4 ms·

I like the potential of the game, but sadly it did not meet my expectations. I saw it as a Myst-style game, where you have puzzles, but you also have a lot of

I like the potential of the game, but sadly it did not meet my expectations. I saw it as a Myst-style game, where you have puzzles, but you also have a lot of interactive environment around you to explore. Here, I was getting taken it by a lot of beautiful scenarios in the distance, only to realise that there is nothing to do there, but solve more panels. It simply feels like this beautiful island is going to waste, being a little more than a hiding place for the panels. How's everyone feeling about this?

chasing 11y ago
> How's everyone feeling about this? I'm feeling like you haven't played very far into the game. :-) And neither have I! The puzzles are definitely mostly panel-based, but the environment becomes very important to solving them. I think The Witness is quite clever, so far. It's interesting how much diversity and playfulness can come from just these simple little grid-and-line puzzles.
- danpalmer 11y ago
  I can't agree with this enough, I've found the puzzles to be a mechanism by which I can fully appreciate the truly beautiful environment.
webkike 11y ago
I agree with this. The game is at its best when the panels interact with the world in a meaningful way, but this is very rare.
on_and_off 11y ago
two hours or so into it so far, so I don't have an overview of the whole game. The puzzles so far have rarely asked for more than 10 seconds to find a solution. Navigating the island does feel like an artificial overgame at the moment. Some of the puzzles have caused changes in the 3D world but in very small ways. I guess that things are going to get more complex soon though.
- lowmagnet 11y ago
  Some of the puzzles hide elements, and block elements. Also, the environments themselves eventually give way to 'meta-puzzles' on a larger scale.
nemof 11y ago
I've played about four hours so far and I'm captivated by it. Slowly as you explore the the island and solve puzzles they become more and more intrinsically linked to the context you find the puzzles in - soon the puzzles demand that you become aware of the environment around you and look at things in new and surprising ways. for myself i was never really expecting a deeply interactive landscape; i was slightly worried that the puzzles were just silly little doodads like a curio you picked up and soon forgot about, but as i've moved through the game solving them i've marveled at their cleverness and how they have encourage me to think. perhaps the island is too static, but then again, back in the day so was Myst. the movement and interactions it encourages are up here taps head.
vlunkr 11y ago
After seeing some of the earlier screenshots and videos I was afraid of this. Lots of the reviews on Steam report the same thing.
mmozeiko 11y ago
Oh, but there are more puzzles to do, it isn't just about panels. Keep looking, those puzzles are everywhere.
henrikschroder 11y ago
There's the environmental puzzles, where you need to find the right perspective, the right spot, or line up the environment in a specific way, so that you can solve them. Hint: Look for large circles in the environment, and start dragging a line.
DannoHung 11y ago
Ehh, give it some more time. I don't think it's perfect by any means, but it does some clever environmental things. The game's idea of iterative puzzle design would have been close ti impossible to build without the grid-line conceit.
hibikir 11y ago
The game suffers from the fact that its first hour or two can be solved without looking at the island at all, but there are MANY puzzles that aren't really about the panel: The panel is just where you enter the answer that you got from everything around it. A couple of good, early examples (although they don't really show the game's real environmental power), are the temple in the desert, the temple in the woods, and the 'pink forest': All solvable without any information from a different part of the game, and absolutely not solvable by just staring at the panel itself: Entire series of 20+ puzzles have the EXACT SAME PANEL, just placed in a different location. And panel solutions affect the environment. There are elevators operated by panels. a boat operated by panels. bridges built by solving panels that have more than one solution, in ways that match what you want to do physically in the game. It's just a big pity that the beginning of the game shows so very little of that.
prawn 11y ago
Would it be appropriate to share with a smart 3yo watching alongside? Is there anything likely to be nightmare-inducing?
- evan_ 11y ago
  I don't think so, but obviously you know your 3yo better than I do. The only thing that I could even imagine coming close are some marble statues of men and women that appear throughout the island. They aren't all that creepy but an imaginative child see them that way. It's rated E for Everyone: https://www.esrb.org/ratings/Synopsis.aspx?Certificate=34184&Title=The+Witness https://www.esrb.org/ratings/Synopsis.aspx?Certificate=34184...
  - prawn 11y ago
    Thanks. Just realised it's PC and PS4, while I'm on a Mac and have a 360, so doubt I'll get to play it anyway.
- Schwolop 11y ago
  I've been doing this with my almost 4yo, and he's enjoying it. Not really getting the puzzles, but enjoying the environment and being allowed to steer the character.

