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Observation

Flipping the usual narrative on it's head and putting you in the role of the AI.... you must help discover what happened aboard Observation.
Observation Game Cover
80%Game Brain Score
story, gameplay
grinding, stability
79% User Score Based on 2,679 reviews
Critic Score 83%Based on 7 reviews

Platforms

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Observation Game Cover

About

Observation is a single player arcade simulation game with horror, thriller and science fiction themes. It was developed by No Code and was released on May 21, 2020. It received positive reviews from critics and mostly positive reviews from players.

Observation is a sci-fi thriller uncovering what happened to Dr. Emma Fisher, and the crew of her mission, through the lens of the station’s artificial intelligence S.A.M.

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Observation screenshot
Observation screenshot
Observation screenshot
Observation screenshot
Observation screenshot
Observation screenshot
Observation screenshot
Observation screenshot
Observation screenshot
Observation screenshot
Observation screenshot
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79%
Audience ScoreBased on 2,679 reviews
story933 positive mentions
grinding114 negative mentions
  • Engaging and immersive story that keeps players hooked throughout the game.
  • Unique gameplay perspective as the AI of a space station, providing a fresh take on the sci-fi genre.
  • High-quality graphics and sound design that enhance the atmosphere and overall experience.
  • Clunky and frustrating controls, especially when navigating the sphere and using the camera.
  • Vague objectives and lack of guidance can lead to confusion and tedious gameplay.
  • Technical issues, including resolution changes and bugs, detract from the overall experience.
  • story
    2,069 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story of "Observation" is widely praised for its engaging and immersive narrative, drawing comparisons to classic sci-fi films like "2001: A Space Odyssey." Players appreciate the unique perspective of controlling an AI on a space station, which adds depth to the storytelling. However, some critiques highlight issues with pacing, predictability, and gameplay mechanics that detract from the overall experience, suggesting that while the story is compelling, it is sometimes overshadowed by frustrating gameplay elements.

    • “The story itself is one of the game’s strongest elements.”
    • “For players who enjoy atmospheric, story-driven games with a psychological edge, Observation delivers a haunting, intelligent, and deeply memorable journey through the dark corridors of both space and the synthetic mind.”
    • “The story is captivating and immersive, sometimes you forget it's a game, feels like an interactive movie.”
    • “You are then forced to bounce around a confusing environment before searching a cluttered cabin for just the right doohickey to advance the plot--made worse by the fact that half the time the story is placing an imagined time pressure on you, so now you have a frustrated and scared NPC (rightfully?) shouting at you on top of it.”
    • “Although it is advertised as an award-winning story, I would call the execution or the storytelling mid at best.”
    • “The overarching story and development is sadly also just cryptic for the sake of being spooky and cryptic without much sense behind it.”
  • gameplay
    764 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay of "Observation" has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it frustrating and tedious due to its slow pacing, clunky controls, and lack of clear instructions. While the unique mechanics of navigating a space station as an AI through camera systems and solving puzzles are praised for their originality, they often lead to confusion and reliance on walkthroughs. Overall, the game is seen as more of an interactive narrative experience, where the compelling story and atmosphere overshadow the shortcomings of its gameplay.

    • “The gameplay experience for me was solid.”
    • “Gameplay revolves around a series of system-based puzzles, such as locating crew members, rerouting power, diagnosing problems, and occasionally navigating the station's exterior.”
    • “The gameplay was actually very refreshing, and I had no idea that I would be playing the AI of the space station when I started downloading it.”
    • “Observation's mechanics lend themselves to ultimately turning to a walkthrough to handle the confusing navigation and minigame controls.”
    • “The gameplay is too tedious and slow.”
    • “The gameplay is mostly puzzles, most of them easy and just requiring some attention to what's said or written.”
  • atmosphere
    467 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The atmosphere in "Observation" is widely praised for its immersive and eerie qualities, effectively capturing the claustrophobic and unsettling environment of a space station. Reviewers highlight the game's impressive sound design, lighting, and visual aesthetics, which contribute to a tense and suspenseful experience reminiscent of classic sci-fi films like "2001: A Space Odyssey." While the gameplay mechanics receive mixed feedback, the overall atmosphere is consistently described as captivating and integral to the game's narrative and emotional impact.

    • “Observation delivers an unforgettable sci-fi thriller with a tense, immersive atmosphere that feels like a gripping blend of gravity and interstellar.”
    • “The atmosphere is incredibly immersive and atmospheric - it focuses on telling a story first and foremost.”
    • “Incredible atmosphere, delightfully creepy and scary without relying on jump scares, and an interesting story that kept me hooked.”
    • “The atmosphere was grim and frightening, and they captured the feel well.”
    • “The atmosphere is oppressive and claustrophobic being set in space, but beyond that I had many times I felt my heart beating because it was so nerve-wracking.”
    • “The story is just a hodgepodge of generic sci-fi horror tropes thrown together without much to link them or anything different to make them interesting; it lacks even much horror or atmosphere really.”
  • graphics
    466 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with many praising the stunning visuals and atmospheric design that effectively convey a realistic space station environment. However, some players have reported issues with resolution settings resetting, resulting in blurry graphics, and noted that character animations and facial details could be improved. Overall, while the game excels in creating an immersive aesthetic, technical glitches and inconsistencies in character modeling detract from the experience.

