LogFAQs > #949589701

#57 - Return of the Obra Dinn (PC, 2018)

The concept behind this game is maybe the most mundane videogame plot in history. You are a representative for an insurance company tasked with finding out how to handle paying out the proceeds for an abandoned ship that has been discovered just off the coast of England. But Return of the Obra Dinn is anything but mundane.

The objective of the game is to figure out the ultimate fate of each of the ships 60 crewmates and passengers. Some made it out alive.. but most died a horrible, horrible death. In order to accomplish this, you are given a magic stopwatch that can take you back to the moment of a persons death. When you use it, you are taken to a black screen, where you listen to the final 20-60 seconds of their life unfold. At the very moment of truth, it will show you a single freeze-frame shot of that person dying, and his surroundings. You can then wander around these still shots and try to find clues that you can use to put names to faces, and causes of death to people. The game really doesnt insult your intelligence, either. The game might show you someone dying, but you dont know their name, and a lot of times, their killers name. You will have to use context clues to figure it out, and in most cases, it forces you to utilize multiple scenes to do it.

This is where the visual aesthetic Lucas Pope used in the game comes in strong. I dont think any other game could use a monochromatic graphical style even close to the extent as Obra Dinn. Because he only had to render a single frame of animation, he could really emphasize the key moments. And since these moments are of people dying, they typically showcase some badass shit going on. Heres some examples of scenes you can see in the game:





These arent even my favorite scenes. There are several that are even cooler, but I dont want to showcase those, for spoiler reasons. Its sort of like Doki Doki Literature Club, in that you go into the game expecting one thing, and then at a very distinct moment, it takes those expectations and breaks them over its knee. The story is shown backwards, for the most part, and the first chapter you see is the final one chronologically. You see the fate of the last 4 people alive on the ship. Immediately after that, you go back a chapter and are immediately confronted with something that defies all expectations, and thats when the game truly opens up and becomes a lot of fun.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
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