Obduction

 PC
Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 31 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 31
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 31
  3. Negative: 2 out of 31
  1. Game Informer
    Aug 30, 2016
    73
    Obduction’s gradually unfolding setting is compelling, and its narrative answers your big questions while leaving enough ambiguity to uphold a sense of mystery. A few exceptional puzzles reproduce the best of the genre’s glory days but the gameplay moments filling the space between them are too uneven and unrefined. Since it comes from the same creative talent, Obduction clearly takes some pages from Myst’s book, but these excerpts only result in flashes of greatness rather than a true successor.
  2. Games.cz
    Sep 19, 2016
    70
    An interesting explorative adventure from the creators of Myst offers both smart logical puzzles and dark mysterious atmosphere. But you can find better pieces among the similar games.
  3. Eurogamer Italy
    Sep 13, 2016
    70
    Obduction is the spiritual successor to Myst, and it offers all the stuff beloved by fans of that game, but with a refresh for the modern era. Puzzles are ingenious but can be frustrating if you don’t quickly understand their logic. There are some heavy technical problems that partly ruin game experience. Players who never played a game like this may be find themselves lost, but if you were searching for a game like Myst or Riven, you will be greatly satisfied.
  5. Metro GameCentral
    Sep 6, 2016
    70
    A true successor to Myst, with puzzles as ingenious as they are uncompromisingly obscure. Although the experience is hampered by serious technical problems.
  6. GameSpot
    Aug 30, 2016
    70
    Although you may feel at odds with Obduction's late-game complexity, it still feeds into an incredibly alluring world that earns intimate engagement. Its puzzles require keen observation and perseverance, and while player-made missteps can lead to mental fatigue, Obduction's commitment to keeping the onus of discovery on you means that deciphering the game’s intricate puzzles is often gratifying despite occasional frustrations along the way. Just make sure to take breaks and clear your head once in a while.
  7. CD-Action
    Nov 18, 2016
    65
    Obduction is scant storywise and in contrast to The Witness failed to gradually teach me how to deal with its puzzles, instead forcing me to use the trial and error method. Myst fans, however, should enjoy it. [11/2016, p.46]
    All this publication's reviews
  8. PC PowerPlay
    Nov 1, 2016
    60
    Evokes the spirit of Riven, but fails to recapture its soul. [Issue#256, p.60]
This publication does not provide a score for their reviews.
This publication has not posted a final review score yet.
These unscored reviews do not factor into the Metascore calculation.

In Progress & Unscored

?
  1. The A.V. Club
    Aug 24, 2016
    It succeeds in its goal of presenting authentic-feeling alien worlds. But when it comes to providing players fair, satisfying challenges and the epiphanies that they crave, Obduction doesn’t just succeed; it triumphs and proves itself a worthy successor to the Myst name.
  2. Wired
    Sep 3, 2016
    Obduction succeeds as a follow-up to Myst not because it invokes nostalgia for 1993, but because it builds realities like Myst did. A new world, one that feels true, one that breathes.

Awards & Rankings

65
#65 Most Discussed PC Game of 2016
83
#83 Most Shared PC Game of 2016

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 161 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 107 out of 161
  2. Mixed: 29 out of 161
  3. Negative: 25 out of 161
  1. FayEverdunes
    Aug 24, 2016
    10
    OVERALL IMPRESSION

    I'm incredibly impressed by Obduction, Cyan has done it again! The game has the familiar myst-like feeling that brings    OVERALL IMPRESSION

    I'm incredibly impressed by Obduction, Cyan has done it again! The game has the familiar myst-like feeling that brings me right back to my childhood when I first got to explore the Myst Island and I had no idea why I was there and what was going on, arriving in Hunrath has the exact same feeling. It also brought me back to taking my first steps in The Cleft and Minkata in Uru (even the footsteps sound suspiciously alike). Except this time things are alien, even eerier, even more beautiful, even more awe-inspiring, even more confusing.

    The game feels like a more matured version of the Myst games; you can tell that the developers have taken everything they learned from the previous games and with that experience (and perhaps the wisdom gained with age) have crafted a story that has a new kind of depth - where puzzles are not just intricate parts of the environment, as was the case in the Myst games, but that feel truly handcrafted with purpose by different civilizations, puzzles that takes it one step beyond the Myst games in how they merge with the setting.

    PERFORMANCE

    I have a GTX 660 graphics card, i7 2600k processor, 8gb ram, SSHD, and Windows 10 x64 which basically puts me at minimum spec with my graphics card and above recommended with processor. The game is pretty well optimized provided I play on low settings with the exception of textures that I put on medium. I experienced a few lag spikes and long loading screens here and there but nothing major or that I can't live with but it definitely seems the game is graphics intensive.

    That said, I get the feeling this game would still be playable with a graphics card one tier below mine but it's hard to say so don't take my word for it. The graphics aren't super amazing on low settings with some pixelation, especially with the shadows but it's still a fairly pretty game. If you really care about good graphics for your gaming experience I would suggest playing this game with the recommended or above specs, I believe at that level this game will be absolutely astonishing.

