Obreno: Chapter One

About

Obreno: Chapter One is a single player action game with mystery and science fiction themes. It was developed by Out Of Time Interactive and was released on August 3, 2020. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

In the distant future, a search for his missing brother leads Albin on a journey through an intergalactic civilization that might have reached the limits of progress. Following clues that point to groups who want to return to living like early humans, the imminent end of money, a seemingly mythical planet, and the galaxy's only android, his path takes him onward, towards the edge of the inhabited …

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69%

Audience ScoreBased on 13 reviews

graphics3 positive mentions

story3 negative mentions

The game presents a unique and experimental sci-fi narrative exploring deep philosophical questions about humanity and technology.
It features an aesthetically pleasing art style with some visually appealing animated segments and atmospheric sound design that enhances the immersive experience.
The storytelling is well-written and polished, offering an engaging, literary feel reminiscent of classic sci-fi prose, with some interactivity that influences narrative perspective.

The game lacks traditional gameplay elements and can feel more like an interactive e-book or visual novel, which may disappoint players expecting a full game experience.
It is quite text-heavy and can be tedious or confusing to those not interested in philosophical or abstract sci-fi themes, with minimal meaningful choices.
The project was discontinued and remains incomplete, leaving the story unresolved and the experience feeling like an advertisement or demo rather than a full, polished game.

story
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
28%
43%
The story presents an intriguing premise centered on transferring human consciousness to machines for immortality, but feels somewhat unfinished and constrained by checkpoint-based saving. Its opening is notably engaging and stylistically distinctive, drawing literary parallels, though overall the narrative lacks the depth and polish expected from a fully realized visual novel.
- “The opening paragraphs, especially, felt reminiscent of Julio Cortázar's writing in his short story "Blow Up." There's a distinct, colorful embellishment with quotation marks.”
- “The short story, which is both engaging and polished, is not presented as a visual novel or run-of-the-mill interactive fiction.”
- “It looks like they had a lot more in mind for the story.”
- “A small gripe is that the save game system has checkpoints in the story, and does not go to the exact place you left off on.”
- “Ok, so I finished the game/story.”
graphics
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game's graphics feature a distinctive and aesthetically pleasing art style reminiscent of titles like Heaven's Vault, supported by well-crafted artwork. However, some users find the blocky text presentation and layout somewhat confusing despite the visual appeal. Overall, the graphics are appreciated for their artistic quality but have minor clarity issues.
- “It is well written and the artwork is great.”
- “And the art style, that too reminded me of something else - Heaven's Vault, I think.”
- “The artwork deftly assists here.”
monetization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization is criticized for misleadingly presenting an advertisement or free sample as a full game, which wastes marketing space and harms genuine developers. Users view this tactic as deceptive and a poor substitute for traditional advertising methods.
- “This is an advertisement/free sample for another e-book series, presumably because it's cheaper to pony up $100 USD to dump an advertisement on Steam as if it were a game rather than pay Valve to get some advertising space on the store page.”
- “While it might seem like an innocuous mistake, publishing demos and advertisements as if they were full games is misleading and in some ways harmful.”
- “This advertisement is taking up marketing space and visibility that would be better made available to a developer who's done the right thing and created a full game.”
gameplay
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The gameplay is minimal and primarily involves clicking through poorly written dialogue, offering little interactive or engaging experience beyond that.
- “As a visual/interactive novel, this doesn't feature any notable gameplay; it's just a lot of clicking through badly written dialogue that would never have been accepted or published in print, which raises the question, 'How did something this badly written end up on Steam?'”
grinding
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users find the grinding aspect tedious and slow, comparing it to having to click repeatedly to progress through text in a visual novel rather than smoothly reading a compelling book. This mechanic detracts from the overall experience by making the narrative feel dragged out and repetitive.