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The Witness - Release Date Trailer, coming 26th January 2016

PolishQ

Member
I'm still worried about the sheer number of puzzles. I don't think the comparison to Myst will hold true at all. Myst has only a handful of sprawling and memorable puzzles. The sheer number of puzzles in The Witness seems to imply that they will feel largely forgettable.

I hope I'm wrong, but that's the impression I'm getting.

From what we know, many of the puzzles are bite-sized, but not self-contained. The puzzles build on each other. So you may not remember a specific puzzle that you solved, but you will definitely remember the concepts that the puzzle imparted on you (since understanding those concepts is key to solving subsequent puzzles).

And I'm sure there are many significant, sprawling puzzles to solve as well.
 
I'm still worried about the sheer number of puzzles. I don't think the comparison to Myst will hold true at all. Myst has only a handful of sprawling and memorable puzzles. The sheer number of puzzles in The Witness seems to imply that they will feel largely forgettable.

I hope I'm wrong, but that's the impression I'm getting.
Podcast Beyond Episode 427
- "This game is awesome...incredible"
- "Feels like Myst in terms of its atmosphere, its loneliness...you arrive at a place that has a history and you're uncovering that history"
- "Freaking gorgeous", with some "mindblowingly difficult" puzzles
- "Amazing aha moments"

Eurogamer Podcast #1
-"Fairly close to Portal or Portal 2 in terms of a game that has obvious scale and production values but zero combat and is very much focused on quite involved puzzling"
- "Discovery of the game world.. of the mechanics is everything"
- "Even if this came from a no-name developer...the word would get around that it was something unique and quite special"
- "Quite lavish, a really really beautiful game"
 

Stoze

Member
I'm still worried about the sheer number of puzzles. I don't think the comparison to Myst will hold true at all. Myst has only a handful of sprawling and memorable puzzles. The sheer number of puzzles in The Witness seems to imply that they will feel largely forgettable.

I hope I'm wrong, but that's the impression I'm getting.

The comparison to Myst lies in the atmosphere and setting; arriving at a mysterious island with a variety of different looking areas/climates, and the complete loneliness there. Mechanically and design wise, it's going to be very different.

I imagine earlier or easier puzzles will be forgettable, but a more complex puzzle that you come across 5, 10, 20, etc. hours later that builds on everything you learned from them probably won't.
 

Catvoca

Banned
Just topped up my PSN wallet ready for this game. I really can't wait, not knowing much about it has actually made me more excited.

Random question, is there any chance that there'll be a 10% ps plus discount at launch the way there has been for some indie games on PS4? Not sure if they usually announce that ahead of time.
 
From what we know, many of the puzzles are bite-sized, but not self-contained. The puzzles build on each other. So you may not remember a specific puzzle that you solved, but you will definitely remember the concepts that the puzzle imparted on you (since understanding those concepts is key to solving subsequent puzzles).

And I'm sure there are many significant, sprawling puzzles to solve as well.
So sort of like how portal sometimes has 3 separate puzzles per level, where one will teach you a basic mechanic and then the next two will build off it?
 
So sort of like how portal sometimes has 3 separate puzzles per level, where one will teach you a basic mechanic and then the next two will build off it?
Yes, same principle, but the big difference is that since the game is open world, instead of linear learning, it's more of a gradual discovery of the mechanics. Things you learn later in the game might help with puzzles you encountered earlier, and so on.
 
The Witness |OT| Lost in the mysts of lines
The Witness |OT| Mystadventures on Puzzle Island
The Witness |OT| Mystaken for just line puzzles
 

PolishQ

Member
The Witness |OT| I'm talking about drawing a line in a maze, Dude. Across this line, YOU DO NOT ... also, Dude, "line puzzle" is not the preferred nomenclature.

(Please don't actually use this.)
 

GDJustin

stuck my tongue deep inside Atlus' cookies
There's something massive about The Witness that won't reveal itself to most players until many many hours in, fyi. To say anything more is a spoiler.

