Don't know if there's anyone still reading this thread who might be interested, but I had some thoughts on a certain video/opinion and figured I might as well write them down.
For everyone else who finished the game, I was wondering what you thought of
this video, "A Great Game That You Shouldn't Play". It's a bit on the long side, but it's always interesting to hear different opinions and interpretations of the game.
I don't believe the game would have worked nearly as well without the island itself, nor that it really wastes my time playing it. And also, I certainly don't think the description on the store page is "lying", as even the simple puzzles in the game are there so that you learn something about certain rules, despite how easy and quick they might be to solve.
My main point would be that by the end of the video I didn't really get why exactly I shouldn't be playing this game.
The first time I saw one of his videos was his one on
Breath of the Wild. He makes some good points, but lets just say I disagree with a lot of what he says about shrines (not all of it though). This didn't instill confidence that his The Witness video would be much different, so due to a couple reasons I went in a bit biased. I kept seeing this video pop up as recommended on youtube and I kept ignoring it because of the title. The Witness was my favorite game last year, and I couldn't possibly see what was gained from watching someone's video telling me I shouldn't play it. Anyway, I watched it. Took some notes too. I'll try to keep things a bit simplified and brief, but I hope not too much. I could probably make a video twice as long where I go point by point and I definitely don't want to do that. Keep in mind that the video was made relatively soon after the game released. We've had a while to learn new information through interviews and such for a while now.
First thing is that I have to agree, I don't have any clue why he decided to frame the video as "you shouldn't play this" when it's clear he mostly seemed to enjoy it. I think the title was supposed to be more of a click-bait hyperbole kind of thing.
He criticizes some puzzles where he is the one at fault. I'm not trying to be one of those "git gud" people he mentions in the video either (keep the "git gud" thing in mind). There's the tetromino puzzle he struggled with for an hour or so thinking it was the first one. I remember finding that one as well. I approached it similarly but maybe spent 10 or 15 minutes on it. It was quite obvious that there were easier tutorial puzzles in another location.
He also had issues with the sound puzzles. This isn't necessarily his fault, but it's obvious he's tone def. I know these gave some people a lot more trouble than I would have thought. There's mentions of not knowing when the string of chirps have stopped, but it's actually very obvious. The sound pauses for a bit. He gets all upset about it, but going from the video he doesn't even seem to care that color-blind people would have serious trouble with color based puzzles. I wouldn't say I'm tone def, but I've never really been good with this stuff. I found the puzzles to be fairly adequate.
Next up is the ship puzzle. First off, It's a completely optional thing. Second, he says that there are no clues that it's related to sound. There's the different sized dots though which gives it away. I like the idea of the puzzle but don't think it's necessarily executed that well. I actually solved it quickly based purely on luck (I hadn't figured out the slow groaning in the background). I had a lot of trouble when I played through the game recently. I actually found a video with it sped up that seemed to help. I would say he's about 50/50 being right here. I also think this puzzle was intentional obtuse (like another I will get to) in the same way stars were in Braid.
Let's talk about that actually. I'm pretty sure he's right about Blow messing with people. He makes it seem like it's this malicious thing, when in reality I think it's more comical. Braid with it's secrets was sort of commentary on obsession (with collecting everything in games in specific) and why it's not a good thing. He points out the hidden puzzles with "The Secret of Psalm 46" video as evidence of it. He's not wrong. I mean I did it, and there really is no point in doing it. I look at it as more of a joke though. By the way, he seems offended that this video is the reward for the challenge. Not that the video is bad (he finds it interesting), but that it's a waste of his time when he could watch it on his own time. I don't know about you, but I would have never heard the talk if not for the game, and I'm very glad for that.
Now, I said to keep the "git gud" stuff in mind. I think I'm overstepping here but I'll say it anyway. I think he is a very intelligent person who seems to enjoy puzzles. I also think he is criticizing these puzzles more as a defense mechanism than anything else. I'm speaking from experience since I'm like this. I'm going to take a guess and say he probably felt like he was inadequate at these puzzles, and instead of admitting it was his fault with these specific puzzles, he decided they were poorly designed instead. It was probably reinforced when he saw one or two people making comments that could be boiled down to "git gud". Everyone seems to excel or do poorly with the different kinds of puzzles. He is no different.
I don't think I would have commented if it wasn't for this next bit though. He complains that the game is essentially a glorified tablet game that doesn't justify itself being in 3D, or it's price. I find this incredibly offensive. Yes, I would have enjoyed playing these puzzles on my phone, but it more than justifies being a full 3D game. He talks about how the puzzles that use the environment are the best ones, and then says there weren't enough to justify the game being in 3D. Here's a list of the puzzle locations from the map that are more than just symbols with rules:
- Symmetry Island
- Desert
- Logging/Forest
- Orchard
- Keep
- Monastery
Outside of that, I could also include areas where how you solve puzzles allows you to open different pathways:
- Marsh
- Treehouse
I would go further than that and include a few other areas where there's more to the game than if it were just a 2D thing on a tablet:
- Bunker/Greenhouse
- Town
- Inside the mountain
Even if for some reason he thought all these areas weren't justified, this misses some of the more simple joys of it being in 3D. The game is gorgeous. There's the hidden puzzles and little perspective sculptures. There's also joy to be found when you explore and find the tutorial puzzles that give you the knowledge to solve the more difficult ones. Considering how much content is in the game, I feel it fully justifies the price tag as well.
I want to end this by saying he does have some valid points with the story. I wish there was more to it. I get the point of all the tape recorders even though I didn't enjoy that very much. It's obvious the game wasn't intended to be story heavy though. He says some things about the complexity of stories and how they are told. I feel his opinion comes very close to the crowd that think every game that doesn't have a simple story told in a simple way are "pretentious". I can't necessarily fault him for it with regards to this game, but I found it a bit irritating.
