Observer is out for the Switch. It might be a bit late, since the original version of the game dropped in 2017, but hey, at least Bloober Team (purveyors of Layers of Fear) managed to port it. Observer is an indie “horror” title that runs in first person featuring essentially a brain hacker named Daniel Lazarski played by Rutger Hauer. It takes place in the future tech-slums of Krakow, Poland and feels like the seamy underbelly of a late 80s cyberpunk novel (think Rucker, Gibson, and Sterling all mashed up) mixed with a noir detective novel and some Terry Gilliam (12 Monkeys, The Zero Theorem) thrown in.
Observer is a short but excellent game which clocks in at about 10 hours if you take your time. It’s pretty intense and stylized, and definitely not for kids, but it’s not outrageously violent or anything. There’s a subtle pervasive tension throughout the game that is manufactured partly by the outrageous art style and partly by the excellently mixed sound and music. If you can read Polish, bonus, as much of the background imagery is in Polish, but the game is entirely in English, of course and translations of everything pop up automatically.
Everything is accessed by clicking or scanning, so you’ll be getting some use out of those twin sticks on the Switch joy cons. There’s a significant amount of dialogue too, so be patient…the pacing is quite good overall. A spider-killing make for a nice diversion too, flaming swords and all. Apparently Atari-style games are exceedingly popular in the future.
But that’s not what you want to know, is it? What you really want to know is whether Observer is worth playing on the Switch. And the answer to that? Kinda. Observer looks utterly atrocious on the Switch. All the rendered, filtered backgrounds and object skins are basically gone in this version of the game. Compared to the original PC version, it might as well be a late 90s PC game, except for the mechanics of the game itself. It’s a simply atrocious-looking port that starkly highlights the limitations of the Switch in relation to other consoles and the PC. Virtually all text is semi-legible or illegible in the Switch version other than very key items, and the ambiance fades with the drop in detail. This is a game that creates atmosphere with its background and as such, it’s an utter failure on the Switch, at least while docked.
Undocked, as mentioned, the Switch version of the game is surprisingly good. Due to the smaller screen, the lower resolution is much more palatable, and Observer becomes a bit friendlier to play. This is definitely a case of the portable nature of the Switch giving an edge to the system. The game was instantly more enjoyable and became oddly more immersive, almost as if it were designed for a handheld version, especially with headphones on. You’ll still miss a lot compared to a higher resolution version, but it’s actually quite playable.
And then there’s Observer’s controls. This is a game that’s primarily designed for the PC. As such, the console controls are a bit of a battle. To open things, you need to hold down the shoulder button and move the stick, but it’s easy to slip up and have trouble opening a door or drawer, which you do quite often. Targeting isn’t the greatest with the dual stick setup either, and there’s no option to adjust pointer speed or accuracy. Throughout the first portion of the game, it was an uphill struggle to battle with the controls while playing the game, resulting in mild frustration at first. Eventually, you’ll get the feel for it, but it takes a bit. Just don’t try to line up your camera exactly with the interaction squares and you’ll pick it up faster. It’s easy to accidentally hit the shoulder buttons and activate a search mode too. If Observer wasn’t so compelling in terms of story and ambiance, it honestly wouldn’t be worth the fight, especially in docked mode.
If you don’t have a PC or any other game systems, Observer is still a great game and worth playing. Without a direct comparison to other versions, you won’t know what you’re missing, and it’s not incredibly long. For what you’re getting, $29.99 seems a bit high though. The creeping tension that permeates the entire game does have a mildly unsettling effect, but nothing really gives that visceral gut punch of fear. Don’t expect a clean resolution either, as Observer might leave you to figure things out a bit more than some people might like. Ultimately, you’ll enjoy the game if you like this kind of horror or are a big fan of vintage cyberpunk, but don’t expect an utter masterpiece. Check it out, but if you can play it on the PC or another console, you’ll definitely get more out of it, unless you’re looking for a portable experience, in which case you’ll be more than pleased with Observer!
A digital copy of Observer was supplied by the publisher for the purposes of this review. It was played on the Switch using a Sony 55” LED in 1080p and on the Switch via portable.