A yo ho ho and a bottle of your finest brandy, my dear. Sure, that doesn’t work because it’s not a pirate ship, and it’s not the 1981 Bulgarian film by the name of “YO HO HO.” Nevertheless, Return of the Obra Dinn by Lucas Pope, developer of Papers, Please!, is 19th-century detective simulator from last year that everyone liked. With praise heaped upon it, I knew I’d get around to it someday, though I was always wary of the hype overtaking itself as it did for many upon the release of Death Stranding. A year of hype averted and I can honestly say: I love it.

That is a bit of a give away since I’m about to go down on it like that one gynecologist that works as a stripper on the weekend. I have given my last morsel of emotion, empathy, and general care for the next ghost train of tripe that the triple-A market flops out every few months a long while ago. Ok, I’m a little down on the idea of giving any other game a bit of praise, because Return of the Obra Dinn is what video games should be when they are at their best: interesting, innovative, and swinging me about like I’m Jennifer Grey to a Bill Medley song.

For you see, you are an insurance detective sent to a ship that’s been missing for a year, and you only have a Memento Mortem watch and a blank book. Hold the brakes Chad Stahelski, let me catch my breath with all this exciting action that’s happening. Truth be told, it is less about observing the action, and figuring out exactly what happened in the minute after death. You see, “memento mortem” is Latin and translates to “remember death.”

With your book and magic pocketwatch of death, you walk about the good ship Obra Dinn to conclude that everyone has indeed gone to the rapture. Contrary to the previously mentioned indie game; this is how you make something interesting around some characters all being a bit “gone.” With the pocket watch, you hear a few moments before the person investigates the loud end of a loaded gun, the climax, and then that split second they die you walk about seeing their brains spread from here to Christendom. Some are as simple as being flattened by a barrel of salted fish, and some are a little more complicated on a count of all the murder.

It is fair to say, I won’t be going into the details, because I’m highly suggesting you play Return of the Obra Dinn, and it is a game that should be played. My first, and only satisfying playthrough clocks in at about 10 hours. Given it is a mystery you have to solve with minimal straight forward clues, you’ll spend a lot of time learning who everyone is, what they look like, and how they died. The joy and genius would kind of be lost if the names and faces swapped every playthrough, as you’d just be countering the game’s code to swap them all. It’s like trying to solve a crossword puzzle after you’ve already done it without a gallon drum of bleach.

Though those clues aren’t always easy to pick up on. Not everyone is conscientious enough to tell you, “I am Herodotus, shot by Freydís Eiríksdóttir, the third one from the left in the blue overalls.” Most of them like to be a little more candid with a hint of gargling their own blood which for some reason is on the outside. So you’ll either spend a lot of time listening to two people talking, watching the action happen, and then try to repeat it as quickly as possible. Or you’ll stand stock still staring at someone’s face when you should be looking at the Mary Poppins tattoo on their arm.

To which I should say, the sound design is second to none. Especially when it comes to the sound of either two men plotting against others in the next room, someone choking on their blood, or the biggest bloody terrifying beastie I’ve ever seen ripping someone from crack to elbow. You might as well rip off my underwear, defecate in them, and then put them back on me. Not often do I verbally say, “Oh ya big dirty…” followed by some strong expletives telling you how its dad left it when it was quite young.

I don’t rightly know that a 19th-century ship would sound like that, but when it comes to the sound of someone getting bopped on the back of the bonce (or such similar things,) it sounds really nice. It is nice in the sense that it is high quality, though I’d also hold how graphic it sounds in high regard too. You’re meant to make a picture of the scene in your head anyway, it just fills the world out a little more.

That, alongside the beautiful dithering on everything; if you expect a single auteur developer to shine all the 3D graphics up to that of hundreds of artists, go back to Call of Duty. The style isn’t going to be for everyone, but it adds a sense of a foggy and dated memory that you’ve not lived. It also makes for the issue of distant faces being about as clear as a politician’s promise. Which will become clear when you have to define all the Irishmen from the Russians, the English from the Scots (usually it’s anger), though it is easy to define the Formosa dignitaries from the Chinese top-men. Then again, the four top-men aren’t easy in themselves.

It all builds a sense of atmosphere that makes you want to continue playing for several hours. So how sad must it feel to find out there is only about three minutes of music, and it loops for 10 hours? Ok, a little dramatic of a description; though it is a little annoying to have it crash and bang in your ears every few minutes while you’re watching a man suicide bomb a be-tentacled monster. Chances are you’re wanting to sit in your own thoughts for a minute trying to figure out if “ahhhh!” was in a Scottish accent or a Burmese one.

Sadly the options are a little sparse, though they feature my favorite description of volume and history in my life. Descriptions such as “A Parody of Control,” there are no options to either turn down or turn off the music. It is all fine the first few hours, building the world, but when you’re prancing up and down the poop deck yelling that the man didn’t say anything, it would be nice to have a moment of brevity.

Return of the Obra Dinn is a game that either everyone should have played or should be playing. Unlike anything else that’s detective focused, it doesn’t hold your hand, and lets you feel smart for figuring something out. If it wasn’t for that whole linear time thing and it releasing last year, I’d have called my game of the year a bit early.

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Return of the Obra Din

$19.99 USD

9

Score

9.0/10

Pros

• Beautiful art style.
• Pitch perfect sound design.
• Deducing something makes you feel smart.

Cons

• The neverending loop of music.