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>observer_ is out on Nintendo Switch now

by: Sean Colleli -
More On: >observer_

Observer (or transliterated as >observer_ if you want to get fancy), studio Bloober Team's cyber-noir detective thriller, is out on Nintendo Switch now. In the game you play as Daniel Lazarski, an aging detective (played masterfully by the great Rutger Hauer) investigating a squalid tenement in 2084 Cracow. His journey begins as he searches for his estranged son who has gone missing, but he soon tumbles down a psychological rabbit hole as he comes face to face with the horrors of the tenement's reclusive inhabitants. As a cyber-enhanced Observer, Lazarski has the ability to electronically invade the minds of other cyborgs, including the recently deceased.

When I reviewed the PC version back in 2017 (GN score 8.5), I found the setting and story to be extremely well crafted but nonetheless the experience left me deeply uncomfortable. The implications of this mind-invading horror show really stick with you after you've put the controller down. Observer is the closest thing we've gotten to an honest-to-God Blade Runner game in over a decade, at least in theme and setting, and if you don't mind some pretty disturbing imagery and a haunting story, I wholly recommend it. You can get Observer on the eShop now for $29.99.