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The Witness reviews round up

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MarvinGaye

I loved Braid. Jonathan Blow’s time-bending puzzle-platformer with its mind-bending ending still stands as one of my favourite games from the previous generation. Exceedingly clever in both content and execution, it helped re-ignite the indie development scene in a big way – proving that smaller, more focused games can not only be critically successful, but commercially viable too.

When Blow first announced The Witness, his next game, I was rather excited – but it’s been so long since that game was announced that the game disappeared from my radar. Reviews of the game are now out, and well, it’s pinging like mad on my screen.

Here’s what critics have to say about The Witness, a game which takes is cues from games like Myst.

Gamespot: 9/10

Witnessk1

There are still things about The Witness I can’t make sense of–some clues I might never notice, and some puzzles I might never solve. But the hints are there. It might not all be clear at first, but that’s okay, because I’m always learning.

Polygon: 8 /10

Witnessk2

That said, I doubt I’ll be heading back in for a completionist run. It’s a beautiful game and knowing that I finished it with minimal help actually does make me feel smarter. It also contains some subtle messages about human potential that I found surprisingly uplifting (when I wasn’t pulling my hair out). Despite feeling deeply satisfied by the experience, it’s hard for me to ignore how much time I spent frustrated and bored and angry. Maybe contrasting those two ends of the emotional spectrum is essential to the experience of playing The Witness, but an era when they can skip the frustration, I’m not convinced most players will have the patience to obtain it.

Game Informer: 9.25/10

Witnessk3

The opaque world might be disappointing for some players, but The Witness is about a different kind of discovery. It steers your mind in unconventional directions, and makes you feel clever as you build on your knowledge and uncover new layers about the game’s language and logic. Even when I wasn’t playing it, I was thinking about puzzles that had me stumped. Some puzzles are tough, but all of them are fair, and the fun of solving them is only topped by seeing what awaits you on the next series of monitors.

IGN: 10/10

witness

The Witness has a power and pull that carried me throughout the more than 40 hours it took to complete it for the first time, and that, even now, beckons me back to confront the mysteries I left unsolved. Its graceful combination of tangible goals, obscurity, and freedom creates ample opportunity for small victories and grand revelations alike. For the most part, its themes weave themselves beautifully throughout the gorgeous world and wide variety of puzzles, but even when it breaks subtlety in favor of a more heavy-handed approach to exposition, it never detracts from the truly fulfilling moments The Witness offers in terms of solving its physical puzzles and unlocking its deepest mysteries.

PC Gamer: 89/10

Witnessk4

You’re left with a mirror-tunnel of allusions and surmises that is undeniably thought-provoking, but may daze and annoy as many players as it beguiles. Mind you, it’s perhaps to the purpose that you’re asked to make sense of it all. I introduced The Witness as a teaching machine, but I suspect Blow’s agenda is to collapse the master-student relationship, equipping you with the tools and insights you need to approach the game’s sources of inspiration on your own terms. The Witness might be constructed around mechanical challenges with unambiguous outcomes, but as the choice of title implies, what it ultimately seeks to offer is a vantage point, a perspective on life’s mysteries, rather than answers.

Giant Bomb – 5/5

Witnessk5

It’s hard to believe nearly eight years have passed since Braid came along and helped elevate ideas about what smaller indie games could be, and while I don’t think I’d say any game is worth waiting eight years for for, there’s also not a whole lot I’d change about The Witness or the time I spent with it.

Slowly and deliberately exploring this resplendent island, picking my way through its elaborately constructed secrets, and occasionally bathing in the warm glow of revelation all cohered into a singular experience I’m not going to forget, or even stop thinking about, anytime soon. The Witness isn’t just an example of how video games can be similar to other creative works; it’s also a great reminder of the special things only games can do.

So it seems like it’s pretty damned good then. It’s priced pretty high for an independently produced game, at $39.99 (or a reasonable R408 on the ZA steam page), but it seems like it’s worth every cent.

Last Updated: January 26, 2016

No Comments

  1. Mistake Not...

    January 26, 2016 at 10:04

    Will there be an LG review?

