The Witness

I wasn't into this game 'til now tbh, it has an incredible IQ and I heard that Jonathan Blow is complaining about the fact that the game has been heavily pirated.
 
Cyan said:
I wasn't into this game 'til now tbh, it has an incredible IQ and I heard that Jonathan Blow is complaining about the fact that the game has been heavily pirated.
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I haven't played the game, but from everything I've read and seen about it I'm not surprised at all that this game would be heavily pirated. It's a game coming from a well known indie author that's more or less considered indie itself that comes with a price tag that's way beyond inside standards. There's no demo, early reviews have been intentionally directed to not say too much about the specific details of the game mechanics, and the trailer doesn't reveal a lot. It sounds like outside of whatever appreciation players get from the visuals the game's enjoyment falls completely on whether or not you find the puzzles more intellectually satisfying than frustrating and laborious. It looks like it doesn't really have a narrative outside of random sound bites that are supposed to be enlightening, and while the game's website claims that the game's world and circumstances will become clear as you play it I'm highly skeptical that that'll be true for most players. And the game doesn't even have a soundtrack...

I have this impression right now that after everything I've read about the game I literally have no idea if I'll love it or hate it. I'm not going to pirate it but I'm also probably not going to buy it.
 
I need to get back to it but I kinda lost myself in the island. Some puzzles are either way above my brain level or not to be done right now.
The lack of guidance is a double edged sword.
 
London-boy said:
I need to get back to it but I kinda lost myself in the island. Some puzzles are either way above my brain level or not to be done right now.
The lack of guidance is a double edged sword.
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Gamefaqs is your friend. Obviously not this time though, but it saved me many hours or it helped me to use different approaches in games I used to beat in a different way.
 
The point of this game is to understand it yourself, reading guides for The Witness kinda defeats the purpose. It's better to just stop playing it all together imo.
 
Exophase said:
I haven't played the game, but from everything I've read and seen about it I'm not surprised at all that this game would be heavily pirated. It's a game coming from a well known indie author that's more or less considered indie itself that comes with a price tag that's way beyond inside standards. There's no demo, early reviews have been intentionally directed to not say too much about the specific details of the game mechanics, and the trailer doesn't reveal a lot. It sounds like outside of whatever appreciation players get from the visuals the game's enjoyment falls completely on whether or not you find the puzzles more intellectually satisfying than frustrating and laborious. It looks like it doesn't really have a narrative outside of random sound bites that are supposed to be enlightening, and while the game's website claims that the game's world and circumstances will become clear as you play it I'm highly skeptical that that'll be true for most players. And the game doesn't even have a soundtrack...

I have this impression right now that after everything I've read about the game I literally have no idea if I'll love it or hate it. I'm not going to pirate it but I'm also probably not going to buy it.
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Did you like games like Portal 1 & 2, Braid, Fez or the Talos Principle? If yes you will love The Witness.

This game is a masterpiece of design and execution. Resolving the puzzles is only a part of the game. It's also a game about exploring and finding secrets and it's also a game about learning, many puzzles are there just so you can learn new rules for others puzzles.

When I say puzzle, I am not talking only about board puzzles which is basically 2D puzzles. There are many puzzles hidden in the environment too: we could call them 3D puzzles.
 
I haven't played
Globalisateur said:
Did you like games like Portal 1 & 2, Braid, Fez or the Talos Principle? If yes you will love The Witness.

This game is a masterpiece of design and execution. Resolving the puzzles is only a part of the game. It's also a game about exploring and finding secrets and it's also a game about learning, many puzzles are there just so you can learn new rules for others puzzles.

When I say puzzle, I am not talking only about board puzzles which is basically 2D puzzles. There are many puzzles hidden in the environment too: we could call them 3D puzzles.
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I haven't played Portal 1 & 2 or The Talos Principle. I liked Braid. I disliked Fez to the point where I didn't feel like playing beyond 45 minutes or so, and what I'd later read about the game made me want to play it even less.

I've seen a few people say The Witness is like Braid but it's really hard for me to see that from descriptions. Even though they came from the same person.