This is a special game, and I strongly encourage everyone to truly let puzzles sit with them, rather than resorting to a walkthrough or wiki. I think most gamers (including me!) are willing to give a tricky puzzle an honest shot, but then if they're stumped, on to an IGN wiki or GameFAQS they go.

Please do not do that, with The Witness. It's an open world game - go mess with another part of the island. Come back after you've slept on it or a few days later. To do anything else is to deprive yourself of something really special. Just this once, really try to let the puzzles and let the game soak in and sit with you.

Think about it like this - you only get to play The Witness for the first time once. If you give in and look up puzzle solutions, you'll enjoy the game. It's very pretty, you'll feel smart at parts, etc. But if you resist doing that, and truly solve everything youself, you'll enjoy it on an entirely different level.

To put it another way - the puzzles are the game. Looking up solutions is akin to letting someone else beat a tough shooter level for you, or giving in to the kiddie star after failing a tough Mario stage enough times.

...and plus every time you look at a walkthrough you run the risk of having The Thing spoiled for you, which you do not want.
 

Jb

Member
There's something massive about The Witness that won't reveal itself to most players until many many hours in, fyi. To say anything more is a spoiler.

This is a special game, and I strongly encourage everyone to truly let puzzles sit with them, rather than resorting to a walkthrough or wiki. I think most gamers (including me!) are willing to give a tricky puzzle an honest shot, but then if they're stumped, on to an IGN wiki or GameFAQS they go.

Please do not do that, with The Witness. It's an open world game - go mess with another part of the island. Come back after you've slept on it or a few days later. To do anything else is to deprive yourself of something really special. Just this once, really try to let the puzzles and let the game soak in and sit with you.

Think about it like this - you only get to play The Witness for the first time once. If you give in and look up puzzle solutions, you'll enjoy the game. It's very pretty, you'll feel smart at parts, etc. But if you resist doing that, and truly solve everything youself, you'll enjoy it on an entirely different level.

To put it another way - the puzzles are the game. Looking up solutions is akin to letting someone else beat a tough shooter level for you, or giving in to the kiddie star after failing a tough Mario stage enough times.

...and plus every time you look at a walkthrough you run the risk of having The Thing spoiled for you, which you do not want.

Fuck man, don't get me hyped up like that :(
Braid was a really special game for me, if this game is anything like it on an intellectual level I'll be ecstatic.
 
There's something massive about The Witness that won't reveal itself to most players until many many hours in, fyi. To say anything more is a spoiler.

This is a special game, and I strongly encourage everyone to truly let puzzles sit with them, rather than resorting to a walkthrough or wiki. I think most gamers (including me!) are willing to give a tricky puzzle an honest shot, but then if they're stumped, on to an IGN wiki or GameFAQS they go.

Please do not do that, with The Witness. It's an open world game - go mess with another part of the island. Come back after you've slept on it or a few days later. To do anything else is to deprive yourself of something really special. Just this once, really try to let the puzzles and let the game soak in and sit with you.

Think about it like this - you only get to play The Witness for the first time once. If you give in and look up puzzle solutions, you'll enjoy the game. It's very pretty, you'll feel smart at parts, etc. But if you resist doing that, and truly solve everything youself, you'll enjoy it on an entirely different level.

To put it another way - the puzzles are the game. Looking up solutions is akin to letting someone else beat a tough shooter level for you, or giving in to the kiddie star after failing a tough Mario stage enough times.

...and plus every time you look at a walkthrough you run the risk of having The Thing spoiled for you, which you do not want.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

I wanna play.
 

dLMN8R

Member
Super-hyped for this game.

Guys, if you want to get your puzzle solving juices flowing while waiting for The Witness, I highly recommend Tetrobot and Co.:

http://www.swingswingsubmarine.com/games/tetrobot-and-co/

Someone else recommended this to me in another thread about The Witness and it's the perfect little puzzle game so far.

Much like Lara Croft Go, there are a ton of super satisfying epiphanies after just staring at a puzzle for a while to figure it out.

