Welcome to the skilled channel and today we're talking about The Witness.
This game is an interesting independent title about open world puzzle exploration which
can only be compared to the classic game Myst from way back in the day.
We're going to look at this game on our new show called Buyer Beware.
It's an aggregation of what the critics are saying in their reviews, what the fans are
saying online, and if there are any controversies regarding the game release.
It's an objective spoiler free look that will hopefully help you answer the question �Is
this game good and worth picking up?
Let's take a look at what they're saying about The Witness.
Currently sitting at a score of 87 on OpenCritic.
OpenCritic is like Metacritic, but with a few different features, this game hasn't had
a lot of buzz leading up to its release but it's gathering attention due to it's creative
curated design and the fact that it's just something we haven't seen in a long time.
The Witness is full of puzzles that are simple and seamless at first, but they get tougher
as they go along.
There's a bigger picture to solving these puzzles and the game constantly keeps you
engaged with this.
IGN thought this was the game's biggest strength and they rated it a 10.
The editor at IGN stated
�As I learned to apply each new rule, curiosity soon gave way to obsessive levels of motivation
and purpose.
I wasn�t just solving puzzles because they were fun � slowly but surely, they were
beginning to make sense in a much larger context.
This manifests most tangibly in The Witness�s first obvious, overarching �goal� � shooting
beams of light into a mountain.
The mountain serves as the island�s highest point, most prominent landmark, and consequently
its most central mystery for reasons that are obvious once you start playing, but which
I won�t spoil here.�
A 10 seems like a high rating from IGN.
It's up there with Grand Theft Auto V and Phantom Pain.
But they also did give a 10 to Undertale recently which is another surprisingly strong Independent
title.
Videogamer gave it a 10, Game Revolution gave it a 10, and Destructoid as well.
PC Gamer gave it an 89, Gameinformer 93, Polygon an 80.
Scores all across the board and that's because this type of experience is partially subjective.
Either you enjoy brain teasers or you'd rather be blowing stuff up.
Luckily we have a lot of blow stuff up games already.
But not everyone was so positive about this gameplay loop of solving smaller puzzles to
learn about the island.
Ironically the most praised feature by the positive reviews was also the more frustrating
feature according to the negative reviews.
GamesRadar rated it at a 3 out of 5 stars.
The editor claimed that the puzzles were a frustrating experience that becomes progressively
more annoying.
�There is fun here, it just feels like everything goes on just that bit too long, or adds one
too many layers.
What starts as an engaging and tactile challenge so easily overstays its welcome.
I found myself constantly thinking that if a certain puzzle ended here, or hadn�t thrown
in another variation there it would have been great.
There are moments of brilliant dawning realisation leading to a solution that feel amazing.
But all too often these are brief, flaring lights in a wearying procession of more mazes.�
The game is ultimately about exploration and puzzles with a serene and mysterious setting.
The questions is, do you want to run through mazes for 40 hours?
It's not like the movie the Maze Runner, it's a much more cerebral approach.
You use your mind for this one.
Reviewers are saying it takes about 40 hours to complete the main story.
And the game retails at $40 on Steam and Playstation Network.
So arguably it's about a $1 per hour of gameplay for those that like to count every nickel
and dime of button pressing.
But you shouldn't, it's the experience that counts.
Also it's digital only so no physical release for those of you that need the disc.
Reviewers are estimating that it could take 80 to 100 hours for a completionist to find
all the secrets.
Destructoid seems to understand how it relates to the player.
It pokes at your curiosity.
�The reason for this is because�The Witness�smartly preys on the curiosity of human nature.
Every direction has an inviting setting just begging to be explored.
It's a given that those settings will contain challenges -- challenges that are imperative
to continue exploring.
It's cyclical and gives way to a competitive mindset to not be bested even if we're not
necessarily mentally equipped yet.
It's all in the pursuit of just seeing more.
We want to see more because seeing is learning, and that's in the fiber of our being.�
That's a very complex statement about human thought.
Gameinformer pointed out how similar the design is to Braid.
�Fans of Blow�s previous game, Braid, might be surprised to find some notable similarities
in The Witness.
The format is different, but it relies on the same principle of gradually building a
vocabulary, and then challenging what players think they know about how the pieces function
and interact with each other.�
Did you ever play the old PC game Myst?
Not only is this game similar, but it was directly influenced by it.
This game was originally announced in 2009 and has had a cult following because the development
has been led by Johnathan Blow, the creator of Braid.
He's directly stated that the design and concept for the game were highly influenced by Myst,
but he wanted the puzzle solving to be more unified and more meaningful.
The game is published from the same creator so it's free from the influence of the big
publishers and the devs can take a few risks with their design.
With all that said what do you think of The Witness?
Does it look incredibly captivating or does 40 hours of puzzle solving sound like a full
time job?
Let us know in the comments and subscribe to the skilled channel for more of the latest
game coverage.