    Reply

    • Geoffrey Tim

      January 26, 2016 at 10:14

      We haven’t got review code just yet – nor do we have the R400 to buy the game right now. We’d love to review it – but it wont be soon.

      Reply

      • The Grand Admiral Chief Prime

        January 26, 2016 at 10:39

        I’m sure if 400 people donate R1 a plan can be made

        Reply

        • Francois Knoetze

          January 26, 2016 at 10:45

          I can pop in R100 if the guys can manage the gathering of other the R300. bloody hell my body needs coffee…I had to re-edit this thing 3x now

          Reply

          • The Grand Admiral Chief Prime

            January 26, 2016 at 10:50

            I’m down for a dollar

            [goes to check conversion rate]

            Yes, I think I can still afford that

          • Francois Knoetze

            January 26, 2016 at 10:53

            the rate we are going we might need to adopt the Yen…

          • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

            January 26, 2016 at 12:07

            Apparently (and this is merely from casually chatting to a few economists), the rand could hit R25 to the dollar before the start of 2017.

            Imagine that, R25 to the dollar. All our savings washed down the drain.

          • Francois Knoetze

            January 26, 2016 at 14:33

            o.O…holy nine hells…my investments are going to shoot through the roof. Half my stuff is offshore

        • VampyreSquirrel

          January 26, 2016 at 10:59

          We, the community, can give back to Lagz in so many ways, and helping them get a 400 buck game will be nothing after what we’ve raised before.

          Reply

          • The Grand Admiral Chief Prime

            January 26, 2016 at 10:59

            Indeed, if I can become Batman, then anything is possible.

            The community has POWER!

        • Geoffrey Tim

          January 26, 2016 at 11:04

          Hah! Thanks for the offer, but we can make a plan. PS You guys all rule.

          Reply

          • Ir0nseraph

            January 26, 2016 at 11:05

            Still waiting for new Lazy gear , a shirt , cap just sell it at a profit :P.

      • Mistake Not...

        January 26, 2016 at 12:37

        Awesome. I understand you guys probably need to save your money to afford XBOX One & PS4 games now XD

        Reply

  2. Alien Emperor Trevor

    January 26, 2016 at 10:05

    Heh. Dat imagine in the middle.

    Reply

    • The Grand Admiral Chief Prime

      January 26, 2016 at 10:07

      The what now?

      Reply

      • Alien Emperor Trevor

        January 26, 2016 at 10:10

        Imagine. It’s when you take an unrelated image, use your imagination, and apply it somewhere else.

        Reply

  3. The Grand Admiral Chief Prime

    January 26, 2016 at 10:06

    Wow, impressive

    Reply

  4. DragonSpirit009

    January 26, 2016 at 10:09

    Wow… It really kinda draws you in. Love the colors, love puzzles and for some reason I really like the music in that vid!

    Reply

  5. Hammersteyn

    January 26, 2016 at 10:14

    From the wiki page “Blow opted to develop the console version for the PlayStation 4 as Sony was more open towards independent developers.”
    Indiestation4lyf!

    Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      January 26, 2016 at 10:18

      But what about idiotbox? I mean, ID@Xbox?

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        January 26, 2016 at 10:19

        You kinda answered your own question 😛

        Reply

      • VampyreSquirrel

        January 26, 2016 at 10:46

        The ID10Tbox

        Reply

  6. PoisonedBelial

    January 26, 2016 at 10:27

    @OddSockZA:disqus

    “one of my favourite games *of rom* the previous generation. ”

    What? XD

    Reply

  7. RinceThis

    January 26, 2016 at 10:33

    Not really my thing. This life is puzzling enough.

    Reply

    • The Grand Admiral Chief Prime

      January 26, 2016 at 10:39

      Only if your surname is Reay

      Reply

      • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

        January 26, 2016 at 12:04

        But his middle name is “Crumpet”!!!

        Reply

    • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

      January 26, 2016 at 12:04

      Exactly! It needs more cowbell!

      Reply

  8. Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

    January 26, 2016 at 12:00

    What is this? Another walking simulator?

    Reply

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