worlds, which was the most alien, I kind of felt right at home from the start, not necessarily because it was like home, but because I really like exploring new and unknown places and the feeling of antici...pation of knowing that something great is very possibly just around the corner and waiting to be discovered, but not exactly what that will be. The initial anticipation eventually wears off -- naturally -- while I'm exploring, and is then replaced by something else, something not of lesser value, just something else (sort of like in a life-long relationship I imagine).
* The way new places reveal themselves and new passages open up is great (and also how new passages connect back to an already familiar place).
* My favourite world was Kaptar with its sublime environments and architecture, winding staircases, and huge machinery. The mystery of eras long gone always intrigues me. I think I wouldn't have complained much if the whole game was just Kaptar with more areas to visit and more machinery to handle, although that would of course have defeated the whole purpose of the game. :p
* I wasn't too impressed by the story, which I felt lacked the depth suggested by the great environments in which it was supposed to be taking place, and the characters involved felt a bit shallow, as in me never really getting to know them other than by their name as they were briefly mentioned in a readable somewhere doing something of suggested consequence, and they felt defined more by their worldly actions than their thoughts and wishes (e.g. What drove these creatures into battle with each other?). The story felt to me more like a crutch for the gameplay to lean on -- not that the gameplay needed many crutches; I, more or less, fully enjoyed it, including the game as a whole, even without a more fleshed out story, but it would have been nice to get to know at least a little more about the different worlds and the creatures inhabiting them (just like in The Witness, the worlds were really beautiful and fun to explore, but they felt a little empty without the marks that organic creatures inevitably leave on the lands they inhabit -- and actually more so than in The Witness, because these worlds were supposed to be real places inhabited by real creatures). This goes for the non-humans at least; the humans' world felt a lot more lived-in. On the other hand, maybe the mystery of the other worlds would have been lost, and maybe the "locales" were elsewhere, outside the game map, or maybe these creatures don't leave any marks recognizable by or resembling the ones humans leave [yeah, a lack in symmetry here, I know, but it sounded better the way I wrote it]. I might also change my mind after having played the game a second time.
* There were one or two puzzles, in the way they were set up, that my body instinctively disagreed with, but that might just be me being too tired at the time, and hence too impatient, after having been playing for too long in one go.
* Running back and forth got a little tedious after a while (although that was greatly helped by the passages opening up as I progressed), as well as having to repeat almost the exact same set of actions over and over again for one of the puzzles, but easily getting bored by a lot of repetition might just be one of my less commendable traits (because, you know, all my other traits are just sooo commendable :/ ). I feel that some running back and forth could have been easily avoided, but wasn't.


Oh, I'll just keep it short, right? Right! :/

I just realized that Myst and the likes probably share the problems described above, but I don't remember complaining about them then; maybe my tastes have changed with increasing age!?

qolelis on 22/9/2016 at 21:08

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I wouldn't say so, not like in Myst with some of the intrigue going on within the family, but, well, there is one, kind of major theme that is pretty interesting, but I think I managed to miss the build-up for that, which is why I ought to play through everything again, so there might actually be a sinister vibe here; I didn't feel it much while playing, but that doesn't mean it isn't there if letting yourself becoming more a part of the world than I did!?

tl;dr: I cannot give a definite yes or no.

qolelis on 22/9/2016 at 23:59

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No, none that I ever saw anyway. I mean there are less than cosy things happening in the background (which you will encounter more first-hand later), but nothing to the likes of what you described. Someone more perceptive than I might have more insight, though (in case things are too subtle for me or I've missed a major plot point). It's more like a walk in the park - albeit not just any park (and drinking from the water fountain or having a picnic means first naming all prime numbers below 100 ;), but, other than that, it very much starts out as a walk in the park while you just calmly explore your surroundings). Well, sort of, anyway spoilers.

I realize now how long it has been since I played the Myst series; I don't remember much at all of the story, but now that you reminded me, I'd say that the story in the Myst series seems to have more depth to it than the story in Obduction.

Edit:
Like someone told me recently: if you liked the Myst series, there is a good chance you will also like Obduction (the puzzles and the contraptions are certainly there, and I think some of the story elements are in the same vein, even if the story, as a whole, might not be up to par) -- in case you wondered!?