I play games like this on the Xbox in our living room the whole family gets involved with solving the puzzles. My kids get super addicted and have to think creatively. Not to mention the time spent together.💜
I loved this game in spite of having the exact same problems. Part of it is just the nature of the genre, you can't make everything too obvious, but it would've been nice if there were more visual clues as to how many levels an elevator has, or whether you can move a lever a certain way, etc. But the single biggest issue was the loading times between worlds, and the amount of backtracking you can end up doing. It absolutely does require patience
@MAVERICK PLAYS No it's true, he was a huge Myst & Riven fan. He ended up getting a Macbook Pro because it was better for work, thinking Obduction would also work. But it ran like total shit (don't game on Mac lmao), so he never did play it unfortunately. I saw the game is free on Epic games store this week. I'll download it on my 'gaming' laptop and let him play it when I'm home over Christmas
@@nintendokings thats too bad. i really wish apple would give proper GPUs a chance again. I miss the days of NVidia macs... even if they still weren't graphical beasts, it was at least something
Wow this Review came out of nowhere. Was *not* expecting Gamespot to review a game that practically had *_zero hype_*. That's good, though. Smaller, non-AAA games like _Obduction_ need the exposure.
Important =/= Hype. My point was that Gamespot _rarely_ ever reviews games that have almost _zero_ hype. I mean, there weren't even Promotional videos on this game leading up to this review! That's what I meant when I said this Review came out of nowhere.
wow just went to the myst online site and this is what the site admin said Just a quick note. The release date for Obduction is coming up fast (YIKES!!!) and we are putting all of our focus on that. Which means we have not been able to put much focus on MOULa and it’s account creation system (or the lack thereof). This is especially true for requests for new accounts or activation of old accounts. In the meantime, if you need assistance with MOULa accounts, please create a ticket at support.cyan.com/ You will get an “auto-response” but please be patient, as you may not get a real response until after Obduction is released.
For the youngsters that naturally did not play the previous games in the series... this is definitely NOT a walking simulator nor a "minor" game by some obscure developer. It's the last iteration in a series of milestone games that include Myst (the first one). Complex environmental puzzles it's their signature mark and i understand the reviewer pointing this out to a generation of gamers used to far more approachable games... i remember in Riven you had to connect the sound of the animal you heard in the distance while rolling balls scattered across the islands to solve one of the last puzzles.. i mean it took me two weeks to realise that in an era when internet was not there to help with walkthroughs. This said the environment for what i see here appears to me quite unimaginative compared to that of Riven! And no islands??
The entirety of your comment is spot on right up until you said the environment is unimaginative. I can't explain why without spoiling basically the very core concept of the story behind the game. Please believe me when I say that the environments they created in this game are stunning, both visually and conceptually. Especially once you reach the point in the game when you truly fathom the nature and structure of your new reality.
i actually can't wait for it to make it onto ps4 and buy it. I actuallybrowsed Cyan's website and i have seen other environments as well. From the review i imagined it was a single arizona-like world (a single world a la riven or myst). On the contrary there are many very different locations some of which quite intriguing!
What is the best entry point for this style of game? I would have picked The Witness but that games' 'eureka moment' was spoiled for me. Also, is progress as cryptic as point-and-click adventure games (which I find very frustrating!).
I think people don’t like this game so much because they just simply don’t like puzzles. I think if you like puzzle games, you’ll like this game overall. The puzzles are definitely on the harder side (and by harder side I mean, leaning more towards The Witness rather than Limbo), but if you like a challenge then it’s great. It’s entirely personal preference though and if puzzles don’t tickle your fancy, this game is not for you.
I don't know about you but I found the puzzles in this game to be somewhat difficult although it is pretty gratifying once you solve them successfully.
When looking for vr adventure games to play and deciding if I should buy Obduction, when I saw it was made by the same people as Myst, I bought it right away. It is easily the best vr adventure game I've played so far. Would I recommend it? Well it would depend on if you are an adventure game player. If you've played Myst and Riven and liked those games, you will love Obduction. If you want to try an adventure game for the first time you, you should start with something easier that holds your hand. Obduction throws you into a world with no idea of what you are doing there or what you are supposed to do. It is only through exploration that you slowly piece things together. As such your first play through will probably be the most satisfying.
