Observer

If you want more: Cyberpunk aesthetics and themes
Notable differences: Not an RPG, significantly slower pace, no open world, no customizable protagonist, psychological horror
Availability: Windows (Steam Deck YMMV), macOS, Linux, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Amazon Luna

A psychological horror game from none other than Bloober Team (Layers of Fear, Blair Witch, The Medium), Observer is a Blade Runner-inspired cyberpunk mystery game played in first-person. With smaller cyberpunk-style environments that are just as detailed as 2077’s, Observer is likely to draw you into the genre more quietly and intimately than 2077’s louder and more expansive approach ever did.

Observer reminds me of a classic cyberpunk novel like Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? or Neuromancer. It’s slower in pace, with a smaller narrative scope that feels more direct and more in tune with the greater canon of cyberpunk as a genre. But it also doesn’t aim for the same heights as Cyberpunk, lacking fully detailed RPG stats, guns and weaponry, and action-packed shootouts. Gameplay typically revolves around switching between different augmented views of the world around you (not too dissimilar in concept from the braindance sequences in Cyberpunk, though less on-rails) and investigating areas to assemble the pieces of the story as you go along.

Starring Blade Runner’s own Rutger Hauer as the main character (in one of his last performances), Observer nails the tone, feel, and weight of the cyberpunk genre in ways that 2077 loses pretty quickly.