I love mysteries, but I feel like video games have always struggled to implement them.

Adventure games became notorious for their opaque, hyper-specific puzzle solutions that, at their worst, couldn't be solved without strategy guides, and at best rewarded players for memorizing specific dialogue cues and chaining together the right set of items in the right location.

Return of the Obra Dinn sets out to test your actual detective skills. Your goals are always crystal clear, and you aren't limited to a linear sequence of clue discovery to solve each puzzle. Rather, you're given an arsenal of tools, hints, and clues strung about through the story that you can use in any way you see fit.

Every solution can be reached through multiple paths and you always feel that you, the player, solved it yourself. This is easily the best puzzle-solving game I have ever played.

That's to say nothing of the masterful music, visuals, and storytelling, but I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll leave it there. If you have even the slightest interest in puzzles and detective work, this game is a must-buy.