I play Obduction now and this review is by FAR the best in all internet. I was simply amazed by the game in 1 half and bored and irritated in the 3 world. Overall good game, but they could do much better. Game lacks Riven-style grand and natural to the world puzzles. For example - some puzzles you forsed to solve only because you character cant climb a little fence wich is stupid.
To all who are curious, here are my two cents on the game being a huge fan of the Myst series. This will be stream of conscious and not in any particular order: - The game is absolutely beautiful. I genuinely love just looking around in this game because it is that damn pretty. Also, the soundtrack is fantastic. - The game is not as hard as you think, and actually quite linear. Unlike previous games, you kinda have to unlock things in a sequence before progressing (most of the time.) This is a downside as I would have liked to have gotten stuck in one place, get frustrated, tried another puzzle, than come back at a later time. - On that note, there are not as many "puzzles" as I would have liked. Most of the time you are not able to progress because you just missed a switch somewhere. But to each their own. - One of the "worlds" is hands down just lazy. When you get to it, you will know the exact one I am talking about. The rest of them though are very fantastic and fleshed out - It is a HUGE game in file size so you really need to look at the specs it takes to run. - LOAD TIMES! HOLY SHIT THIS IS THE BIGGEST ONE! One of the main downsides to this game is the amount of loading it will do specifically when you "transport". Jesus, if you speedrun this game it will probably take you an hour and a half...with half of that time being load screens. Also, one of the puzzles relies heavily on you "transporting" so its one load screen after another (have fun in that maze people) - Act 3 really fell flat to me. Act 1 and 2 though are pretty damn awesome. Overall, I really liked this game. Perfect predecessor to games like Myst and Riven. If you liked those games, you will like this one. Its not as hard as either (specifically Riven) but its still worth a play-through. You will still have the "ah-ha" moments and the story is just as vague as the originals (in a good way) I would love to see more from Cyan and more story/puzzle games like this. Worth the $30 and a weekend of play.
I think they ended up lacking time and resources for that final world. Development was full of hurdles and they ended up not being able to make that last world like they intended to. It looks lazy and it really disappointed me as well, but once you know this fact, it makes perfect sense. It's a shame and in my opinion it does hurt the game a lot, but it doesn't make the first two worlds any less amazing. I agree with you that the third world fell a little flat, but the last section of that world was really eerie and fascinating.
I believe that the lack of that final world was due to them not meeting a particular Kickstarter stretch goal. So it ended up as nothing more than somewhere pretty to look at but ultimately contained no puzzles. Agree with the loading times, too. That maze puzzle you mentioned was a bit frustrating just because of all of the transporting required to get past it. Also agreed that the game is far more linear than the reviewer here let on. You really do / can solve the game in a strict order.
I agree that everything up to the last part of the game was great and endgame fell a little flat for me. But I enjoyed nonetheless. Also, Obduction is the *successor to Myst and Riven, not the predecessor
Agree with the criticisms in the review, but I still absolutely loved this game. Definitely up there or even better than the first Myst games. I'd highly recommend Outer Wilds (not Worlds!) and Quern too, and both are easier to get along with than this.
Just finished this, definitely worth the price, and agreed that the later half gets a bit repetitive and difficult, but over my whole 18hrs playthrough I only looked up a hint to get unstuck two times, and looking back it was because of poor puzzle design not lack of understanding, mainly for the ridiculous gauntlet puzzle :| but yeah, play it!
The gauntlet puzzle was very well designed from my view. Didn't need hints. The troll control box was quite an annoyance, if you can't read Russian and that large-toothed gear didn't seem like the player would even fit through it. Otherwise, the puzzles were really good. The only dumb mistake I made was trying to convert license plate letters (1-26) to base four before I thought to just use the dialing letters. Duh! I over-thought that one but this kind of thinking paid off later.
Guys, It's a PUZZLE game!!! Seriosly, let some word become popular and people would use it to the point of it loosing it's meaning... I don't like the term walking simulator, but i can understand why people may not like the games like Gone Home or Firewatch (yet i like them). It's understandable as those games do not have challenge or failure points so they are not even games in the traditional ways. But calling the game a walk sim only because of backtracking is just stupid. Really, people would call early The Elder Scrolls games walking simulators only because of lack of fast travel... I've never asked for this.
