The Witness

General purpose discussion about gaming and emulation.
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Specially Cork
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The Witness

Post by Specially Cork »

Anybody else got this?

I'm in way too deep. I've got stacks of graph paper on my desk and screenshots on my phone so I can try and solve some while I'm at work. When I go to bed all I dream about is fucking mazes. I played for 2 hours last night and basically made no progress at all, because I knew exactly what I needed to do but my brain had no idea how to actually do it. I just sat there staring at the screen.

The worst part is, there's no labelling or anything, so you can't even efficiently find a solution online, which would usually tempt me into giving up on these things. I'm stuck with my own intelligence and I feel like an absolute idiot.

This is an absolute monster of a puzzle game.
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Re: The Witness

Post by not just souLLy now »

I reeeeeeally want to play it, totally my kind of game, but I've got a hefty game backlog that I want to dent before I buy anything else. Life Is Strange, Broken Sword, Tearaway, Grim Fandango and MGSV all need some attention before I can justify buying anything new. Maybe it's not such a bad thing as I prefer physical releases and I know there's talk of The Witness being released that way at some point... Now to continue avoiding spoilers.
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Re: The Witness

Post by Jeeba Jabba »

I don't understand the first-person 3D island setting if it's just a vehicle for walking to the next grid puzzle on a screen. I've watched multiple reviews and no one has directly addressed this. If there's no deeper narrative between, guiding, or explaining this mechanic along the way, it's hard to see this as anything but an autism simulator.
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Re: The Witness

Post by Specially Cork »

Jeeba Jabba wrote:I don't understand the first-person 3D island setting if it's just a vehicle for walking to the next grid puzzle on a screen. I've watched multiple reviews and no one has directly addressed this. If there's no deeper narrative between, guiding, or explaining this mechanic along the way, it's hard to see this as anything but an autism simulator.
Alright. I beat it a couple of days ago. I didn't get the super secret ending because I couldn't be arsed, but I watched it online.

I bought a game for my phone a couple of years ago called RGB Express. It cost me $2. You move delivery trucks around a maze, making sure they each pick up their correct packages and get to the right depot. There's hundreds of mazes and each batch adds an extra level of logic to it. The Witness is that game, but with a very flashy island instead of a menu and a $39.99 price tag.

You're right Jeeba - there's no connection at all between the puzzles and the island. It's just a means to an end. And it's a shame, because it's beautiful and great to explore, but you never find anything but more maze panels. I enjoyed it at first, but there's only a few interesting ideas and Blow bleeds them all dry. You're never just solving one puzzle - they're always in rows of 6 or 8 and solving them just unlocks the next row...and this just goes on for hundreds and hundreds of puzzles.

If the game were just as big but half as long it would've been a serious improvement.

Going back to RGB Express, it's a mobile game. You pull it out when you have 5 minutes to kill, solve a puzzle or two then stick it back in your pocket. The Witness is a full-on console game and trying to spend an hour or more with it is such a chore.

And I have to ask, why mazes? It's nowhere near as unique as the time manipulation in Braid. Exploring every iteration of 2D maze is about as exciting as it sounds.

It's such a shame the island wasn't used properly. If he had actually built a Myst game around it it would've been amazing. Instead you've got a $2 phone game with very impressive smoke and mirrors.

Oh and minor story spoilers...
Spoiler!
This ain't no Portal or Talos Principle. Apart from a couple of vague recordings you get nothing until the end, and it's total shit. You'd expect a much better pay off after 20+ hours of gameplay.
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