Observer: System Redux Reviews
Blade Runner meets 1984 in Observer: System Redux, a tense and atmospheric psychological horror murder mystery.
Observer System Redux looks incredible on next-gen consoles, and the improvements to gameplay makes this well worth playing. If you're looking for a psychological thriller to play on your shiny new console, look no further.
Are all the visual improvements and added story content worth it?
Observer: System Redux is well worth playing if you enjoy psychological thrillers, a dash of cyberpunk, and noir detective fiction, and it all looks fantastic on the new consoles. The story has many layers to it, exploring the nature of parent child relationships, corporate domination, human augmentation, and mental health.
Overall, Observer benefits from the improvements implemented with System Redux. However, those who didn’t like the original won’t find enough changes or improvements here to fall in love. It’s still a Bloober Team game, which means a large part of it is merely walking forward and drinking in the environment and atmosphere. However, I will say there are enough puzzle elements, especially considering the new side quests, that it can’t be regarded as a pure “walking simulator.”
Consequently, Observer: System Redux is not for everyone. Hell, it wasn't for me. But the experience itself, where it takes you at least, is worth the ride. It's worth the sweaty palms and the dread of turning on your new console, knowing full well the tense and often uncomfortable adventure through madness that awaits. Some may even decide that it's worth a second go-round.
Whether or not it’s worth it for your new system, is probably up to whether or not you’ve played it before. The additions to the main game include some extra playtime, and the graphical upgrades make it a smoother running experience, but I don’t know if it’s worth a brand new purchase of the game. However, if you haven’t played Observer: System Redux yet, this new version is the PERFECT way to get your hands dirty in this cyberpunk murder mystery.
Released as both a remaster and an expansion, Observer: System Redux manages to fully deliver its promises, improving the original's experience with new meaningful content, quality of life changes, and massive visual improvements that leverage the power of the new consoles. The game hasn't changed a whole lot since the original, so those who did not like it in the first place will not change their minds with Observer: System Redux, but those that did will find the remaster to be a worthy purchase.
Observer is still a fascinating game with a compelling story and some really interesting set pieces that both confuse, scare, and bring out emotion. Fans of the adventure genre, especially ones that include investigation and a great cyberpunk coat of paint on it, should pick this one up. Players that already own the original version of Observer may want to think twice if they’re looking for a high-profile visual upgrade. While it’s no slouch in the graphics department, I don’t know if it’s worth double dipping for that.
Admittedly, Observer is not a triple A with a production equal to the video game stars of the genre, such as Cyberpunk 2077 or Deus Ex. And its anecdotal gameplay will not suit those looking for a "traditional" video game. But Observer is also a proposal, a vision of cyberpunk that honors the most striking works we have seen. With its creepy and oppressive world, its dirty and sticky atmosphere, and its narrative filled with innovative ideas, Observer is a game that marks the spirits. A successful coating that sublimates a mastered scenario, addressing themes specific to cyberpunk, and which reveals a dystopia where it makes it hurt.
Review in French | Read full review
Observer is a decent game. The highly detailed environments and disturbing dream sections are hobbled only by the gameplay’s limited, repetitive nature during the real world sections. It features a solid voice work performance from Rutger Hauer too. As an early title for the PS5, there is much to be impressed with. Observer runs smooth and loads quickly, and it looks great even though the artistic direction subdues the impact. However, the old dictum remains – good graphics alone do not make for a great game.
Observer: System Redux is a legitimately impressive overhaul. At long last, the PS5 has allowed Bloober Team's ambitions with this title to be properly realized. New quests slot into the experience wonderfully, Rutger Hauer's performance remains impeccable, and the game just generally has a lot more to offer this time out. While an overreliance on jump scares and a plot desperately in need of some trimming hold the experience back from true greatness, Observer's fancy new PS5 incarnation at long last feels like the title it was originally intended to be.
If you ignore all the needless meddling with graphic options in the console versions of the game, you can call Observer: System Redux a pretty good remaster, with some great visuals and a portion of a completely new content. But at the same time System Redux carries on every single problem the original release had, basically being yet another walking sim. It's quite likely that Observer: System Redux will take its place among some other games, that no one will ever remember a year from now.
Review in Russian | Read full review
A fantastic world brought to life by great storytelling, world-building, and visual and audio design. Though I wish the voices and dialogue could have gotten some extra work put into it, overall Observer: System Redux is Bloober Team's best game yet. The Ray Tracing breaths life to a dusty and decrepit building while the DualSense allows you to feel the various actions Lazarski performs. Observer: System Redux is a great example of what both Ray Tracing and the innovations of the DualSense controller are capable of.
Observer: System Redux is worth revisiting.
System Redux brings the original Observer to new heights thanks to revised gameplay mechanics and redesigned visuals. Looks gorgeous on next-gen consoles.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Observer: System Redux follows in the wake of the original, repeating the same failures as three years ago. Yes, the work of Bloober Team in the graphic and artistic section is spectacular, with an impressive finish and managing to maintain 4K and 60fps at almost all times. But taking advantage of this new edition, they could have solved the problems in the gameplay that the original already presented.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Observer System Redux is an absolute must-have, whether you played the original game or not. If you're keen on Cyberpunk and horror, you'll find here exactly what you want : a beautiful game, with a stunning universe and fantastic dialogues and storytelling. Improvements are more than welcome and offer a more attractive and intense experience. The best game Bloober Team has delivered. It clearly doesn't deserve to be lost in time like tears in rain.
Review in French | Read full review
One of the core debates within Observer: System Redux is whether augmentation makes recipients more or less. In the case of this enhanced edition of the acclaimed, dark cyberpunk tale, it's definitely a case of more. Barring a few graphic and gameplay niggles, the developers have taken a cult indie classic and improved it further, providing a better balance of mystery thriller and psychological horror to accompany the brain-spearing next-gen visuals.
With visuals completely redesigned from the ground up, rebuilt mechanics, and even a dose of extra content, Observer System Redux delivers on the gritty retrofuturistic cyberpunk world of horror. Rebuilt stealth sections fixed the largest complaint, and the hitching in the original release is gone. The original was good, but this is great.