To beat the game in 12 hours on my first playthrough, online guides were a necessity. I was never stumped with a puzzle (except maybe the Russian box, but then again it isn't even a puzzle), only clueless as to how to progress. The puzzles themselves aren't easy, but can seem rudimentary once you understand how they work, but the real challenge in this game lies in finding how to progress to each puzzle. This is why I needed a hint every once in a while: I don't care to backtrack and spend hours looking for the one thing I missed two hours earlier in my playthrough. I just wanted to solve puzzles, not tediously scour the landscape for any new route hidden in the largely homogeneous landscapes of Hunrath and Kaptar. While homogeneous, though, the aesthetic of this game completes it. It's the consistency of this aesthetic coupled with the novel concepts in how these environments work that make this game a joy to play. For me, the highlight of the game is the tree room (which seems to be its own level entirely) and how it both ties in to some of the puzzles and the game's overarching lore. The way this game ties story with puzzle shows the mastery the developers have over their medium and the degree to which they used that mastery to craft this game. That is to say, a very high degree. This game is definitely worth the price, and it's a steal on sale. Definitely worth getting in the Cyan bundle. tl;dr could have flowed between puzzle to puzzle more effectively, but more than exceeds standards when it comes to puzzle elements, story and visuals.
Re Trend I’m not sure it is accurate to say you beat the game and yet needed to look up clues as to how to proceed. I think people who really do beat the game do it with no outside help. (I am certainly not one of them, I look up help as well).
The Maze Puzzle was designed to be a brake on your progression, so you wouldn't reach the end too quickly. And, I doubt anyone was able to solved it themselves. Seeing world 3 (RED) devoid of anything, makes me believe that parts of the game were rushed and warranted Cyan to make these time consumers to detract from the lack of late game content. I mean, the maze could have been just as hard, but with an instrument panel so it could be solvable without warping.
I did beat the maze puzzle on my own. It's actually not that difficult once it clicks with you. I had no issues whatsoever with this game until near the very end - solving the Villein number puzzles to access the pods. The way the number puzzle worked never clicked with me at any point in my first playthrough. I guessed the various patterns through trial and error. Likewise I guessed the pod puzzle too to access the correct pod to open the gate and escape. It wasn't until my second playthrough that I figured out how it all worked properly. As for the red world you mentioned - they didn't quite amass the budget they required via Kickstarter to include 4 fully detailed worlds. So that one was left as something of an empty shell.
I understand the disappointment of not getting enough funding for Soria. However, they advertised it as being extra -a bonus fourth world on top of the standard three. Since it didn't get funding, it shouldn't have been in the game in any way. Having its "remnants" there, including it as part of the final puzzle, and as part of the plot is a slap in the face. It says to everyone who didn't donate, or enough, "Here's the 4th world we teased, too bad you didn't give us enough money to make it". It's blatant non-content. If they wanted it in there so bad that they weren't willing to cut it out entirely, they should have just finished it. Still, I doubt it would have been anything special. The truth is, the best world was the hub world Hunrath. It was the most thought out, had the coolest design, and had the best puzzles (when warping wasn't involved). They overdid it with the warping mechanic. Not even Myst or its sequels had that level of linking. If someone could mod the game to remove all the other worlds and leave Hunrath, it might even be better.
Agreed that Hunrath was definitely the best world out of them all. It's beautiful to walk around it and explore it. And I can agree with and see your point 100%: Soria was a bit of a non-content world. They probably could have just left it out and, instead, just added another place to explore on Hunrath, perhaps? I personally loved the warping mechanic - it looks very nice and it fits in with the whole "link between worlds" concept we had with Myst. Sadly they did over-do that when they based an entire puzzle around it. Especially since the loading times between warps can be quite long depending on your rigs performance!
so i have a question. im asking you simply cus you actually seem to know what your talking about in a comment section that ive only seen complaining about "walking simulators" which obviously this is not, and people comparing the puzzles to tomb raider. cus i can never get a read on these types of games and im not sure if its for me or not. i never played the myst or riven games, so i dont have a great frame of reference. but i love puzzle games like the witness, fez, braid, talos principle and others of similar difficulty. (and i suppose ill throw in stuff like portal or limbo even though i know its not the same). and my question was would you consider this game along those lines (discovering and learning the rules and/or language of a world and using that to solve various enviromental puzzles) or more like a game that you stumble across a vague code that youll have to figure out how to use in about 3 hours?