I do get it's about learning and that really puts me off. I'm not good at deciphering minimalistic diagrams and what have you, and I really don't want to play a game that requires me to keep a bunch of written notes as I go.

I basically feel like if I reach a dead end and simply can't pass a puzzle the whole game is going to feel like it was a waste. That's a pretty big risk. That could happen in other games (only I get the impression that most aren't nearly as hard as this one), but if I end up having to look up a guide for one puzzle in a game that has a bunch of other content I won't feel that bad about it. Can't say the same for something like this.
 
Exophase said:
I haven't played Portal 1 & 2 or The Talos Principle. I liked Braid. I disliked Fez to the point where I didn't feel like playing beyond 45 minutes or so, and what I'd later read about the game made me want to play it even less.

I've seen a few people say The Witness is like Braid but it's really hard for me to see that from descriptions. Even though they came from the same person.

I do get it's about learning and that really puts me off. I'm not good at deciphering minimalistic diagrams and what have you, and I really don't want to play a game that requires me to keep a bunch of written notes as I go.

I basically feel like if I reach a dead end and simply can't pass a puzzle the whole game is going to feel like it was a waste. That's a pretty big risk. That could happen in other games (only I get the impression that most aren't nearly as hard as this one), but if I end up having to look up a guide for one puzzle in a game that has a bunch of other content I won't feel that bad about it. Can't say the same for something like this.
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The game is much more accessible than FEZ. It's as much inventive, even more I'd say, but much less frustrating or disorienting.

The tutorial aspect of the game is excellent here and it's much easier to go to another area to solve another puzzle than with the cryptic FEZ maze.
 
Globalisateur said:
The game is much more accessible than FEZ. It's as much inventive, even more I'd say, but much less frustrating or disorienting.

The tutorial aspect of the game is excellent here and it's much easier to go to another area to solve another puzzle than with the cryptic FEZ maze.
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Okay, I might give it a try at some point. Very, very cautiously.

Just one other problem: I don't really want to use my TV computer (especially for something mouse heavy) but the desktop I game on runs Linux. So it'd be good to know how it runs in Wine first.
 
Progressing a bit more, stunning game. On the technical side, this game is almost perfect for what is it (except for some lod pop-in that is sometimes noticeable)
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Just finished the game. Some of the last puzzles are kinda twisted. :yep2:

Definitely one of the best puzzle game I have played. Blow did it again! And the game is never unfair, at least not the puzzles needed to see the normal end. But some of them definitely need some serious mind work and perseverance.

My advice, when you are stuck, do another puzzle or go explore. There are several "ways" to see the normal end so some puzzles on another "path" might be easier for some.
 
I hate Witness and I hate myself.
No, I hate myself but love Witness.
I hate the feeling when I'm stuck on a puzzle, can't resist looking up a hint from internet and the solution was just too obvious :mad:
I love the feeling when I am stuck on a puzzle, keep banging my head like an idiot trying to solve it in similar manner time and time again until I finally figure out the missing puzzle piece (which was right there, if only my mind hadn't been so stuck on past errors) :love:
Not the best game to play when you're tired and brain not working, although the island is a very beautiful, nice and relaxing place to walk around.
I do genuinely hate the shadow puzzles though, they've been thus far the only ones that sometimes seem a bit unfair as you need to be very precise with aligning your viewpoint

I did get some pretty bad headaches the first time I played it, just read that many had similar symptoms. Never really had any before with fps or any games. Might be the combination of all the bright colours, narrowish field of vision... and actually having forced to use my tiny brain :)
 
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I just plat the game. 10/10 game.

True spoilers for those wanting to plat the game without spending a good chunk of their life on this task:

For the platinum you only need to unlock the 11 lasers. No need for the + puzzles. Contrary to the 11 lasers which I got on my own without even one tip, I used a youtube video to help me with the method for the last challenge. You have to resolve several random puzzles (they are individually not hard) in a short time and it's almost impossible to do it without a specific trick.
 
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