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I say anyone who says "nothing else compares" to The Witness (or any videogame, really) probably hasn't played many videogames.
I really enjoyed The Witness but then it got too difficult for me so I gave up and then finally used a walkthrough to help. I guess it's probably at least 2 years away until his next game.
Good. Unless we're considering Outer Wilds a puzzle game, Talos Principle is the best one this generation.
I didn't feel smart, but same. The "big reveal" felt very easy to see given the context and seeing it so early made it not much of a "reveal."
I've played many video games, and I can safely say that nothing compares to The Witness. I don't know how it does it, but a game with simple line puzzles manages to completely pull you in. It's the best multiplayer puzzle game I've ever played.
I'm afraid to play this game. I hate getting stuck in puzzle games, and I don't want to hate this game.
I own it but haven't tried it.
I own it but haven't tried it.
The game does something good by letting you move on and explore if you get stuck on a type of puzzle.
As a canadian, all i can say is.... don't link to the national post.
It's basically like linking a slightly more credible Breitbart
It's basically like linking a slightly more credible Breitbart
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I'd say the Witness is Top 5.
Celeste, Hollow Knight, and Bloodborne all have arguments for being better games.
Celeste, Hollow Knight, and Bloodborne all have arguments for being better games.
I can't think of another game very close to it and I've been playing quite a while. And don't say Myst, lol. :P
Yes, The Witness is a really special puzzle game and labour of love. Not a bad choice for no. 1 of the decade. It would either be that, Hollow Knight or Breath of the Wild for me I think.
It's probably great but I always had play sessions pretty far apart so I kept forgetting all the rules and eventually had to give up midway through.
I might be remembering this wrong but afair people talking about the game, Blow basically just mocks you at the end for putting in all the work so maybe it's for the best lol
yep can't wait for the upcoming Switch port but I'd hoped we had a release date already
There is some really clever puzzle and level design.
But the moment The Witness starts engaging with its self-indulgence of making you sit through some shitty lecture for 45 minutes, it can just fuck off. There are some magic moments in the game, but they are undercut by the game's own fascination with itself.
But the moment The Witness starts engaging with its self-indulgence of making you sit through some shitty lecture for 45 minutes, it can just fuck off. There are some magic moments in the game, but they are undercut by the game's own fascination with itself.
Interesting how some people say they forgot the rules. They are seared into my brain and I don't think I could ever play this game again for that very reason. The challenge in the mountain is pinnacle perfect game play to me.
I actually think Talos was a more focused version of the same concept while still maintaining that exploratory vibe. Not that Witness isn't great, but it was meta-puzzley in some of the worst ways.
FWIW, Witness isn't even the best puzzle game this decade. That's gotta be Stephen's Sausage Roll, with Recursed and Baba is You alongside The Witness as honorable mentions.
i think that the "broken" puzzles in the mountain, specifically the rotating and flashing ones, were... poorly thought-out? i mean, having sound and color ones kind of is too, but those fucked with me as an abled person sensory-wise
i can respect this though. i really like the teaching of an abstract language
i'm just getting to play baba is you and i'm thinking that that's a late contender for one of the best-designed games of the decade, if not... ever, and it's along similar lines
(i've looked into stephen's but it's not my thing.)
The challenge is one of the most brilliant things in a video game I've ever seen. I've beaten it twice.
Finally someone that agrees with me.
Rejoice brother, TTP is something above and beyond anything this decade had to offer.
Antichamber is great and deserves to be up there with the best of the genre. It stayed with me more than Talos Principle, Portal 2 and others that get mentioned. The hook is unique, it's visually striking, it teaches mechanics through gameplay much like The Witness and the thematic messaging adds color without making the game feel burdened with a need to infuse higher meaning beyond the puzzles themselves. I'd still consider The Witness a more tightly designed experience but glad to see it get mentioned.
By far my favorite game of the decade. Everything in The Witness is so well designed, so clever and so fascinating. The more you play it, the more you learn how to observe and think differently. It's fantastic.
There's no such thing as a perfect game, but the Witness is not far from it.
There's no such thing as a perfect game, but the Witness is not far from it.
I hadn't thought about it until seeing this thread, but The Witness is a pretty great choice for GOTD. It's a magnificent game
Thank you, I'll grab it in the winter sale hopefully and give it a try with the family.
Agreed.
I'd go SSR > Talos > Witness.
But they're all absolutely incredible no matter how you slice it.
I'll say one thing, Witness is one of the best designed games I've ever played. Beyond that absolutely stellar presentation, you could teach design classes on player guidance.
Boring line puzzles: the game. I thought there was going to be more variety when I started it earlier this year but I eventually realized it's just gonna be the same thing the whole way through.
It's definitely one of my favorites of the decade. I loved the exploratory nature of the game and the sense of learning the rules as I went. I actually replayed it this year after having beaten it around its launch. Luckily I had forgotten many of the significant puzzle rules so I could comfortably discover again. However, it was only in my second playthrough that I managed to actually discover the twist. That managed to provide so many hours of enjoyment, like getting a whole new game possibly even more fun than the original.
