History VideoGame / Observation

* BrandX: One laptop [[spoiler:belonging to Emma-2]] shows a Windows 98-esque desktop, with "BEGIN" in place of the start menu. The laptops themselves are manufactured by a fictional Futuro company, which might be a riff on Lenovo and similar sounding real-world companies, but also doubles as a reference to ''VideoGame/StoriesUntold'' that also uses this brand.

The game is available for [=PS4=] via the UsefulNotes/PlayStationNetwork Store and PC via Steam and the Epic Games store.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/observation_1545350682739_270h.jpg]]

* AIIsACrapshoot: {{Averted}}. [[spoiler:S.A.M. is no longer ''artificial'' when the game starts, which is represented by him being controlled by the player. All of his decisions are made in the same way that any human would make decisions.]]

* ArtificialGravity: {{Averted}}, as the station doesn't spin--the technology level for ''Observation'' is on roughly the same level as the ISS.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler: The version of Jim]] that Emma finds on the other space station at first seems to be scared, confused, and doing his best just to survive after his ship's AI and one of his crewmates went AxeCrazy and started killing the rest of the crew. [[spoiler: Actually, he was the one who murdered his crew's Emma and Joshua, and who tried to kill "prime" Joshua. When Emma tries to help Jim by bringing him back to her more functional station, he abandons her in space with a broken helmet.]]

* BloodFromTheMouth: [[spoiler: Jim-2 as he dies, due to S.A.M. removing the oxygen from the mainframe room.]]

* BrandX: One laptop [[spoiler: belonging to Emma-2]] shows a Windows 98-esque desktop, with "BEGIN" in place of the start menu. The laptops themselves are manufactured by a fictional Futuro company, which might be a riff on Lenovo and similar sounding real-world companies, but also doubles as a reference to ''VideoGame/StoriesUntold'' that also uses this brand.

* DevelopersForesight: An in-universe example--the life support terminal requires that it be operated by something biological, meaning that if S.A.M. ever went off the deep end for whatever reason, it can't just murder the crew with it. Someone's watched some [[AIIsACrapshoot evil AI]] movies, it seems. [[spoiler: However, it turns out [[LoopholeAbuse all it really needs is someone at the terminal to operate, even if they're facing away from it,]] and this becomes moot once S.A.M.'s infestation spreads beyond his mainframe since that's biological.]]

* EasyAmnesia: Justified. The character affected is S.A.M., the ship's A.I., and the memories he lost were stored in data banks which are now corrupted and thus unrecoverable. He can replace the corrupted files with uncorrupted ones by finding copies of the files around the station on laptops and printouts. It's also a good excuse for beginning InMediasRes. He doesn't even know his own mission [[spoiler: which is why interfacing with the second S.A.M. on the alternate ship is useful for revealing that information]].

* LockedOutOfTheLoop: [[spoiler: Only Jim was briefed on the truth about the mission. Everyone else was deliberately kept in the dark.]]

* RepetitiveAudioGlitch: [[spoiler: After all of the data in S.A.M.-2's mainframe is exhausted, he continuously spouts, "Power levels insufficient...insufficient...insufficent..."]]

* SchizoTech: Most of the technology of Observation is identical to what we have today - the station is on par with the ISS - but it has a sophisticated AI for overlooking it, [[spoiler: a Quantum Communicator for talking with Earth over long distances, an experimental fusion reactor, and perhaps some sort of warp drive for good measure]]. The various laptops around the station look like they're running off DOS, based on the menu interface.

*** Similarly, the logo for the Department of Experimental Sciences appears under [[spoiler: SAM-2's mission file]].

* SpaceMadness: [[spoiler: The second Jim,]] having murdered more than one person due to said madness by the time you find them.
* SpannerInTheWorks: If Stanislav hadn't secretly programmed some experimental boosters for S.A.M.'s spheres, which enabled him to break into the station's air vents [[spoiler: after Jim tried to lock him out of the station's system, Jim]] would have succeeded.

* {{Technopath}}: [[spoiler: When Emma returns from being spaced, she says she was able to hear and understand S.A.M.'s distress, probably a precursor to them merging at the end of the game.]]

** [[spoiler: The second Jim claims that the S.A.M. on their ''Observation'' did this to the second Emma. S.A.M., however, finds second Emma's body while exploring the second ship. It's the first real hint that the second Jim isn't to be trusted.]]
** A modified version occurs when [[spoiler: S.A.M. is ordered to kill the second Jim by the hexagon. It does this by sealing him in the mainframe room and removing all the oxygen inside. The player is then treated to the soundless death throes of Jim as he frantically tries to damage S.A.M. enough to gain back control of the ship.]]

