The Witness - Reviews Thread

Was reading the Escapist review, and the writer mentions how one puzzle with a puzzle type they never encountered before locked them in until they finished it, and with the one constant autosave their only recourse if they couldn't solve it would be to restart the game, but that they can't fault the game for that.

Sounds like you could really easily fault the game for that. Something I loved about Talos was if I did get stuck, I could leave and try other things, and by doing other puzzles I might have a eureka moment and be able to finish the one I couldn't before. If correct, that sounds like a pretty stupid design choice. Everything else sounds pretty stellar though.
 
ohNOitsRO said:
I find it hilarious that the PU 6.5 review has a part where it says the player will find it more rewarding to use a guide.. Lmao

If that doesn't show a game going over someone's head then idk what does
Click to expand...

Not read much of any of the reviews as I want to go in blind, but seriously? Wow.
 
hawk2025 said:
Some comments:

- I hate the cocaine joke, and I hope it doesn't stick to the OT :( I agree with keeping it classy.

- phew, I wasn't the only one increasingly annoyed by the Opencritic pusher.
Click to expand...

I'm partial to 'Lines of Blow'. 'Myst Me' just feels like not giving The Witness the opportunity to stand on its own two feet.

Mr. Nice_Guy said:
Was reading the Escapist review, and the writer mentions how one puzzle with a puzzle type they never encountered before locked them in until they finished it, and with the one constant autosave their only recourse if they couldn't solve it would be to restart the game, but that they can't fault the game for that.

Sounds like you could really easily fault the game for that. Something I loved about Talos was if I did get stuck, I could leave and try other things, and by doing other puzzles I might have a eureka moment and be able to finish the one I couldn't before. If correct, that sounds like a pretty stupid design choice. Everything else sounds pretty stellar though.
Click to expand...

Eh. I'd interpret that as the game telling you that your solution is contained within the room you're locked in. That might be preferable to letting the player think that the solution could arise by gallivanting away from it.
 
GDJustin said:
Here's a bunch of spoiler-free things to know about The Witness before jumping in, from me, a man that has solved 309 of its panels (and counting)
Click to expand...

Wow, thank you for putting together that great little write up! I know I am going to fall in love with this game. I played all of the Myst games with pencil and paper, and am ready as hell with my heavyweight graphing paper pad. I've even drawn a map of the island based on dev blog materials and separated all the biomes out for annotations. Each biome will get its own pages in the pad I plan on recording everything I observe and learn about the world. I will document new puzzle mechanics with examples as I come to understand them. I am making a manuscript of my adventures on this island as if I myself was the character who arrived there. I want to savour this experience and immerse myself fully in it, and boy am I ready.
 
I think the low-end reviews are valuable to us consumers. Not everyone is great at solving puzzles. The fact that some reviewers were frustrated enough to give the game (which by all accounts looks, sounds, and feels great) a low score means that there is a subset of people who won't enjoy the game no matter what, because it'll be too frustrating.

Consumers can use that information, as well as their experience with past puzzle games, to make an informed decision. If someone thought Braid or The Talos Principle was way, way too hard for them, it's nice to know from the low-end reviews that The Witness won't be a fulfilling experience (due to paucity of story, lack of Skinner box mechanics, etc). I'm not in that boat but I'm not going to badmouth the reviewer just because I want the metacritic score to be higher.
 
Was curious about the 6.5 Playstation Universe review and wanted to check what they gave The Talos Principle, which is one of my favourite games of all time, let alone puzzle games. They gave it a 9.0.

Talos was reviewed by Will Robinson and his only con was "Many puzzles provide little to no challenge". Sounds like they should have let Will review The Witness over Timothy Nunes.

http://www.psu.com/review/28286/The-Talos-Principle--Deluxe-Edition-PS4-Review
http://www.psu.com/review/29193/The-Witness-PS4-Review
 
I was scared of this game, I thought it would be bad, with too much hype and expectations, for nothing.

After these reviews, I cannot say NO to this game. I'll buy it tomorrow on launch.

Is preloading possible in PS4?
 
Myst Me kinda sucks as I really didn't take to that game. As much as The Witness nods to it, I hope it transcends it completely.

Myst just leaves a bad taste in the mouth as this promises to be so much more.
 
Good on Mr. Blow and the rest of his team for successfully bringing their vision to fruition. I'm happy to hear so many positive things from critics; the groans and cries from people that dislike puzzle games or Jonathan Blow in the comments even more so.

Modern video games are a tough sell to some of my friends-- "too complex", "too many buttons to push", etc... yet all of them have fond memories of wandering through Myst as a kid with their older siblings or parents. This seems like something that'll speak to them.

Can't wait to pick it up tomorrow!
 
The "Blow Away the Myst" someone suggested before is the best IMO.

EDIT:

mclem said:
Combine a few to get:

The Witness |OT| Blow away the Myst

(But Lines of Blow is still the best)
Click to expand...

