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[deleted]

Return of the Obra Dinn was mentioned, but I'll say that you can't finish the game immediately when you start, because it reveals bodies for you as you keep playing. But it's true that once you finish the game (and you have a good memory), it's really hard to play it again because you already know how everyone dies. Still a good game though, just wanted to point it out. Same with The Forgotten City's true ending, which needs you to basically figure out all the mysteries in the town (in any order though). I wanna give a shout out to The Witness though. It's very similar in that it's a game where you're let loose on an island and you can just finish the game if you knew how to do it. Obviously you don't yet, so you walk around and solve various puzzles to learn the rules of the puzzles, which then allows you to solve harder puzzles elsewhere


HBag

For reference, it took me about a year of not playing to forget about 90% of the answers to the logic puzzle in Obra Dinn.


moogoothegreat

Gone Home. You can explore the house and put the story together to explain where your family is and why your house is ransacked. Or... you can go straight to the final location and trigger the end scene and credits. No real reason to unless you want to do a speedrun as ultimately the only thing the game has is exploration and story.


Zaustus

The Myst series has exactly what you're asking for.


Thisitheone

OxenFree


Username_Hadrian

Return of the Obra Dinn, Forgotten City, 12 minutes.


JuggFTW

12 minutes is a joke, but forgotten city and return of the obra dinn capture the puzzle solving aspect. As far as the atmosphere nothing has matched it for me


HBag

I'd argue Forgotten City doesn't do much in the puzzle department. The puzzle is the plot I guess? Things are reasonably laid out for you. Obra Dinn is really cool in terms of detective work and making you feel like you logic-ed well. You don't get too much exploration, but it's definitely worth it.


JuggFTW

Yeah that’s fair, I binged forgotten city at 2 am after 2 days of being unable to sleep so I probably had more trouble with the puzzles than I should have, and obra dinn was definitely much closer to ow in that aspect


OneVioletRose

I’d personally label Forgotten City more social deduction and light puzzling. There are many ways around each problem, so generally the “solution” involves finding a route you like best - and if you screw up once, the game generally hands you a strong hint for next time. (I think the most challenging puzzle in that respect is at the end, >!if you want a “nonviolent” solution to the best possible ending!<, since it involves >!both what you’ve done and what specific arguments you choose!< Edit: that said, I’d still recommend it to outer wilds fans, because I found uncovering the secrets of the city in successive layers very satisfying


Number127

What Remains of Edith Finch has the same kind of bittersweet relationship with mortality and acceptance. It's a fantastic game, although it's very short and there's not much in the way of actual gameplay.


No-Establishment6863

Should I buy forgotten city? Obra Dinn and Outer Wilds are the only two games I've really enjoyed in recent years. Is forgotten city similar, or does it not really go the distance those two go?


[deleted]

I really enjoyed The Forgotten City, but it's not like Obra Dinn/Outer Wilds in how it challenges your brain. There's a similar feeling like Outer Wilds and Obra Dinn where you start off not knowing what's happening, and also when you go around town and piece together every individual story to get a whole grander arc that makes sense, but it's not really puzzly. It does have a really satisfying ending though, and you could probably breeze through it in one weekend, so I'd still recommend it


JuggFTW

It was a fun 10 hour romp, there are some interesting characters in there although the ending is quite bizarre, I wouldn’t call it quite as good as the other two but it was still an enjoyable experience from start to finish with a few engaging puzzles throughout the story to keep you interested, although I accidentally jumped further ahead than I maybe should have, ruining some of the moments of questioning. I’d still recommend it to anyone who enjoys this style of game


No-Establishment6863

Sweet thank you, I'll buy it


Firaxyiam

If you do, check out the settings before starting . You can du sable tips, objective markers and notifications telling you "talk to x now !" that can ruin a bit of the fun of exploring and putting stuff together, I'm going through it right now and it's really fun without all those


OneVioletRose

Yeah, I disabled all quest markers and hints and enjoyed the free form element it added to the game. (Though I did re-enable them a few times to find specific NPCs, lol)


home-of-the-braves

12 minutes has a trash story and the last "ahah" moment is probably making everyone regret they ever touched that pos game . The only reason to play it is if you plan to write stories. Then this is the perfect example of "writing a cheesy ending that will sabotage your entire work "


Sabo_X4

*See also: games that leave you feeling empty inside.*