Recent reviews by IG-64

I almost gave up on this game, and I'm really glad I didn't.

When I first started this game, the controls were frustrating. Like, really frustrating. I stuck with it because I really liked the visuals and the amazing music from David Wise (10/10.)

At some point, after bashing my head against it for a good while, it all clicked. Then it became really fun. Still stressful, but the fun kind of stressful. The kind of stressful where you yell at the character to make it across that last little gap while you death-grip the controller (and I do recommend playing with a controller.)

The more I played of it, the better it became, because I was suddenly able to glide past things I had previously found impossible. Eventually even the hardest trials were conquerable.

Give it a good try. I found that once I got over that hump, it was like riding a bike. A floppy, noodly bike.

I enjoy the puzzles of Cyan games well enough, but I feel where they really shine are their interesting settings and the stories they tell within them. By that metric, I feel Obduction is on par with Cyan's best. I really enjoyed the weird and surprisingly expansive world they've built in this game. The puzzles are mostly enjoyable, with a few great ones and one or two that I would consider not good.

Where the game falters is with the technical issues. There are a ton of load screens, and some of them are built in to the puzzles such that every time you perform an action, you get a load screen. I feel the game is likely better the faster your hard drive is (and it would perhaps be a great showcase for the new consoles and their fast load times.) This is mostly a problem in the latter half of the game where the number of load screens increases almost exponentially for the later puzzles.

Despite the technical issues, I feel the general atmosphere of the game, the puzzling, and the all-around creativity on display are good enough to warrant a recommendation.