    PROS:

    * Myst-like
    * Fun unique mechanics
    * Beautiful graphics, textures, sounds etc. the ambience is just superb
    * Nostalgic moments and great easter eggs
    * A riveting and unsettling story that leaves you guessing throughout
    * Pretty well optimized for the most part but not perfect with minimum spec graphics card
    * Good mix of easy, medium, and mind-boggling hard puzzles that make you want to rage quit in a good way like good old Riven. A couple of things are pure evil and I think the devs had a little bit too much fun torturing us poor Hunrathians but at the same time it's kind of funny in hindsight.
    * Great to play as a family or with multiple people to help solve puzzles. While the rating says 10+ it's probably okay with adult supervision under that, but that's just my opinion. I think the Cyan games in general are great educational tools for problem solving, patience, and out of the box thinking.

    CONS:

    * Occasional lag spikes with minimum spec graphics card
    * Occasional long loading screens
    * a few minor glitches/bugs here and there but nothing major and most are hardly noticeable, a couple of small slightly irritating mechanics but again nothing gamebreaking.

    CONCLUSION

    Would I recommend this game? Absolutely. If you love puzzles, mystery, eerie atmospheres, casual exploration, and an immersive environment - you do NOT want to miss out on this game. If you are new to the genre this game will be a great example of a stellar casual adventure puzzle game. If you care a lot about graphics play on recommended or higher spec. Overall, very much worth every penny. 10/10    … Full Review »
  2. mort346
    Sep 1, 2016
    7
    I'd love to give this game full marks, but there's one or two reasons why I can't. You should definitely consider them before buying too.I'd love to give this game full marks, but there's one or two reasons why I can't. You should definitely consider them before buying too. First - loading screens. Yes, lots of games have long load times but it particularly hurts Obduction because of one of its core game play mechanics. It features several worlds, which you regularly have to teleport between to solve puzzles. In some sections, you'll be teleporting between them several times in a space of about 5 minutes. On a high-end machine, these can be up to a minute long each time. As well as being very frustrating, it makes the game much harder. Games like this encourage you to try everything to solve puzzles. But if you're unwilling to try teleportating (which is the answer quite often) because you don't want to sit on your hands while the game loads, you're going to spend far longer solving puzzles than you might have and you'll feel very frustrated when you do. The second thing is the story. For much of the first half, there's quite a bit to read and learn and the game gives the impression of great depth, in the vein of games like Bioshock and Alien:Isolation. But later on this depth disappears. By the time what you learned at the beginning becomes relevant, you'll already have forgotten it all, leading to an ending that feels abrupt and left many people (judging from the forums) wondering what the hell happened. Whilst many of the puzzles are clever and challenging without being unintuitive, they are spread a bit to thinly between much easier puzzles that mainly involve travelling a great deal (which makes me wonder why on earth they would include a 'point-and-click' control option).

    This isn't to say Obduction isn't worth playing. It has more content and engagement than 90% of puzzle games out there. But I can't help thinking there was some last minute corner cutting that results in a finish product more like vanilla ice-cream with chocolate chips than a full fat, triple chocolate masterpiece; the fun parts are there, but you'll have to dig to find them.    … Full Review »
  3. AuldWolf
    Sep 20, 2016
    0
    Let me paint you a picture of why this is a bad game. One 'puzzle' in this game is remedial, it's essentially just an average board ofLet me paint you a picture of why this is a bad game. One 'puzzle' in this game is remedial, it's essentially just an average board of Pipe-Mania, nothing special. This puzzle, if you had all the tools in front of you to solve it, would be completed in ten minutes. Instead, they purposefully obfuscated it and separated the controls by loading screens. They also separated how you could view the puzzle by more loading screens. On top of that, you're forced to take pointlessly long walks (for minutes at a time) and endure more loading screens just to reach more 'pieces' used to solve the same puzzle.

    Whereas a good puzzle game will give you everything you need in the same area, this is more like a point & click. Except that imagine you had to walk for a few minutes to go get multiple objects because your inventory could only hold one at a time, now imagine that this point & click adventure had loading screens that could last for up to ten minutes for every time you had to trek back. That's what it's like.

    So, instead of being able to solve this puzzle in ten minutes (because it really is a remedial puzzle), it'll take you hours of trekking along, going through loading screens, more loading screens, more trekking, more loading screens, more loading screens, more trekking, more loading screens, more trekking, and then it glitches out! Yes, this is a puzzle that's so bad it can glitch out and become unsolvable, and that's lead to some... fiery threads on the forums, that's for sure. You can actually end up in an infinite loop of loading screens and long walks.

    Essentially, they managed to create a first person Skinner box puzzle. It's going to addict people to it to solve it and see what's past it. It's almost Candy Crush Saga but in first person. It's truly remarkable, but also horrifying. If you like grinding, feel free. And the game, in general, is just broken, uninspired, and has many more Skinner box elements to trick the weak minded. I'm not weak minded, so I just let it rest. I have better games to play. I don't appreciate Skinner boxes.    … Full Review »
See all user reviews »