[Aptorian]

Alright, for those who don't really follow mainstream gaming and new releases, pay attention.

Jonathan Blow, the guy who made Braid, and his team, are releasing The Witness tomorrow. Jonathan Blow is sort of the Ubermench of the indie developer race. He's stupidly ambitious and notoriously divisive in his views on games and the things he says about them.



The Witness is a kind of open world puzzle adventure. Think something like Myst and The Talos Principle mixed with cartoon graphics and maze puzzles. So many maze puzzles! Supposedly the game has over 700 puzzles and would take you over a hundred hours to finish them all. Blow has speculated that there are puzzles that are so hard not even 1% of players will beat them.

Looking at the reviews and previews dropping now, obviously there is a ton of subtle secrets strewn across the games zones. I suspect this game will be one you want to discuss with others so I invite any of you to buy this and discuss it with me.

Here's the Neogaf review thread for the games:

http://www.neogaf.co...d.php?t=1175156

It seems that it has received unanimous favorable reviews. I am sort of weary of the reliance on the same kind of puzzle through out the game but it looks so promising!

EDIT: Map of the island:

Spoiler

 Map.PNG (1.13MB)
Number of downloads: 0

This post has been edited by Apt: 29 January 2016 - 10:16 AM

[Khellendros]

It looks absolutely fantastic. I remember being excited when it was first revealed because it looked so Myst-like, and then sceptical when it was revealed that every puzzle is a line drawing puzzle, and now excited all over again when the reviews talked about how complex it gets, how environmentally-driven the solutions are, how one thing in one part of the island will suddenly bring an epiphany about a puzzle on a completely different side of the island, etc.

The only downside seems to be that ultimately there's not much narrative to it...but that may also be because all the reviews seem to freely admit they 'completed' the game without doing at least half the puzzles.

[Aptorian]

I played around 90 minutes yesterday. It's definitely a unique experience. Both sparse and at the same time quite evocative.

The game, as far as I have discovered so far, has no real narrative. Rather it tells some kind of story through what you see and what you find. I've found 3 audio logs that recite famous quotes or paragraphs from certain books but generally there is no incentive to what you are doing.

You're basically just left to your own devices. Your own curiosity.

There are no hints or instructions beyond two at the beginning that tells you how to activate the line puzzle boxes and one telling you how to run. Everything is based on intuitive learning. It's both a bit intimidating and at the same time makes you feel like a genious when you crush a puzzle you were struggling with.

I am only scratching the surface of the game so far but there's definitely some crazy things going on relating to perspective and the environment.

This post has been edited by Apt: 18 February 2016 - 05:11 PM

[Morgoth]

I find myself stumped at the last puzzle of the autumn forest. I've opened the gate with the tree-pattern, but the final puzzle eludes me, which feels very frustrating since I breezed through the other puzzles in the forest. Any hints?

[Aptorian]

I'm about to go to bed so don't have time to go double check but I think:

Spoiler

It's either the one where you have to take into account the overlap of broken branches or you should look at the puzzle reverse. Go on the other side of the tree or the screen or something like that. I think. I can check tomorrow if needed

I've found, so far, that the puzzles that give me the most trouble are perspective based. I am damn sure that I have the logic figured out but it's like the "view" doesn't align or something.

Also I keep running into puzzles that have rules I haven't encountered yet. I should probably do some more exploring to see if I can find some tutorials. Like the ones where tetris like pieces are on the board.

This post has been edited by Apt: 28 January 2016 - 09:10 PM

[Aptorian]

Alright just encountered the first crack in my resolve to not use guides to help finish puzzles.

I got into the jungle area and encountered the bird song puzzles. Fuck everything about that. I am not able to tell the difference between middle and low chirps. And then they add cell phone disturbances? Plus that anti-brute force measure that closes the puzzle if you do it wrong? Meaning I can't practice. (Okay bashed my head against it again, it allows multiple attempts later on but fuck this)

Nope. Not even going to try fighting my way through those puzzles.

In other news I've finally had to resort to getting out a notepad and making drawings. My sofa is already covered in sheets of paper.

This post has been edited by Apt: 29 January 2016 - 09:05 AM

[Morgoth]

I haven't gotten there yet. The sun temple has been my most frustrating experience so far.

[Aptorian]

For future references here's a map of the island:

Spoiler

 Map.PNG (1.13MB)
Number of downloads: 0

There's one in the logging area that I gave up on yesterday. Any of you understand this one? From the earlier puzzles I assume it's about either avoiding or crossing shadows, like stepping over the cracks in the sidewalk but I am stumped:

Spoiler

 Logging area puzzle.PNG (687.54K)
Number of downloads: 0

[Morgoth]

Apt, on 29 January 2016 - 10:12 AM, said:

There's one in the logging area that I gave up on yesterday. Any of you understand this one? From the earlier puzzles I assume it's about either avoiding or crossing shadows, like stepping over the cracks in the sidewalk but I am stumped:

Spoiler

Logging area puzzle.PNG

Spoiler

You have to ignore the shadows produced by the structure, and only take into consideration the ones cast by the tree.