    • “The graphics are amazing, to the point where it really feels like footage from the ISS.”
    • “The visuals are stunning and sometimes the game tries to put minor pressure on you as a player, which I personally appreciate.”
    • “The graphics and visual design bode well for affecting the mood of a scene.”
    • “The game design looks cool but this game won't let you set your graphic settings like you want... no matter what I do the game just keeps on dropping the resolution lower and lower, making it blurry and unpleasant.”
    • “Graphics need to be amended each time you enter the game for full high quality.”
    • “Horrible performance on a 4090, graphics settings change themselves seemingly randomly during play, and there's no sign of anything getting fixed.”
  • grinding
    117 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The reviews consistently highlight that the grinding aspect of the game is characterized by tedious and frustrating gameplay, particularly due to slow navigation, clunky controls, and repetitive puzzles. While some players appreciate the story and atmosphere, many find the gameplay experience to be overwhelmingly dull and unengaging, often leading to a loss of interest. Overall, the combination of poor design choices and lack of meaningful gameplay loops contributes to a sense of tedium that detracts from the game's potential.

    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “As for the look and feel, the interfaces of all the systems we interact with are satisfactory, and panning the cameras about is surprisingly not too tedious, but navigating with the sphere is awkward and not very rewarding. One would think it would be liberating to no longer be confined to the camera views, but I dreaded having to possess the sphere, bumbling around through the station and even worse, outside the station, where one will encounter some inexplicably low-res textures which mar an otherwise decent-looking game.”
    • “I usually love story-heavy games and a good walking sim, and the game is pretty, but unfortunately the story hasn't been exciting enough for me not to lose my patience with terrible level design, boring and tedious puzzles, and poor coding.”
    • “The puzzles are ultimately simple, but it's tedious to figure out where you're supposed to go and what you're supposed to do.”
    • “The actual gameplay, while stylish, is often tedious and frustrating; the game assumes you have an encyclopedic knowledge of the station, so get prepared to do the 3D version of clicking on everything because the only thing you can interact with is the solution.”
  • music
    92 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game is widely praised for its ability to enhance the atmosphere, with many reviewers noting its haunting and eerie qualities that effectively complement the story and visuals. While some found the soundtrack minimalistic, it was generally regarded as fitting and impactful, contributing to the game's suspense and emotional depth. Overall, the sound design, including voice acting and ambient effects, received high marks for creating an immersive experience.

    • “The music is profoundly haunting and beautiful at the same time, adding a certain depth to the story of the game.”
    • “The music and sound design was fantastic.”
    • “The music is perfect too - never the kind of music that takes center stage, but is exactly designed to keep things feeling unpleasant and off in the background.”
    • “The music is quite ominous, and the lack of dramatic music in large parts of the game really sets you on edge when it starts playing.”
    • “Having finished the game about an hour ago as of writing this line, I can say that I don’t remember the music at all.”
    • “The graphics are great, though the music choice is... quite bad.”
  • stability
    67 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's stability is a significant concern, with numerous players reporting a wide range of bugs, glitches, and performance issues that can severely impact gameplay. While some users appreciate the atmosphere and story, many find the experience marred by clunky controls, animation problems, and frequent crashes. Overall, the game is described as "buggy" and "unplayable" at times, suggesting that substantial improvements are needed for a smoother experience.

    • “I do not remember coming across any glitches in the game.”
    • “Apart from being completely bug-free, this game is both intriguing and thrilling.”
    • “Runs great on Linux using Proton.”
    • “But, and that is the unforgivable point: the game is also so buggy it's almost unplayable at some points.”
    • “However, the game is fairly bad at displaying information, the controls are fairly wack, I dealt with a slew of bugs and glitches during my short playthrough including a number of times that cutscenes were ruined by characters just simply floating through the terrain.”
    • “Extremely buggy, had around 8 crashes when I played this game, which kind of ruined the whole horror experience for me.”
  • replayability
    46 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Overall, the game has been criticized for its lack of replayability, with many reviewers noting that it is a linear experience that can be completed in a short time frame (around 4-10 hours) and offers little to no variability in playthroughs. While some players may find value in pursuing achievements, the consensus is that once the story is completed, there is minimal incentive to replay the game.

