Return Of The Obra Dinn

How a horrifying seafaring mystery yarn turned us into willing bureaucrats.

- JON BAILES

From the Eastern-bloc communism of Papers, Please, it's quite a journey to the British imperialism of Lucas Pope's followup. And at first glance, the task at hand couldn't be much more different. Gone are the strict instructions and intimidating pressures of the passport control window, in their place the firstperson autonomy of an insurance investigation. The Obra Dinn of the title is a ghost ship that has reappeared off the English coast after five years in the wind; you're summoned by the East India Company to survey it and provide an assessment of damages.

Ultimately, though, there's still a job to be done. Look closer and these two games are far from chalk and cheese; more like parmesan and brie. It may not be made so plain, but like its predecessor, Return Of The Obra Dinn is a game about bureaucracy. Sure, totalitarian pen-pushing is swapped for a stealthier, warmer capitalist variant, but it's no more humane, just easier to swallow.

Of course, you begin with perfectly decent intentions as you board the Obra Dinn. Your goal is to ascertain the fates of its 60 passengers and crew, a task made possible by two items you've been sent, apparently by a surviving crew member: one Henry Evans, the ship's surgeon. The first is a book containing a full manifest, sketches of the crew, and a series of blank pages laid out into titled chapters, just waiting to be filled with names and causes of death. The second is the Memento Mortem, a magic pocket watch that trembles excitedly when it senses a corpse, then transports you to the exact moment of that person's demise, frozen in time. With these tools, plus careful observation and a handy mechanic that confirms your progress each time you correctly deduce three fates, the full story may yet make itself known. And fortunately, there's a skeleton on deck, which gives you somewhere to start.