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The Witness (open-world island inspired by Myst)
I think if you were to take the 50 or so best puzzles from this game you’d end up with a masterpiece to rival Braid. As it stands, it’s a game I can’t recommend to anyone because for every cool bit there are about 4 “meh” bits and 1-2 really annoying parts, so overall it’s not really worth it.
I thought The Witness was way better than Braid. But maybe that’s because I found jumping around on platforms while juggling difficult keyboard controls frustrating as hell.
I thought The Witness was way better than Braid. But maybe that’s because I found jumping around on platforms while juggling difficult keyboard controls frustrating as hell.
Yeah, that would ruin it for you. I found navigating the island to be a tricky affair but my gripe is with the puzzles more than anything. The mechanic of having to position yourself just right so an environmental clue is revealed quickly wore off its welcome, and in the more “difficult” puzzles even had side solutions (that were not accepted) which made the ordeal even more frustrating.
*bump*
I started playing The Witness.
I’m 4 hours in (I thought it’d be way more than that, but I won’t argue with what GOG Galaxy is saying), and I have a score of 106 +3.
And the game has already outstayed its welcome… 
The complete lack of a story is probably the main culprit here. The closest I’ve gotten to anything resembling a narrative so far are 4 audio files with Albert Einstein quotes, but that’s not enough to keep me going. Without a hint of a mystery to be solved here, the game becomes a test of patience, and mine was quickly wearing thin.
The moment I found another puzzle type - which was a “holy shit”-moment for a lot of players apparently - I just went “ugh…” and rolled my eyes.
The game looks great and the controls are excellent - especially when compared to Braid which I found excessively frustrating to play, overly difficult with its timing, and which I gave up on FAR sooner than here - and I also greatly appreciate the amount of different layers Jonathan Blow managed to add to what is essentially just a single type of puzzle, but it’s really not enough to keep me going.
I currently lack any and all motivation to continue exploring and solving puzzles, despite feeling that the game started strong. It’s just that the more it started to dawn on me that there was not going to be any story to be found, the more the game started to feel like busywork and the more it tested my patience… until I reached the point where I just shrugged, shut the game down, and no longer felt like ever looking back…
If I have to compare this game with another, the closest thing to it is probably going to be The Talos Principle. But at least the Talos Principle had a though-provoking philosophical core to complement the exploration and puzzle-solving, and I loved it for it.
The Witness just makes me feel indifferent… 
The truth can’t hurt you, it’s just like the dark: it scares you witless but in time you see things clear and stark. - Elvis Costello
Maybe this time I can be strong, but since I know who I am, I’m probably wrong. Maybe this time I can go far, but thinking about where I’ve been ain’t helping me start. - Michael Kiwanuka
I always feel a tiny bit sad when other people dislike one of my alltime favorite games. No, The Witness has no story to speak of. It’s a puzzle game. But it has something else, I guess you could call it a message, which appeals to some people and other people call it pretentious.
Butter my buns and call me a biscuit! - Agent A
I’m glad I’m not the only that couldn’t get into The Witness. I’m definitely the kind of player that needs some type of story or narrative to pull me along. Solving puzzles just for the heck of it gets boring really quick for me so of course I also lasted like 3 or 4 hours max in The Witness. A similar thing happened in other highly regarded game Return of the Obra Dinn, which I know does at least have some story that you piece together and that part was cool, but after getting the first ending I didn’t have any motivation at all to find all the fates just for the sake of it, and the super minimalistic graphics didn’t help either 
Return of the Obra Dinn is also one of my alltime favorite games, so I feel the urge to reply. 
If you don’t solve all available fates on the ship you will get the bad ending: No access to the lazarette, where an important part of the story is revealed. I would never call that “the first ending”. There’s only one real ending.
Butter my buns and call me a biscuit! - Agent A
My bad I guess I meant the bad ending, it’s been a while. I totally get it when people don’t like some of your favorite games. There’s some rare cases like Outer Wilds where I didn’t enjoy it at first and come back after a time to give it another try and end up becoming some of my favorite games, so I also feel like encouraging people that didn’t like it either. But most of the times is just a matter of personal preference, nothing to do with the quality of the games. I know The Witness and Obra Dinn are masterpieces in their own right.
I loved Obra Dinn to bits, that one was exhilarating to get my detective hat on and solve all the fates to get to the true ending. Of course, I also loved the stylized “modern retro” graphics.
I have to admit that I didn’t go into The Witness thinking I’d abandon it after several hours. I tend to pick games that I’m convinced I’ll like, based on the opinion and recommendations of others whose preferences in games are similar enough to mine to make such an assessment. But, well, as they say: de gustibus non est disputandum…
I do see what the game has going for it, and after the first bunch of puzzles and finding a first audio clip, I actually thought that it was going to be a great game. It’s just that, as it went on, it all felt a bit too same-y (despite the excellent variety that’s put in the line puzzles). And then a narrative will easily see me through that, but that sadly wasn’t the case here…
The truth can’t hurt you, it’s just like the dark: it scares you witless but in time you see things clear and stark. - Elvis Costello
Maybe this time I can be strong, but since I know who I am, I’m probably wrong. Maybe this time I can go far, but thinking about where I’ve been ain’t helping me start. - Michael Kiwanuka
I’m glad I’m not the only that couldn’t get into The Witness. I’m definitely the kind of player that needs some type of story or narrative to pull me along. Solving puzzles just for the heck of it gets boring really quick for me so of course I also lasted like 3 or 4 hours max in The Witness. A similar thing happened in other highly regarded game Return of the Obra Dinn, which I know does at least have some story that you piece together and that part was cool, but after getting the first ending I didn’t have any motivation at all to find all the fates just for the sake of it, and the super minimalistic graphics didn’t help either
I agree there are certain types of games that people love,that I understand why they love them, but they’re just not for me. The witness bored me to tears and I also never liked myst much either.
I loved Obra Dinn to bits, that one was exhilarating to get my detective hat on and solve all the fates to get to the true ending.
The Case of the Golden Idol is probably the closest we’ll ever get to Obra Dinn 2: a) Twelve death/murder scenes frozen in time with lots of info. 2) Everthing is done by logic and deduction. 3) Overarching story.
Immersive, mesmerizing, not easy at all, except for the first few deaths. Highly recommended to people who, like me, enjoy playing detective and using their little grey cells to solve complex mysteries.
Butter my buns and call me a biscuit! - Agent A
Duly noted. 
Everybody wants to be Cary Grant.
Even Me.
-Cary Grant
Are you going to play it? I probably shouldn’t have compared it to Obra Dinn, which is in a class of its own. But I had great fun with it. Hardly played any adventures last year (RL and all that) and now 3 good ones in a row.
Butter my buns and call me a biscuit! - Agent A
I will probably try Golden Idol, but who knows when: I usually play less than ten games a year.
Everybody wants to be Cary Grant.
Even Me.
-Cary Grant
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