Observer: System Redux Nintendo Switch 2 review

The neon psychological thriller >observer_ first made its debut in 2017 and was later reimaged as Observer: System Redux in 2020, which brought several enhancements for its release on the newly launched next-generation consoles. While its port to the Nintendo Switch 2 is far from any sort of reimagining, it nonetheless delivers a more polished and portable experience for players on that platform, taking advantage of the system’s accessibility and other features.

In Observer: System Redux, you play as Daniel Lazarski, an elite neural detective investigating the low-income neighborhood where his son has gone missing. He uses the Dream Eater to enter the minds of dying people to get a glimpse into what transpired. Using retinal implants, he can also scan the area around him to find clues that eventually help to solve the case. The port to the Nintendo Switch 2 brings enhancements that fine tune these and other aspects of gameplay, resulting in a much smoother experience.

Probably the most notable feature update is the inclusion of motion and Joy-Con 2 mouse controls. I was caught a little off guard when I first picked up an item in game to observe it and noticed it rotating without me touching the thumbsticks, that is until I realized it was moving because my controller was moving. (I’d also forgotten the controller itself, the Turtle Beach Rematch, had motion controls, so it was a double surprise.) Both features work well in the game. The mouse controls make it much easier to hit the interaction points on doors and objects, which also highlights Nintendo’s need to better fine tune the thumbsticks because they’ve always felt a bit off to me. Both features are also optional, with motion controls able to be disabled in the settings.

The 2019 Nintendo Switch version of the game was called out a lot for having pretty sizable performance issues, including frame rate drops and stutters, as well as blurry textures in both docked and handheld modes. While these issues weren’t necessarily game-breaking, they did muddy up the experience quite a bit. On Nintendo Switch 2, all that remains is the occasional stutter when moving between areas of the map, otherwise the game looks and plays perfectly in both handheld and docked modes. I do recommend disabling the motion controls, however if you are playing in handheld mode and instead use the thumbsticks to look at objects you pick up, unless you are also flipping yourself with your system. While that would be amusing, I imagine you’d also get a lot of funny looks.

Haunting retrofuturism reborn — Observer System Redux review

Bloober Team, the crew behind games like the Layers of Fear titles, The Blair Witch, and the upcoming dueling-world title The Medium, also gave us a game called >observer_ — a cyberpunk psychological thriller. In >observer_ (let’s just roll with “Observer” from now on) you are cast as detective

GAMINGTRENDRon Burke

We are only getting a digital release for Nintendo Switch 2 right now; however a physical release is planned for October 30th, which will include the full game on a cartridge, premium packaging, a lenticular 3D postcard, printed in-game Chiron corporate ad cards, and bonus digital content. Unfortunately, there is no option for an upgrade for the original Nintendo Switch version, so you do have to repurchase the game for the Nintendo Switch 2 if you want to take advantage of the motion and mouse features as well as the much-improved performance.