>observer_

The Good
Set in a cruel, beyond dystopian cyber/body-punk world, the atmosphere absolutely chokes this game. Despite having the world of information at our finger tips, the game nails the feelings of isolation and fearing the unknown. Rutger Hauer, despite being attached to this project for his performance as Roy Batty in Blade Runner, brings to this role a tired, punished soul, looking to make amends with his estranged son. Hauer's creaking voice is both thrilling, and yet comforting. His voice is perhaps the last of humanity you hear in this game.

The graphics and sound are tremendous, doubly so for a switch game, and the developers should be commended for not only achieving such incredible visuals but also no loading screens once the game has loaded. To think other, lesser, studios achieve far less with the same Unreal Engine.

Story and characters are wonderful, giving you clear purpose throughout, but never fully leading you by the nose, keeping you in the dark, intrigued. Pretty early on you find you have the run of the apartment building the game takes place in, and this definitely helps sell the world.

Being able to scan evidence is a nice touch, making you work for story progression, and come to your own conclusions.

The Bad
Though the atmosphere is wonderful, it's also dripping from the walls, making several areas perhaps too dark or busy to clearly see at what you're actually looking. Though you have 4 vision modes available - normal, bio, electro, night-vision - none seem ideal given the dark nature of the game.

There were a few places where the player agency and the narrative of the story seemed to disagree. Perhaps they were bugs but I felt like my choices in the game were often just ignored, particularly in the ending. It didn't ruin the story for me, but made me feel like I chose the wrong option when I had the chance. If so, why give me that option?

This game is, above all, a walking sim. It's a good one, even splicing in side quests, and breadcrumbs of stories all over the building. But Dan walks very slowly. So be prepared to soak up the atmosphere. Running doesn't add much speed, and can lead to issues like waiting for a closed door to open as the game struggles to load the next portion of the map.

Interacting with the world is very in-depth. Opening doors required holding a button and moving the control stick in the direction you want it to open. At first this was quite neat, but after a while it does grate. It doesn't help that you often need pixel perfect aim just to exert control over a door handle.

Despite running very well for much of the game, I did notice the framerate stutter a few times towards the end. It steadied after a few minutes, so must assume it was the game loading the next area.

Once played, there's little reason to return unless you like collectables, which take the form of some rather dull picture cards of the developers.

The Bottom Line
Come listen to Rutger Hauer in one of the his last roles, playing a mind-hacking cop looking for his estranged son. It's a brooding, gruesome tale of corporate greed and influence, and the little lives that get ground up and spat out by the machines of commerce.