Anyway, sorry but I'm really not tech savvy, like at all: I have a GTX750 with 2 GB of RAM plus 2 GB of RAM on my motherboard, will the game run fine?
 
cilonen said:
Myst Me kinda sucks as I really didn't take to that game. As much as The Witness nods to it, I hope it transcends it completely.

Myst just leaves a bad taste in the mouth as this promises to be so much more.
Click to expand...

Don't get me wrong. 'Lines of Blow' is genius, but I just don't think the mods would take kindly to a blatant drug reference being on their front page for months LOL
 
PS4 release time information. Maybe...

sTlImeg.png
 
Afro said:
Don't get me wrong. "Lines of Blow" is genius, but I just don't think the mods would take kindly to a blatant drug reference being on their front page for months LOL
Click to expand...

That is true :-)

Myst Me just seems like a request to give me another Myst. The Witness is hopefully so much more with a way better mythos and background than 'some wizard wrote a book and is trapped in it'.
 
I'm hoping the game runs ok on my PC as well, I only have a GTX 460 on a core i5 with plenty of ram though. It ran Talos Principle perfectly fine. I will run out and buy a new video card tomorrow if it runs poorly.
 
D4Danger said:
"Myst me?" is the best OT title

credit to whoever came up with it. I tried to find the post from the other day
Click to expand...

'Twas me.

I suggested "Myst me?" not just as a simple reference to Myst (which gives a very basic idea of what to expect from The Witness), but to allude to the fact that we haven't had a game like this in quite some time. It's the game arriving and saying "Missed me?"

I feel silly for defending something as arbitrary as an OT subtitle, but I feel strongly about this game.
 
Vexidus said:
I'm hoping the game runs ok on my PC as well, I only have a GTX 460 on a core i5 with plenty on ram though. It was Talos Principle perfectly fine. I will run out and buy a new video card tomorrow if it runs poorly.
Click to expand...
Minimum requirements are Intel HD 4000. My non-gaming laptop can run this. You should be okay
 
Afro said:
Don't get me wrong. "Lines of Blow" is genius, but I just don't think the mods would take kindly to a blatant drug reference being on their front page for months LOL
Click to expand...
It's only a harmless joke though, it has a double meaning. I fail to see how people could be offended by that in 2016. Evilore may not like it though, that I will say.
 
PolishQ said:
'Twas me.

I suggested "Myst me?" not just as a simple reference to Myst (which gives a very basic idea of what to expect from The Witness), but to allude to the fact that we haven't had a game like this in quite some time. It's the game arriving and saying "Missed me?"

I feel silly for defending something as arbitrary as an OT subtitle, but I feel strongly about this game.
Click to expand...
Would be nice if the genre saw a resurgence like CRPGS, 3D platformers, arcade racers, and space games have. The Witness and Obduction in the same year....
 
cpp_is_king said:
Physical releases show up digitally at 9:01 pst because it's always based on midnight eastern time. So I'd check at both midnight eastern and midnight of your local time zone
Click to expand...

it's not always eastern time, plenty of retail releases have gone up at midnight pacific
 
ohNOitsRO said:
I find it hilarious that the PU 6.5 review has a part where it says the player will find it more rewarding to use a guide.. Lmao

If that doesn't show a game going over someone's head then idk what does
Click to expand...
I just read that review.

Those who play The Witness will benefit the most from a guide.
Click to expand...
...but there’s no way around the constant need to solve the next puzzle. It is the ultimate stonewalling challenge rewarded only by rare success.
Click to expand...
-App-grade puzzles in open world
Click to expand...

What a stupid review. Opinions will be opinions, but it sounds like the author didn't want to play a puzzle game. Sheesh.
 
$40 USD is a fair amount of money, but if it is long enough I think it will be worth it. As this seems like a game you have to get day 1 to avoid spoilers, I am glad it is getting good reviews to soften the blow.
 
I'm not in love with puzzles games, but I'm super impressed Jonathan Blow made this all on his own. Braid was one of my favorite games last generation, and I'm happy to see this review well and I'lll definitely pick this up on sale.
 
Great reviews.

What's the point in popping in and saying something reductive like "there's no such thing as a 10/10 game". Might as well just get rid of reviews. then.
 
More_Badass said:
Would be nice if the genre saw a resurgence like CRPGS, 3D platformers, arcade racers, and space games have. The Witness and Obduction in the same year....
Click to expand...

I think puzzle games are having a resurgence right now, particularly due to "The Room". Phones are ideal for these types of games and they also appeal to a broad audience (depending on how difficult the puzzles are)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

The Alters - Reviews Thread
2
64
462
dorkimoe replied
MindsEye - Reviews Thread
43
225
SmokSmog replied
RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army - Reviews Thread
4
5
TintoConCasera replied
Atomfall - Reviews Thread
2 3
106
9K
Humdinger replied
Elden Ring Nightreign - Reviews Thread
2 3 4
193
2K
skneogaf replied
Top Bottom