Obduction


directive0

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So Cyan's latest adventure dropped today. I couldn't be more excited. Myst was, quite simply, one of the most inspiring works of the 90's to me as a child. I don't think I ever beat the game all on my own, I always needed help from my friends, so it became this really fascinating cultural experience for a young nerd. We'd trade hand written notes, discuss possible solutions over lunch. Ever since then I've been chasing that feeling.

I have little hope that this new title will totally manage to capture the feeling of wonder that Myst had, but so far the reviews pouring in are very congratulatory.

Can't wait to download this tonight.
 
Looks interesting. Might pick this up when it gets discounted on GOG, though I assume that will take a while.

Thanks for the pointer.
 
I do wish there was a Linux port, but I'm not missing this even if I have to boot Windows.
 
The next question would be: how well does it run in wine?
 
For others like me it was the most boring game of the 90s ever. There were much more exciting games out there in the golden 90s.
Yep, I especcially like Dreamweb (referenced a bit in Hotline Miami), Dark Legions, Monkey Island, Civilisation 1, Tie Fighter etc..
 
For others like me it was the most boring game of the 90s ever. There were much more exciting games out there in the golden 90s.

Well steer clear of Obduction then because the bore is BACK in a big way. If you thought Myst was bad you are going to absolutely hate Obduction.

I'm about an hour in I guess. Not an hour in in plot or story, just wandering around throwing levers trying to figure out what the hell to do. Theres dialogue delivered by recordings and some in world people that are filmed and then keyed into the 3d scene. It's a little hokey, but after a while it starts to make a little sense. Right now I'm stuck on the first puzzle which is alluding me atm.

All that said I like it so far. Very environmental and compelling. A slow methodical adventure, great scenery, a good attention to detail and technical plausibility. The little breadcrumbs of the story I'm getting have me interested too.
 
For others like me it was the most boring game of the 90s ever. There were much more exciting games out there in the golden 90s.
More exciting, absolutely, but exciting != inspiring. They're two completely different scales.
 
not exciting != boring. There are many things that are not exciting, but not boring either, especially depending on your definition. A lot of classical orchestral music most would classify as "not exciting" (until they bring out the big guns, but I'm specifically referring to the "soothing" stuff, ya know?) but it's far from boring, and many find it very inspirational.
A simple painting, normal colours, a standard scene, not exciting in any way yet certainly not boring.
Braid was arguably not exciting at all, there's no real action save what you control, minimal risks, nothing that anyone would generally associate with "excitement", but I've yet to find someone call it boring.
And then again, I've played a lot of games which were full of excitement that felt boring: I was bored playing these exciting games. Mostly war-era shooters that friends would try to get me into: action everywhere, definitely exciting, but so colourless and bland and boring that I couldn't get into them.
You're right, when something is outright boring it's hard to be inspired, but I disagree with your fundamental statement that something needs to be exciting to be inspiring, and the implied statement that anything not exciting is necessarily boring.

edit: and even on the other hand, I'm sure I could come up with at least one example of something that was boring that caused inspiration to happen, and I'm sure you could to if you thought about it hard enough.
 
I don't know, for me I can not get inspired by anything I find remotely boring. When something is boring it drives all other attributes down.

Bummer. I like to like things so I usually give stuff the benefit of the doubt and try to find the redeeming qualities.
 
Hey guys let's argue subjectives and I bet eventually we'll reach a consensus. Yaaayyyyyyyy.
I wasn't arguing subjectives, I was arguing definitions, specifically that different subjective scales don't necessarily have to be opposite. Something can be not-exciting yet inspiring; it can be both exciting and boring; it doesn't have to be any of those things.
 
I remember trying Myst when it came out and I distinctly remember hating it. Maybe I was just too dumb at the time and should revisit it.
I finished Obduction over the course of two days and found it engaging, yet ultimately lacking in volume while feeling streched.
Loved the fact that they used real actors. Even if it looks jarring depending on the context in which FMV is used, I'll take actual facial expressions over polygonal animatronic nightmares any day.
Because the FMV was used sparingly and only in places that refrained from putting them in a 3-dimensional context, characters couldn't flesh out the world by just walking around, looking alive.
 
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