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Observer review thread [sci-fi / horror / cyberpunk]

D

Dmax3901

Member
I plan to write a full review in the next day or so, but I just wanted to drop in and say that I finished this in a neat 6 hours. It's an evolution upon Layers of Fear in many ways and the story that serves as a framework for the batshit crazy horror stuff is far more tangible in Observer.

Lots of surprises too, even if just in terms of the visuals.
 
IMACOMPUTA

IMACOMPUTA

Member
Karak said:
...Sorry guys,. I was informed I can't release my review until tomorrow 7 am eastern and that no one would be. I am totally confused.
Happy to see the positive thoughts though!
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Can you at least comment on PC performance and/or ps4 pro enhancements? Trying to decide between the two.

Love your reviews btw, I watch all of them even for games I'm not interested in.
 
M

More_Badass

Member
Dmax3901 said:
I plan to write a full review in the next day or so, but I just wanted to drop in and say that I finished this in a neat 6 hours. It's an evolution upon Layers of Fear in many ways and the story that serves as a framework for the batshit crazy horror stuff is far more tangible in Observer.

Lots of surprises too, even if just in terms of the visuals.
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Is it more jump scares or more dread and tension and mind-twisting/surrealness? Do they mine the cyberpunk setting for horror from the story, implications of tech and world-building, and whatnot like Soma?
 
D

Dmax3901

Member
More_Badass said:
Is it more jump scares or more dread and tension and mind-twisting/surrealness? Do they mine the cyberpunk setting for horror from the story, implications of tech and world-building, and whatnot like Soma?
Click to expand...

I'm gonna spoiler my answer to the first question just in case
I'd say of the four elements you mention (jump scares, dread, tension and the surreal) Observer is mostly jump scares and the surreal. Tension of course stems from these things, or the anticipation of them, but the pace doesn't really slow down enough for dread.

Observer does have some cool world-building and ties it into the horror for sure, but it didn't have as big an impact as SOMA did for me personally.
 
K

~Kinggi~

Banned
I was posting in the other thread a while back i think was gonna surprise people after i watched some lets plays of the first few hours.
 
nillapuddin

nillapuddin

Member
Pennywise said:
.
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Still doesn't explain why it isn't on the store, "games coming soon" or at all.

Assuredly it would be on the actual storefront to allow for preorders, show off screenshots, etc. It just seems odd.

I like to browse the coming soon section when I've got nothing to do just incase I find a gem.


*shrug*

Will def check it out when its live
 
D

Despera

Banned
Sumio Mondo said:
It's a straight up adventure game with puzzles.

From the Game Informer review:

Observer has a lot more going for it than just these mind-bending sequences and jump scares. In the sections where you’re actually in the real world as Lazarski, you’re investigating crime scenes with the detective’s augmented visions, all of which are visually pleasing and useful. These vision settings also help you solve puzzles, like scanning a corpse to read their various wounds and putting together how they died with your biosensor, or tracing a locked door to its security keypad via your electronic magnetic detector and then hacking it. The fine balance struck with these puzzles’ difficulty makes them interesting but keeps them from being frustrating. While no combat exists in Observer, I never felt bored with the gameplay because it kept offering me interesting logical trials to solve as well as consistent scares and plot revelations.

A few side quests are also hidden in the complex that encourage you to make use of these skills if you want to meander away from the main storyline for a bit. I don’t want to spoil any of them because they are so scarce, but I enjoyed what I played, with most of them feeling like classic short stories from a sci-fi anthology.
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Sounds fantastic. I'll be getting this tomorrow, for sure.

That description of the bit with scanning corpses really reminds me of Hideo Kojima's cult classic Snatcher.
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That indeed sounds great.
 
M

MosquitoSmasher

Member
I'm just hoping the AA isn't as bad as Layers of Fear was. Well on Xbox One it sure wasn't great. Game sounds very interesting to me though. Sounds like there is no combat right? Which is fine.
 
K

KORNdoggy

Member
pleasantly surprised by how this is reviewing. i liked the look of it so would have bought it anyway, but after layers of fear (which i honestly thought was tension-less shit) i expected a lot worse.
 
L

Lagamorph

Member
£23.99 is a little bit more than I expected for this, was thinking it would be more in the £15-20 range, but we'll see how I feel when it hits the EU PSN store.

Pennywise said:
I suppose both will be coming with the store update.
A shame that they don't update the store before.
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It's weird because Sonic Mania did go up on the EU store bang on midnight in the UK.
 
D

Dmax3901

Member
Messofanego said:
They're not few and far between?
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I'd say they're fairly consistent but vary in intensity. For example one might be a loud noise followed by something appearing in the distance, or an abrupt change in location/surroundings, others are like "this motherfucking thing is right up in your face" *CRAZY LOUD STATICY SCREECHING*.
 
B

Backfoggen

Banned
Dmax3901 said:
I'd say they're fairly consistent but vary in intensity. For example one might be a loud noise followed by something appearing the distance, or an abrupt change in location/surroundings, others are like this motherfucking thing is right up in your face CRAZY LOUD STATICY SCREECHING.
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No thanks.
 
B

BTA

Member
Huh, way better than expected.

Guess I'm wondering if it actually says anything by going cyberpunk or just wants to use the aesthetic, though.
 