I solved the maze with no help. Just had to do a lot of stopping, visualizing in my head, and trial and error. Took about an hour and a half but man beating it was AWESOME.
Liked Myst, Loved Riven (and still do) but never got past Hunrath in this, just got bored in the end... shame really as I did back it... Hope Firmament is better...
He's criticised the very thing that the games in Myst series are known for: Head scratching puzzles that require outside the box thinking to solve. He pulled a "It's too hard" filthy casual complaint.
Yes, because this and No Man's Sky are so much alike? Most people who are saying NMS sucks have never actually played it. I am 40 hours into NMS and really enjoying it. Mind you I didn't buy into any of the hype. I knew that Hello Games' biggest claim to fame was Joe Danger on iOS/consoles and didn't think NMS was set to be "the biggest and best game ever created". It's a fun exploration, mining, crafting, slot managing style game with much potential to develop into more given time.
"harder" because of the hunks of land that come with you changing the scenery and at times being parts of a puzzle themselves. Normally a game just expects you to keep track of one world at a time but get that out of the way and it is a bit easier than Myst. If you learn their new alien number system before going to the related world anyway.
??? There was only one puzzle in this game I needed a guide to, and it was for an object that turned out to be a useless Easter egg made intentionally impossible. Great game. If you don't mind taking it slow and using your head as intended. But I can see why many think it's too difficult and cryptic. Takes a different mindset. Thankfully having played Myst throughout my childhood, I knew what that mindset was.
how is this compared to the witness. Im not gonna lie, I had a rough time with the witness at certain times where I thought my brain was gonna explode.
The witness is on some other shit, i bought it and wish i could return it. Which what brings me here lol im tryna find a good puzzle adventure game that isn’t insanely frustrating
@@giogodby2251 The thing is you need to play it and when you get too frustrated leave it then come back tomorrow its really good cuz it makes your brain work on another level there aren't any clues you find how to do it on your own. On the part to find a good and simple one try 'baba is you' its simple and explains itself to you. If i think of any other ill write you.
@@grizley yea i find myself wanting to go back to it after giving up but then i play it and im like, yea thats why i didnt continue 😂 but im a bit into into obduction and myst
Anyone else support this game on Kickstarter? Anyone else get a code to play it only to find your PC severely underpowered so you have to sit there and stare at the game icon in your Steam account unable to play it and being a huge fan of the Myst series is driving you absolutely bonkers? I feel ya. :/
This reviewer needs to go back and play Riven without a guide. THEN I dare him to come back and complain about how hard and non hand-holding this game is.
Too much wandering around, too much backtracking, too long loading screens, not enough music, not enough story, not any character development, not even that satisfying completing a puzzle, not much motivation for playing. This games is kinda boring. Might finish it later. Assemblance had a more engaging premise and maintained at least a false sense of fear. Book of Unwritten Tales had humor to make the minute to minute gameplay enjoyable.
if you've mentally challenging job then this game is perhaps not for you. studying for an upcoming exam? then think twice. need to get creative for a new piece you're working on? yeah, maybe pass. you see, you have to know what you're getting yourself into. this 18+ hour game will hurt the brain, test your patience, and cause headache inducing frustration. when you want an escape from your daily mind-taxing challenges and fancy some simple fun with perhaps a little silly narrative then you need to avoid this game. visually okay but nothing spectacular compared to today standards from some indie-game developers (everybodies gone to the rapture, firewatch etc). the story is meh with no real emotion or depth. i didn't particularly like the limited movement (having to walk around to a ramp just to step down inches) although i did try in point and clip mode for a while but that would have doubled the completion time (esp with all the backtracking in the game). puzzles are hit or miss (some making sense and some making no sense). music is okay but audio is less so. if you spend the day braindead and need a mental workout this game might be the challenge you need.
This is where I'm at. The game is on sale today for $12. I grew up loving Myst and Riven. Beating those games in my teenage years. The problem now is my life is filled with life puzzles now. I don't think I can come home and have the energy and patience I once had when I was younger to complete a complex puzzle game like this.
Honestly, as a huge fan of the Myst series, I find this game disappointing just by looking at it. There's none of that surreal beauty of the Myst games. That was half the fun of those games (Uru included).
Bought VR version today... Blurriest game ever... This needs to be fixed... I do not care about the teletransportation issue... I wont play it until an update is available... This is a game from the creators of Myst for God sake...