I also loved The Talos Principle and consider that one of the best games of the decade. And though I really enjoyed the narrative aspects of Talos, the puzzles in The Witness feel more thought out. But that's such a high bar that it can't really be a knock against it.
I think somebody should make a thread to discuss the puzzle games of the decade. I'd argue it was perhaps the best ever. Talos, Witness, Antichamber, Sausage Roll, Baba, Snakebird, and more are excellent examples of the genre. Not to mention basically the birth of the Zach-like genre which is just an entire new can of puzzle masterpiece. This decade has been a delight.
I also loved The Talos Principle and consider that one of the best games of the decade. And though I really enjoyed the narrative aspects of Talos, the puzzles in The Witness feel more thought out. But that's such a high bar that it can't really be a knock against it.
I think somebody should make a thread to discuss the puzzle games of the decade. I'd argue it was perhaps the best ever. Talos, Witness, Antichamber, Sausage Roll, Baba, Snakebird, and more are excellent examples of the genre. Not to mention basically the birth of the Zach-like genre which is just an entire new can of puzzle masterpiece. This decade has been a delight.
Game was way too boring and minimal for me. As others have said, Talos Principle is the best 3D puzzle game this gen (and probably ever). That game had substance, fantastic music, a plot, etc.
It's a phenomenal game.
I read some people posting about The Talos Principle, great game too but I prefer The Witness over it.
My problem with Talos is that the further you get the puzzles become more complex, this is expected but in Talos you have to do a lot of work to solve a puzzle and it get a bit exhausting because to have to put boxes and stuff everywhere and remake your set up if things don't work. I abandoned it towards the end because at some point I got to a puzzle and I felt tired by just looking at it.
In The Witness every puzzle requires the same amount of work and the effort comes from thinking how to solve it or understanding the rules.
The one thing Talos does clearly better is story, I watched every ending on YouTube because I wanted to know but I just couldn't finish it myself.
I read some people posting about The Talos Principle, great game too but I prefer The Witness over it.
My problem with Talos is that the further you get the puzzles become more complex, this is expected but in Talos you have to do a lot of work to solve a puzzle and it get a bit exhausting because to have to put boxes and stuff everywhere and remake your set up if things don't work. I abandoned it towards the end because at some point I got to a puzzle and I felt tired by just looking at it.
In The Witness every puzzle requires the same amount of work and the effort comes from thinking how to solve it or understanding the rules.
The one thing Talos does clearly better is story, I watched every ending on YouTube because I wanted to know but I just couldn't finish it myself.
The discovery of the line puzzles in the world is great, maybe even the best moment overall but the game is so much better when you don't seek them out. One my favourite things about The Witness is how the puzzles (for the most part) aren't finicky. The information and solution to the puzzle might require careful inspection of the world, but when it comes to inputting it there's no issue of standing in the wrong spot or having bad timing. The world puzzles are the opposite of that just add that frustration back in and is partly why I couldn't get into Talos Principle.
I need to play The Witness still myself, but I too adored The Talos Principle and recommend it whole heartedly as well.
Or as I put it in my review:
I'd argue that critics had the best possible time with The Witness because it truly couldn't be spoiled by YT or FAQs. Only a few hundred people had copies, and they were sworn to embargo, so there was no other resource beyond sitting with and mulling over the island. I urged readers to stay the fuck away from guides. The Witness is my choice in an Ars Staff "favorite game of the 2010s" list running over the Xmas holiday break.
I also argue that the game knowingly celebrates and pokes fun at its pretension, and that the ending
in some clever ways shrugs its shoulders at the cold, hard resolution we all seek. We're trying to put the natural world in order to answer questions. We all constantly trace a line to a clean circle at the end in literal and figurative ways, and philosophy obsesses over the greater point in doing so. Maybe there's no greater point. Maybe the world is just a beautiful thing to trace.
Witness and Talos do the "puzzle-filled island" thing quite differently. Nothing wrong with liking one more than the other. But I'd argue that The Witness was a lot more sophisticated in terms of pushing familiar puzzle play into new environmentally driven territory. Talos is tricky and interesting. But getting the entire way through The Witness shook me to my core.
Also this. You can play The Witness on an iPad. For being quite brain-bending at times, it's incredibly accessible on a mechanical level.
It's definitely a top-three game of the generation, and perhaps the most satisfying puzzle game ever designed once everything clicks. Brilliantly designed mechanics and world only slightly let down by the lack of any worthwhile narrative.
One of the best things about The Witness is how it released in it's final form with almost no bugs on day one. No expansions, no dlc no mtx no "services" or any other modern day business model crap. Sure DLC is great for providing more content but I don't think I've ever felt DLC made a game better. There's something fresh about having a singular form without continuously tacking stuff on. Something nice about a game willing to let my attention and engagement go once I've finished it.
you know what, I'm sick of books. nothing but page after page of words.
Both The Witness and Talos Principal are top games of the decade. Unique and well thought out works of art for the medium.
I thought The Witness wad pretentious in its narrative, until certain things were found in the true end game, after which I feel it's a bit borderline. Still amazing as a game
I thought The Witness wad pretentious in its narrative, until certain things were found in the true end game, after which I feel it's a bit borderline. Still amazing as a game