    • “Despite the game being liminal, it has a solid replay value by collect-a-thons or trying to unravel more of the Lovecraft-esque story.”
    • “Cheevos leave some room for replayability, but if you're not obsessed with that kind of thing, you can get plenty of enjoyment out of one playthrough.”
    • “☐ replayable to gain different endings or reactions.”
    • “I think that time length suits the story, but given that there is no choice-making or variability in playthroughs, there is virtually no replay value to the title.”
    • “I had high expectations for this game but it was really short and has zero replayability.”
    • “The only thing holding it back is the fact that you will complete this game most likely in about 4-5 hours and it has little to no replay value.”
  • optimization
    23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting significant performance issues, including bugs, clunky controls, and inconsistent frame rates, particularly on PC. While some users noted solid performance on ultra settings, others experienced frequent drops in frame rates and problems with resolution settings. Overall, the game is better suited for controller use rather than keyboard and mouse, which are poorly optimized.

    • “Overall, performance-wise, the game did a really good job.”
    • “- solid graphic performances on ultra settings.”
    • “4k performance is suboptimal (unless you like 'cinematic' 30fps), but otherwise a great game.”
    • “Good story, good concept, great visuals; however, horrible PC optimizations, mega buggy, clunky controls, and overall an unenjoyable experience interacting with the game.”
    • “In regards to performance and optimization, there appear to be some quirks, such as the game not loading when I have an Xbox controller connected wirelessly via Bluetooth, and rendering resolution tends to shift on its own (for instance, my preference of 1920x1080 would drop at random to 1366x768 or 1680x1050).”
    • “I'll admit, I'm a huge fan of sci-fi, and further still, I'm a huge fan of works inspired by Lovecraft, so what should have been a slam dunk for me ended up as just a very tedious experience due to awful optimization, bland gameplay, and a design that felt dated by 2012 standards.”
  • emotional
    23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The emotional aspect of the game is highlighted by a strong voice performance that evokes feelings of anxiety and determination, creating a unique connection between the player and the artificial intelligence character. While some players felt a genuine emotional engagement with the story and characters, others experienced frustration and confusion, which detracted from their overall enjoyment. Overall, the game offers a mix of emotional highs and lows, with moments of connection and introspection, but also challenges that can lead to feelings of inadequacy.

    • “Emma’s voice performance is especially effective—her anxiety, determination, and moments of doubt ground the game emotionally and provide contrast to your unfeeling machine perspective.”
    • “The computer took on an almost human personality and you felt there was an emotional connection between the two characters, even though one was not alive.”
    • “All in all, a truly remarkable audio, visual and emotional experience, mired by some frustrating moments.”
    • “The emotional depth of the story is overshadowed by a lack of engaging content.”
    • “The game fails to evoke any real feelings, leaving the emotional moments feeling flat.”
    • “Despite its attempts at emotional storytelling, the narrative feels disjointed and uninspired.”
  • humor
    9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is described as a mix of amusing and irritating elements, with players finding certain aspects, like the quirky voice of a character and absurd scenarios, to be entertaining. While some appreciate the comedic undertones in the puzzles and gameplay, others feel that the humor can disrupt immersion. Overall, the humor is seen as a notable but polarizing feature of the experience.

    • “Going completely blind into this game like I did, knowing nothing other than you are a base AI and there's a funny little primate yelling in front of you has a certain thrill to it.”
    • “I don't know what I'm meant to be observing, but that hexagon was kinda funny.”
    • “Puzzles are hard, but logical and funny.”
  • character development
    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Character development is generally well-received, with players finding it believable and engaging, which enhances their investment in the story and its characters. However, some reviewers feel that additional time could have been spent on character development to deepen player attachment. Overall, while the character design and animations received mixed feedback, the narrative aspect of character growth is a highlight.

    • “Taking the puzzle concepts in their previous endeavor and adding a larger play area and character development.”
    • “Probably needed some extra time with character development for the player to really care about the people.”
    • “The character development was believable enough to have me very invested in the outcome not only of myself, the AI, but the other characters in the story.”
  • monetization
    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The monetization strategy of the game includes microtransactions, which some users feel contribute to visual clutter and detract from the overall experience.

    • “The monetization strategy feels overly aggressive and detracts from the overall experience.”
    • “Microtransactions are everywhere, making it hard to enjoy the game without spending extra money.”
    • “The constant push for in-game purchases creates a frustrating environment for players.”
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83%Critics’ scoreBased on 7 critic reviews
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7h Median play time
9h Average play time
6h Main story
8h Completionist
5-12h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 19 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

Observation is a arcade simulation game with horror, thriller and science fiction themes.

Observation is available on PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and others.

The main story can be completed in around 6 hours, while the entire game is estimated to take about 8 hours to finish. On average players spend around 9 hours playing Observation.

Observation was released on May 21, 2020.

Observation was developed by No Code.

Observation has received positive reviews from players and positive reviews from critics. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its grinding.

Observation is a single player game.

Similar games include Lifeless Planet, Stories Untold, Deliver Us The Moon, The Medium, Somerville and others.