In the category of "low(er) budget games I've never heard anyone ever mention", Observation is one of the best I've played.

I was pleasantly surprised throughout and very satisfied in the end. There is respect to be found for a game that knows exactly what story it wants to tell and how; does so great, and then ends just when it has to, without dragging feet or milking anything for more.

Its a clever little ~8 hour narrative+puzzle game with a good story - you can think of it as a miniseries of a TV show - but the thing it really shines in is the environment and atmosphere. I'm no spaceman, but the space station the game takes place in feels so handcrafted and real; it makes the whole ride feel very authentic; and all of that is then added to by some really good voice acting.

There are some narrative whiplash moments when the pacing and jumps between scenes disorient you even more than flying the drone on XYZ axis and then some bugs detracted from the experience (characters losing their pathing and gliding through walls or teleporting around a bit; event trigger (once) bugging out and needing a game restart). There are no questmarkers or highlights so at some points the game gives you too little to go by, resulting in you pixelhunting the actionable item for 10 minutes, which is frustrating. But all these issues personally I could overlook and enjoy the game for what it is.

It's not going to be for everyone, but if you're a sucker like me some for realistic space sci-fi setting and reverse-engineering a well written and believable mystery story from audio logs and notes, you should like this one.

Game released on 30 November 2022 3 October 2023. Great update that should've happened on launch launch, fun game, very worth.