The Witness

I had high hopes for this game. I like games like Myst. However, this became tedious rather quickly. After some initial exploring, there are various areas of an island where there are sets of puzzles that must be solved. The problem is that as you progress through the game, the way the puzzles are solved becomes much more tedious and you have to battle with technology a bit. For instance, there are puzzles which require your positioing things just right with your virtual body and the viewing angle, which would be ok, but then if you get it wrong, you have to go back and do the previous one to reenable the current one. At a certain point I thought I'd find a walkthrough, and it was tedious even with the walkthrough. So even though the premise might be clever with a certain set of puzzles, doing the same thing over and over is where the tedium sets in. I played this with an AMD Radeon Pro 5500M Pro w/ 8GB, so the motion was very smooth at the highest settings. One thing, though, it's one of those games where if you get motion sick, it might bother you. After an hour I started to get a headache and a nauseated feeling...so it's one where you'd have to take breaks and step away, or have a time limit each day if you're like me. I say it was a waste of money for me because I don't feel like I want to finish the game. Even when it gets boring, using a walkthrough doesn't alleviate the boredom because of the mechanics of having to finish the puzzles. I think I would have liked it more if it had been more about problem solving and thinking, rather than having to do things mechnically over and over again.

Upon opening this game, it prompeted for keystrokes from other applications. This is a huge security risk.

If you loved Myst, this game is for you. The puzzles are superbly designed, some easy, some more tricky, but all brilliant. My only complaint is that the story line is weak and the ending sequence is rather lame. Be sure to check out the caves!

I love Myst-like puzzle games. Some great examples are Obduction and the Room games. I really wanted to like The Witness, but instead of challenging puzzles mixed with an excellent story and atmosphere, it's just "Run through the beautiful trees to do the same puzzle you just did again and again." The game is beautiful, but the puzzles don't fit in the game like they do in Myst and similar games.

The puzzles were not engaging at all for an adult; may be a good game for a younger child

This is a beautiful, complex and compelling game. I have found few that could hold my interst like this one. I intend to play it several times. Pro: --complex and diverse puzzles --a wonderful and beautiful landscape to explore and enjoy, even between puzzles. --an at-your-own-pace game play with no direction that encourages exploration, contemplation and thought. --definitely play to get all of the ray guns firing even though you could win with 5. Con: -- on my system (MacBookPro with OS Mojave the cursor disappeared when I solved some of the puzzles. I could log out and it would come back, and I am an extremely patient man, so it didn't matter as much to me, but definitely a glitch. -- some of the puzzles had multiple possible solutions given the rules of the game, but only one worked. That could be frustrating. -- given the pathose of the landscape (and the statues) I expected a more redemptive ending. Instead the ending -- as beautiful as it was -- left me with the feeling that it was all meaningless. That was a disappointment. I gave it 4 stars for its creativity and the fact tha tI am attracted to play it over and over. Still, a little more tought would have made it a 5 star game.

This is a hard one for me. Im all about puzzle-adventure games. This one is very intriguing, I mean, come one, look at it. To make a short story long.. Wonderful game if you are looking for a laid back, relaxing, zen experience. Like, if you want a serious (& worth it) upgrade from a zen garden. The redundancy of the puzzles makes the excitement of actually solving them dwindle. The graphics...AMAZING. Exploring the world and actually zoning out into it makes it all worth it. I appreciate all the details in this work of art. The thought and imagination behind the design/visiuals of this game are awesome; combine with the simplicity of the puzzles, I think it is a well rounded experience. Maybe on The Witness II, add a little more variation to the puzzles. :) Appreciate it!

You are likely to enjoy The Witness if you are one of those people that experience - as physicist Richard Feynman put it - 'the pleasure of finding things out'. Many games drive you forward by exploiting your base instincts - whether it's the need to survive, your desire to outcompete your peers, or by exploiting your desire for wealth, capital and territory. The Witness is all about your thirst for knowledge and understanding.

I wanted to fall in love with this game. I did. But the puzzles which one solves to advance through the game play are simply TOO similar in nature and there are SO MANY of themto grind through. The atmospherics and the graphics of this game are lovely. Love the "feel". But the actual game play is akin to having one of those giant paperback books filled with the same kind of puzzles to solve. Simply 100's of variations on a theme. It feels like the developesr were trying to emulate Myst, but forgot that having varied, intuitive and delightful challanges to solve are what made that game great.

I almost never play games. But I decided to give this one a try and I couldn't take my eyes of it untill I finished. An extremely well designed game.