chasing 11y ago

> How's everyone feeling about this? I'm feeling like you haven't played very far into the game. :-) And neither have I! The puzzles are definitely mostly panel-based, but the environment becomes very important to solving them. I think The Witness is quite clever, so far. It's interesting how much diversity and playfulness can come from just these simple little grid-and-line puzzles.

danpalmer 11y ago
I can't agree with this enough, I've found the puzzles to be a mechanism by which I can fully appreciate the truly beautiful environment.

webkike 11y ago

I agree with this. The game is at its best when the panels interact with the world in a meaningful way, but this is very rare.

on_and_off 11y ago

two hours or so into it so far, so I don't have an overview of the whole game. The puzzles so far have rarely asked for more than 10 seconds to find a solution. Navigating the island does feel like an artificial overgame at the moment. Some of the puzzles have caused changes in the 3D world but in very small ways. I guess that things are going to get more complex soon though.

lowmagnet 11y ago
Some of the puzzles hide elements, and block elements. Also, the environments themselves eventually give way to 'meta-puzzles' on a larger scale.

nemof 11y ago

I've played about four hours so far and I'm captivated by it. Slowly as you explore the the island and solve puzzles they become more and more intrinsically linked to the context you find the puzzles in - soon the puzzles demand that you become aware of the environment around you and look at things in new and surprising ways. for myself i was never really expecting a deeply interactive landscape; i was slightly worried that the puzzles were just silly little doodads like a curio you picked up and soon forgot about, but as i've moved through the game solving them i've marveled at their cleverness and how they have encourage me to think. perhaps the island is too static, but then again, back in the day so was Myst. the movement and interactions it encourages are up here taps head.

vlunkr 11y ago

After seeing some of the earlier screenshots and videos I was afraid of this. Lots of the reviews on Steam report the same thing.

mmozeiko 11y ago

Oh, but there are more puzzles to do, it isn't just about panels. Keep looking, those puzzles are everywhere.

henrikschroder 11y ago

There's the environmental puzzles, where you need to find the right perspective, the right spot, or line up the environment in a specific way, so that you can solve them. Hint: Look for large circles in the environment, and start dragging a line.

DannoHung 11y ago

Ehh, give it some more time. I don't think it's perfect by any means, but it does some clever environmental things. The game's idea of iterative puzzle design would have been close ti impossible to build without the grid-line conceit.

hibikir 11y ago

The game suffers from the fact that its first hour or two can be solved without looking at the island at all, but there are MANY puzzles that aren't really about the panel: The panel is just where you enter the answer that you got from everything around it. A couple of good, early examples (although they don't really show the game's real environmental power), are the temple in the desert, the temple in the woods, and the 'pink forest': All solvable without any information from a different part of the game, and absolutely not solvable by just staring at the panel itself: Entire series of 20+ puzzles have the EXACT SAME PANEL, just placed in a different location. And panel solutions affect the environment. There are elevators operated by panels. a boat operated by panels. bridges built by solving panels that have more than one solution, in ways that match what you want to do physically in the game. It's just a big pity that the beginning of the game shows so very little of that.

prawn 11y ago

Would it be appropriate to share with a smart 3yo watching alongside? Is there anything likely to be nightmare-inducing?

evan_ 11y ago
I don't think so, but obviously you know your 3yo better than I do. The only thing that I could even imagine coming close are some marble statues of men and women that appear throughout the island. They aren't all that creepy but an imaginative child see them that way. It's rated E for Everyone: https://www.esrb.org/ratings/Synopsis.aspx?Certificate=34184&Title=The+Witness https://www.esrb.org/ratings/Synopsis.aspx?Certificate=34184...
- prawn 11y ago
  Thanks. Just realised it's PC and PS4, while I'm on a Mac and have a 360, so doubt I'll get to play it anyway.
Schwolop 11y ago
I've been doing this with my almost 4yo, and he's enjoying it. Not really getting the puzzles, but enjoying the environment and being allowed to steer the character.