-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
The Witness |OT|
- Thread starter Afro
- Start date
Jon blow is a spectacular game designer. I hope he makes tons of money from the witness, so we can get another super ambitious game from him.
serenewarfare
Banned
Can't wait.
Trojan
Member
This is my thoughts too. As Ghaleon pointed out, it's the best info we have at this point but Blow didn't exactly seem confident about it. Hopefully we're wrong.
Glass Shark
Banned
I don't know what to make of this game. I put it on my most anticipated of 2016 list, but I'm feeling sort of deflated getting the confirmation that it's really "just" line puzzles, and a lot of them. Hate me if you want, but I'll probably just end up watching the story stuff (whatever there may be) on YouTube.
Death Metalist
Member
Now that I know there's a shit ton of secrets things in the game I might just spend a while exploring some areas thoroughly before even doing a whole lot of puzzle solving.
'Course, dunno what the secret things are, so who knows how long it will take to find them.
As long as I don't have to stand on a cloud for three hours.
No music, from what I've heard.
'Course, dunno what the secret things are, so who knows how long it will take to find them.
As long as I don't have to stand on a cloud for three hours.
No music, from what I've heard.
More_Badass
Member
But isn't that kind of the wrong way of thinking about it? That's like saying Riven is just pulling levers and pressing buttons or Portal is just shooting circles at walls. Why reduce a game to its most basic mechanic and ignore all other context, dismiss all other pillars of design?
The Illiterati
Member
It's all famous philosophers and scientists quotes. Go to a quote site and be done with it.
Glass Shark
Banned
It looks pretty. I don't really care to do 600 line puzzles to see all the prettiness.
I wish someone would drop all the "no spoilers" nonsense and just come out and say what the "big reveal" is. Like... if this is really it then why is this game getting so much praise?
Is this the Boyhood of video games?
keltickennedy
Member
For this being one of the big indie games Sony was pushing they sure do make it a hard time finding it in PS Store on the PS4. I don't see it in the upcoming section or when I search.
Oh Sony......
Oh Sony......
You want someone to spoil the game before it is even released?
Smiles and Cries
Member
3.5 hours to go?
Rodney McKay
Member
I finally beat Witcher 3 just in time for this to come out!
I love the old Myst games (just replayed most of them recently) and this looks like it will definitely scratch the same itch.
As far as the "the game only has line puzzles" issue goes, I'm happy with it because one of my biggest complaints with the old Myst games (or old point and click adventure games in general) is that I completely overlook something that I should be able to interact with. Buttons in walls I overlooked, items in the environment that I didn't know I could pick up, etc.
I watched the first half of the Giant Bomb quicklook and it looks like the line puzzles get more complex over time and I could already see some ways that the line puzzles effect the environment.
I love the old Myst games (just replayed most of them recently) and this looks like it will definitely scratch the same itch.
As far as the "the game only has line puzzles" issue goes, I'm happy with it because one of my biggest complaints with the old Myst games (or old point and click adventure games in general) is that I completely overlook something that I should be able to interact with. Buttons in walls I overlooked, items in the environment that I didn't know I could pick up, etc.
I watched the first half of the Giant Bomb quicklook and it looks like the line puzzles get more complex over time and I could already see some ways that the line puzzles effect the environment.
More_Badass
Member
Have you read like any of the reviews? It's not about some big reveal. It's the way the game is designed and presents its challenges, the way game builds and builds on its mechanics and explores them in clever ways, the way the puzzles grow from simple line puzzles to affecting the environments themselves and allowing you to interact with other things
Much like classic games such as Myst and Riven, exploring the world and discovering how to unlock and uncover and enter new places and gradually expand your knowledge of how things work and interact makes for a rewarding game.
99% of people in here don't want this. If you want to know I am sure you will find out soon enough with some digging, but wishing to just spoil everyone in here is dumb.
Puck Beaverton
Banned
This sounds neat and I love puzzle games.
Excited for the future threads proclaiming this game to be overrated, pretentious trash.