* UnexplainedRecovery: In the transition to the final act, [[spoiler: Emma is left outside the station with a cracked faceplate. By the time S.A.M. regains control and opens the airlock to let her back inside, at least thirty minutes have passed in game. Despite this, and despite her suit still clearly having suffered enough damage to depressurize, Emma is able to return to work apparently none the worse for wear. It is implied that the hexagon has something to do with this, but the details are never revealed.]]

* VoiceOfTheLegion: [[spoiler: At the end, the combined Emma and S.A.M. speak in unison.]]
* WelcomeToCorneria: S.A.M. does not have the ability to hold a meaningful conversation or to volunteer information [[spoiler: at first]], so he can only bring damage to Emma's attention through generic system alerts. [[spoiler: He also can't tell Mission Control about Second Jim going nuts and being a danger to the station, but he can point out that Jim is in two locations and one of them is dead, which clues them in.]]

* SnipeHunt: Justified. Several of the logs that you can find and read show that various members of the crew felt that what they were doing up in the station was pointless or aimless. [[spoiler:Turns out they were right - it ''was'' pointless. They were given busywork tasks meant to loosely justify their presence on the station. This was not meant to humiliate them, but to instead obfuscate the true purpose of the mission, which was known only to mission control and Jim.]]

* GuideDangIt: A few examples.
** Certain actions in the game can only be performed if you report them to Emma first, even if you already have the needed tools to solve them. This is most obvious with the coolant system repair in the main hub. Unless you report the alert to Emma, you can only get as far as repairing the three damaged modules. The main control system will remain unavailable until Emma is informed.
** Completing certain mission tasks requires S.A.M. to unlock access to specific terminals, some of which are code protected. Not all of the codes are kept in plain sight.
** Collecting all data points requires players to hunt down certain documents or voice logs prior to triggering specific story events. Failing to do so can result in PermanentlyMissableContent.
** Laptops with a red "low battery" icon on the screen can be accessed by activating the nearby power outlet they're plugged into. The problem is that the outlets are so small that accidentally mousing over them is highly unlikely, making it easy to miss the data on these specific laptops.

* NoFlowInCGI: Emma's hair, while long, is held tightly together for obvious reasons.

* CuteMachines: SAM's connection spheres are head-sized spherical drones with CO2 jets for maneuvering in zero-G.

* CuteMachines: SAM's connection spheres are head-sized spherical drones with nitrogen jets for maneuvering in zero-G.

* FiveSecondForeshadowing: When S.A.M. is tasked to use the astronomical observation computer to locate the approaching second station. [[spoiler:As S.A.M. enters his OS interface for transfer to the module, it can be seen flickering and flashing a very brief error message. This foreshadows S.A.M.'s second encounter with the hexagon.]]

* DroneOfDread: The theme of the Hexagon has menacing drone sounds.

* BrandX: One laptop [[spoiler: belonging to Emma-2]] shows a Windows 98-esque desktop, with "BEGIN" in place of the start menu. The laptops themselves are manufactured by a fictional Futuro company, which might be a riff on Lenovo and similar sounding real-world companies.

** One of the station's crew bunks contains a ''VideoGame/StoriesUntold'' DVD.

''Observation'' is a 2019 sci-fi thriller game developed by No Code (''VideoGame/StoriesUntold'') and published by Creator/DevolverDigital.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: The hexagon-shaped storm on Saturn [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn%27s_hexagon is a real thing]].

* OfficeRomance [[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE!]]: Emma and Josh are an item by the time the story begins, having grown close over the course of the mission. The rest of the crew doesn't seem to mind, and the only one who does (Emma's bunkmate) is tactful enough to move to another part of the station of her own volition instead of raising a stink over it.

* OfficeRomance [[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE!]]: Emma and Josh are an item by the time the story begins, having grown close over the course of the mission. The rest of the crew doesn't seem to mind, and the only one who does (Emma's bunk mate) is tactful enough to move to another part of the station on her own volition instead of raising a stink over it.

* RealityEnsues: The game's mostly realistic approach to deep space exploration creates many examples of this, but one of the most memorable is [[spoiler:the station's core tearing and shaking itself apart as you try to steer it into Saturn's polar vortex in the final act. Today's space station modules aren't built for atmospheric reentry, least of all for atmospheres as turbulent as Saturn's, so even if you hit the perfect trajectory, the odds of making it through intact are remote.]]
* RoboCam: S.A.M. can control CCTV cameras throughout the station, along with remote Diagnostic Spheres, each with their own specific HUD.

* SubspaceAnsible: [[spoiler:Jim 2 reveals, to Emma's surprise, that the station has a quantum communicator to allow for instantaneous communication with Earth - and thus, Houston. He uses it to try to abort the mission. Mission control bypasses him entirely after S.A.M. reports that there's multiple Jims, cluing them in that something is not quite right.]]