W

WITHE1982

Member
Dmax3901 said:
I'd say they're fairly consistent but vary in intensity. For example one might be a loud noise followed by something appearing in the distance, or an abrupt change in location/surroundings, others are like "this motherfucking thing is right up in your face" *CRAZY LOUD STATICY SCREECHING*.
Click to expand...

If you've played it would you say they've learned from their mistakes in Layers Of Fear? Meaning that sometimes for scares to have an impact then less is more.

It was my biggest criticism of their previous game. The jump scares became so common that there impact was completely lost.

I'm really liking the look and setting of this game so I just need a little push before I jump in.

Having it available to buy on PSN would also help.
 
D

Dmax3901

Member
WITHE1982 said:
If you've played it would you say they've learned from their mistakes in Layers Of Fear? Meaning that sometimes for scares to have an impact then less is more.

It was my biggest criticism of their previous game. The jump scares became so common that there impact was completely lost.

I'm really liking the look and setting of this game so I just need a little push before I jump in.

Having it available to buy on PSN would also help.
Click to expand...

I think there's far more cohesion to the madness here so in that sense they've definitely improved. There's also far more of a traditional story with actual narrative being relayed from characters in the world and the protagonist (as opposed to just from letters etc).

There are moments of creepiness and "oh god I don't want to go into this room", but there are also a fuck load of jump scares lol.
 
A

AmethystEnd

Member
Let's fucking rock. Wasn't a huge fan of Layers of Fear but this sounds way better.

And there just needs to be more horror games in the world in general.
 
W

WITHE1982

Member
Dmax3901 said:
I think there's far more cohesion to the madness here so in that sense they've definitely improved. There's also far more of a traditional story with actual narrative being relayed from characters in the world and the protagonist (as opposed to just from letters etc).

There are moments of creepiness and "oh god I don't want to go into this room", but there are also a fuck load of jump scares lol.
Click to expand...

Sounds a lot better. The more involving narrative will certainty help.

I'm just hoping there's a better use of tension/buildup to the scares this time around. Been a while since a horror/sci-fi tile managed to get it right. Well since SOMA anyway.
 
O

op_ivy

Fallen Xbot (cannot continue gaining levels in this class)
hows performance on xbox? really wish this was priced at 20
 
P

pelican

Member
Really was interested in this after seeing footage at E3.

Then found out yesterday it is a horror game with jump scares. I don't do jump scares!
 
B

Bloodporne

Member
A bit off topic but speaking of jump scares, did any of you play Cry Of Fear and get absolutely obliterated by that very first one? You know what I'm talking about if you did.
 
mindatlarge

mindatlarge

Member
Really surprised by this game's existence. Glad I clicked this thread and read some of the reviews. Definitely seems to be up my alley.
 
J

Javier23

Banned
I would be all over this if I hadn't excitedly played Layers of Fear only to find out I actually disliked it quite a bit. I'm gonna remain cautiously optimistic and wait for impressions by those with the same experience who'll take the gamble.
Bloodporne said:
A bit off topic but speaking of jump scares, did any of you play Cry Of Fear and get absolutely obliterated by that very first one? You know what I'm talking about if you did.
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I have yet to play it to completion. I've only tried it (and it looked very promising), and yeah, normally I wouldn't remember, but I know exactly what you're talking about. I normally don't mind jumpscares but they are a very cheap trick. The original Outlast was a very neat surprise back in the day, specially coming from a small, indie studio, but its overreliance on jumpscares (the worst case I remember) diminished it in my eyes. Resident Evil 7 was a breath of fresh air in that it is the first game I've played in a long time that knows how to use them tastefully and sparingly.
 
W

wamberz1

Member
Bloodporne said:
A bit off topic but speaking of jump scares, did any of you play Cry Of Fear and get absolutely obliterated by that very first one? You know what I'm talking about if you did.
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Yes lol. Now THAT was a tone setter.

I went back and played COF recently because I had some random urge to, and it holds up decently (like most stuff that runs on source). Soundtrack was also pretty solid. The composer still puts out music that's very silent hill/small town horror-esque to this day.

Kinda bummed to hear that there is a ton of jump scares in this game, but I think I'll live.
 
A

affleck1981

Member
Man - very torn on this. Hate jump scares - can't cope with them at all, but love cyberpunk and games that have dystopian settings/psychological horror.
 
S

Sendero

Member
Is it already available to purchase in STEAM?
I have had it in my wishlist for some time, but I just checked and there is still no purchase button or price.
 
B

Bloodporne

Member
Javier23 said:
I have yet to play it to completion. I've only tried it (and it looked very promising), and yeah, normally I wouldn't remember, but I know exactly what you're talking about. I normally don't mind jumpscares but they are a very cheap trick. The original Outlast was a very neat surprise back in the day, specially coming from a small, indie studio, but its overreliance on jumpscares (the worst case I remember) diminished it in my eyes. Resident Evil 7 was a breath of fresh air in that it is the first game I've played in a long time that knows how to use them tastefully and sparingly.
Click to expand...

wamberz1 said:
Yes lol. Now THAT was a tone setter.

I went back and played COF recently because I had some random urge to, and it holds up decently (like most stuff that runs on source). Soundtrack was also pretty solid. The composer still puts out music that's very silent hill/small town horror-esque to this day.

Kinda bummed to hear that there is a ton of jump scares in this game, but I think I'll live.
Click to expand...

I'm not even a fan of jump scares, especially kind of hate them in films, but man, that was absolutely brutal. I literally jumped up from my chair and screamed, never happened before.
 
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