Excited for the future threads proclaiming this game to be overrated, pretentious trash.
liliththepale
Banned
Watch the Giant Bomb quick look. If you don't get it after that then you're not ever going to understand this game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Dx4PAf63lw
(mild spoilers, so don't watch if you're super sensitive or want to go in completely fresh)
Glass Shark
Banned
I mean, they could use spoiler tags. You don't have to click if you don't want to.
They don't even seem to have a game page on psn.
Icyflamez96
Member
You know Jonathan, we really are No Man's Sky.
From the Giant Bomb review:
AKA, it works in a similar fashion to older puzzle games like Myst or Riven. Just as the input method might just be a lever or button, the older button mechanic is evolved to be more interactive than just a binary "on/off" in The Witness.
Don't be so reductionist because the puzzle method seems simplistic as first. It's not 600 "maze puzzles".
It was there but gone now, probably until it is released.
Read what More_Badass and Afrodium wrote
The reason every review is so coy when it comes to details is that understanding how these puzzles work is the game itself. The entire act of playing this game is seeing the mechanics grow and comprehending what new concepts are being introduced or played with. Progress in this game is gated behind the player's knowledge, so describing the mechanics of more in-depth puzzles ruins the act of play. Even mentioning the direction some of these puzzles go in is robbing the player of figuring out for themselves that the mechanic even exists.
pantsattack
Member
Blow said on twitter there are massive spoilers out there already. You can go looking if you want to find out.
Your preconception of these line puzzles may be slightly short sighted. If the game were just as you stated - a bunch of mechanically isolated line puzzles - that repetition would probably come through in the reviews and it probably would grow tiring very quickly. But none of the complaints from the reviews claim the game is short on ideas.
One metaphor might be this - it would surely be lame if Beethoven's fifth symphony was nothing but the first four notes played over and over, but instead those four notes serve as the base of a powerful symphony. The same may be applied to the mechanics at play here - the line puzzles are a language which is used with an incredible variety of expression - the solutions of which serve as an isomorphic translation of the visible world in the game.
Seeing some of the reviews mention taking upwards of 40 hours to complete this. Kinda hoping that's just for a completionist run. Spending that long on a challenging puzzle game would get exhausting and a bit irritating after a while, at least to me. Hoping for that 10-15 hour sweet spot just following the critical path.
More_Badass
Member
Honestly, if people are saying " but it's just line puzzles" after all the reviews explaining otherwise...at that point, they're just purposefully being obtuse.
None of the reviews I've read had mentioned they got 100%.
I have a feeling getting 100% complete is gonna be fucking hard to get done.
Yes, but the symphony is 30 minutes, while this is dozens of hours. I'm sure you can comprehend that a large number of people wouldn't find that enjoyable -- so, it's a valid concern. Plenty of people WOULD find it enjoyable ... But that's why people are coming to this thread, to seek knowledge and find out if this is something they would like.
Might not be the game for you then. Doesn't even sound like there is a critical path.
Death Metalist
Member
Dang, that's disappointing but oh well. Bring on the silent, relaxing puzzle solving!
Don't hit psn for a while, no preorder available.
Same team that did the sound design for Dead Space & Ori did the sound design for The Witness.
So no soundtrack, but the ambience is gonna be killer.
James Sawyer Ford
Member
I think the lack of music is a missed opportunity. Graphically, it looks wonderful. But having some ambient type music (like when you're just wandering around in Skyrim, for instance) in the background while you're puzzling would add to the atmosphere.
Part of Braid's charm was the wonderful soundtrack.
Glass Shark
Banned
There is nothing new or unique about this. Portal did it. The Talos Principle did it. Many other puzzle games have that aspect of rule sets building upon each other. In fact, tons of non-puzzle games have this element too. That idea in itself is not compelling enough to me to make a good game.
There are too many games out there now that seem to be attempting to say something that is completely disconnected from the gameplay itself. I was really hoping that The Witness would deliver on the promise that something like The Talos Principle tried to. But in the end this looks like another game that exists as a framework to tell an unrelated story.
I'll be happy to be proven wrong.
I really don't get your point.
Yes, Portal and Talos did do the same things.
Yes, Portal and Talos are wonderful puzzle games.
So, why exactly is it bad that The Witness does it as well?
Where are you getting this from?