The puzzles don't get more difficult because of a billion moving parts, but rather there are just a few elements at work and you need to spend a long time to figure out how it all fits together.

I'm playing it on iOS but it's available on Android and Steam too.
 

PolishQ

Member
There's something massive about The Witness that won't reveal itself to most players until many many hours in, fyi. To say anything more is a spoiler.

This is a special game, and I strongly encourage everyone to truly let puzzles sit with them, rather than resorting to a walkthrough or wiki. I think most gamers (including me!) are willing to give a tricky puzzle an honest shot, but then if they're stumped, on to an IGN wiki or GameFAQS they go.

Please do not do that, with The Witness. It's an open world game - go mess with another part of the island. Come back after you've slept on it or a few days later. To do anything else is to deprive yourself of something really special. Just this once, really try to let the puzzles and let the game soak in and sit with you.

Think about it like this - you only get to play The Witness for the first time once. If you give in and look up puzzle solutions, you'll enjoy the game. It's very pretty, you'll feel smart at parts, etc. But if you resist doing that, and truly solve everything youself, you'll enjoy it on an entirely different level.

To put it another way - the puzzles are the game. Looking up solutions is akin to letting someone else beat a tough shooter level for you, or giving in to the kiddie star after failing a tough Mario stage enough times.

...and plus every time you look at a walkthrough you run the risk of having The Thing spoiled for you, which you do not want.

Yesss.... YESSS.... all is going according to plan...
 
Can we have no OT subtitle? The game is austere in its description and clean in its presentation, I'd just rather the thread be as simple as the game presents itself.
 

Eklesp

Member
There's something massive about The Witness that won't reveal itself to most players until many many hours in, fyi. To say anything more is a spoiler.

This is a special game, and I strongly encourage everyone to truly let puzzles sit with them, rather than resorting to a walkthrough or wiki. I think most gamers (including me!) are willing to give a tricky puzzle an honest shot, but then if they're stumped, on to an IGN wiki or GameFAQS they go.

Please do not do that, with The Witness. It's an open world game - go mess with another part of the island. Come back after you've slept on it or a few days later. To do anything else is to deprive yourself of something really special. Just this once, really try to let the puzzles and let the game soak in and sit with you.

Think about it like this - you only get to play The Witness for the first time once. If you give in and look up puzzle solutions, you'll enjoy the game. It's very pretty, you'll feel smart at parts, etc. But if you resist doing that, and truly solve everything youself, you'll enjoy it on an entirely different level.

To put it another way - the puzzles are the game. Looking up solutions is akin to letting someone else beat a tough shooter level for you, or giving in to the kiddie star after failing a tough Mario stage enough times.

...and plus every time you look at a walkthrough you run the risk of having The Thing spoiled for you, which you do not want.

mmmmm this feels good.. give me more.
 

amnesiac

Member
There's something massive about The Witness that won't reveal itself to most players until many many hours in, fyi. To say anything more is a spoiler.

This is a special game, and I strongly encourage everyone to truly let puzzles sit with them, rather than resorting to a walkthrough or wiki. I think most gamers (including me!) are willing to give a tricky puzzle an honest shot, but then if they're stumped, on to an IGN wiki or GameFAQS they go.

Please do not do that, with The Witness. It's an open world game - go mess with another part of the island. Come back after you've slept on it or a few days later. To do anything else is to deprive yourself of something really special. Just this once, really try to let the puzzles and let the game soak in and sit with you.

Think about it like this - you only get to play The Witness for the first time once. If you give in and look up puzzle solutions, you'll enjoy the game. It's very pretty, you'll feel smart at parts, etc. But if you resist doing that, and truly solve everything youself, you'll enjoy it on an entirely different level.

To put it another way - the puzzles are the game. Looking up solutions is akin to letting someone else beat a tough shooter level for you, or giving in to the kiddie star after failing a tough Mario stage enough times.

...and plus every time you look at a walkthrough you run the risk of having The Thing spoiled for you, which you do not want.