I quickly realised I had to give up on the village. I still haven't found a place to learn the rules of those tetris like symbols. Or the sun-like ones for that matter. So instead I wandered into the castle.

I did figure out the last gate puzzle, it's the final puzzle of the area you're in now, by the by. I just needed to leave it for a while and suddenly it made sense.

I love this game. I hate puzzle games, but love this game.

This post has been edited by Morgoth: 29 January 2016 - 12:01 PM

[Aptorian]

Morgoth, on 29 January 2016 - 12:01 PM, said:

Apt, on 29 January 2016 - 10:12 AM, said:

There's one in the logging area that I gave up on yesterday. Any of you understand this one? From the earlier puzzles I assume it's about either avoiding or crossing shadows, like stepping over the cracks in the sidewalk but I am stumped:

Spoiler

Logging area puzzle.PNG

Spoiler

You have to ignore the shadows produced by the structure, and only take into consideration the ones cast by the tree.

Interesting. Will look at it later.

Morgoth, on 29 January 2016 - 12:01 PM, said:

I quickly realised I had to give up on the village. I still haven't found a place to learn the rules of those tetris like symbols. Or the sun-like ones for that matter. So instead I wandered into the castle.

I found out where the tetris symbols are taught:

Spoiler

Go to the swamp/marsh

I am there now. Took a break from the game because I was stuck.

This post has been edited by Apt: 29 January 2016 - 02:31 PM

[Cause]

I am enjoying it. I question its 100 hours of playtime. Took me 90 minuts to complete 100 out of 700 panels? I suppose the difficulty level could skyrocket.

Still great game. Dissapointing to learn that some sections will be impossible or me until a patch though. Im colour blind

[champ]

The speed run for this is insane, under 30 minutes!!

[Macros]

So is this a pc game or console, sell it too me apt, I like interesting things

[Aptorian]

PC and PS4 so far. Might be ported to Tablets and X-box later.

I have to say this is a hard game to sell unless you know you like puzzles and logical problems. This game revolves around finding and solving puzzles, you do so in various, different kinds of locations, but everything about the gameplay is focused on those puzzles.

If you want a challenge, if you like to learn something new and use it, then the game will be fun. Nothing is better than discovering something new and feeling like you're the smartest person in the world. But if you expect anything more than an island filled with line puzzles littered across a landscape come no closer.

EDIT: I feel like I should add that I am starting to feel a little bit resentful for the way the game presents its puzzles and the lack of feedback/reward upon failure or success.

But the game is what it is.

Maybe look at a video of the opening, like Giant Bombs Quick Look. It's basically all puzzles like this but with ever more complex and abstract rules or hindrances.

This post has been edited by Apt: 04 February 2016 - 05:47 PM

[Morgoth]

Macros, on 04 February 2016 - 03:19 PM, said:

So is this a pc game or console, sell it too me apt, I like interesting things

I really dislike puzzle games but I really liked this game.

[Macros]

On the ps4 is probably the seller, I need to justify its purchase and spending 2 saturday nights in to play it since pirchase hasn't quite made up the expenditure yet.

I enjoy puzzle games so I'll try and d/l off the pan this weekend.

Cheers gentlemen

[Khellendros]

The girlfriend and I have become a bit obsessed with this game. We've so far completed the symmetry island and autumn forest ones, and got a ways into the keep and the town. We've also gone down into the windmill and unlocked the first video. Still haven't explored about half the island topside. Basically every time we encounter tetris blocks we run away

But it's amazing how many times when you feel completely stuck and you turn it off, but the next time you come back to it the solution's so clear!

[Aptorian]

I gave up during the weekend and just looked up a guide so that I could finish all the zones.

Let me just say, when you get to the final stages of this game, good luck. Those puzzles are elaborate.

[Khellendros]

Apt, on 18 February 2016 - 01:17 PM, said:

I gave up during the weekend and just looked up a guide so that I could finish all the zones.

Let me just say, when you get to the final stages of this game, good luck. Those puzzles are elaborate.

Oh if it wasn't for the fact there's two of us playing I would have succumbed to a guide long ago. There've been times when I had no idea what she was doing but the solution seemed so obvious to her, and vice versa. We're also stubbornly refusing to resort to pad and paper, but I fear that will be inevitable.

I do wish there was a bit more reward to solving a puzzle than just another puzzle though, so far. Or some stats so you could see how much progression you've made, what percentage of puzzles you've solved etc.

[Aptorian]

Yeah I agree the games main drawback is that you don't get that positive feedback loop from completing the puzzles, that other games might feed you. Like experience points or cutscenes or just an achievement.

You can keep track of your progress though. When ever you bring up the options menu and press save... I think it's save... it tells you how many puzzles you have completed. To give you an estimate I completed around 400 puzzles before going to the mountain.