Wow... Can't wait.

Can we have no OT subtitle? The game is austere in its description and clean in its presentation, I'd just rather the thread be as simple as the game presents itself.

I'd be down for this.
 

BTA

Member
So you're saying there's a twist I'm going to see on Twitter by let's say... next Friday even though I probably won't be done the game for weeks to months? Nice.
 

Yaboosh

Super Sleuth
There's something massive about The Witness that won't reveal itself to most players until many many hours in, fyi. To say anything more is a spoiler.

This is a special game, and I strongly encourage everyone to truly let puzzles sit with them, rather than resorting to a walkthrough or wiki. I think most gamers (including me!) are willing to give a tricky puzzle an honest shot, but then if they're stumped, on to an IGN wiki or GameFAQS they go.

Please do not do that, with The Witness. It's an open world game - go mess with another part of the island. Come back after you've slept on it or a few days later. To do anything else is to deprive yourself of something really special. Just this once, really try to let the puzzles and let the game soak in and sit with you.

Think about it like this - you only get to play The Witness for the first time once. If you give in and look up puzzle solutions, you'll enjoy the game. It's very pretty, you'll feel smart at parts, etc. But if you resist doing that, and truly solve everything youself, you'll enjoy it on an entirely different level.

To put it another way - the puzzles are the game. Looking up solutions is akin to letting someone else beat a tough shooter level for you, or giving in to the kiddie star after failing a tough Mario stage enough times.

...and plus every time you look at a walkthrough you run the risk of having The Thing spoiled for you, which you do not want.


You cost me $40 jerk.
 
Despite ALL of the other fantastic games coming out this year, and with no disrespect to them whatsoever, I get the feeling that this gave will be my favorite gaming experience of this year.

The hype is setting in. Hold me, GAF
 

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
I really, REALLY want to buy this game next week but I am worried it will be the same situation as when everybody hyped up that garbage "Everybody's Gone to the Rapture" and I was stuck with a $15 digital purchase that was terrible.
 

Bsigg12

Member
I really, REALLY want to buy this game next week but I am worried it will be the same situation as when everybody hyped up that garbage "Everybody's Gone to the Rapture" and I was stuck with a $15 digital purchase that was terrible.

People hyped up Everybody's Gone to the Rapture? Why?
 

Shepard

Member
I really, REALLY want to buy this game next week but I am worried it will be the same situation as when everybody hyped up that garbage "Everybody's Gone to the Rapture" and I was stuck with a $15 digital purchase that was terrible.

If you have a gaming PC, Steam offers refunds. Don't know about PSN.
 

EthanC

Banned
I really, REALLY want to buy this game next week but I am worried it will be the same situation as when everybody hyped up that garbage "Everybody's Gone to the Rapture" and I was stuck with a $15 digital purchase that was terrible.

Yep, better and safer to just wait and see. Rapture was just one of a bunch of overly hyped turds that released last year. If this game turns out to be great, it'll still be great the next day.
 
I really, REALLY want to buy this game next week but I am worried it will be the same situation as when everybody hyped up that garbage "Everybody's Gone to the Rapture" and I was stuck with a $15 digital purchase that was terrible.
This ain't nothing like Rapture. If you want, you can check out six years of development blog posts to read about Blow's puzzle design philosophy and such, and all that. Dude is a genius at game design. People have been playing builds of this game for years. There are already some impressions from IGN and Eurogamer, 20 hour previews from other places, and of course Justin's comments in this thread; the anticipation here is completely justified
 

viveks86

Member
There's something massive about The Witness that won't reveal itself to most players until many many hours in, fyi. To say anything more is a spoiler.

This is a special game, and I strongly encourage everyone to truly let puzzles sit with them, rather than resorting to a walkthrough or wiki. I think most gamers (including me!) are willing to give a tricky puzzle an honest shot, but then if they're stumped, on to an IGN wiki or GameFAQS they go.

Please do not do that, with The Witness. It's an open world game - go mess with another part of the island. Come back after you've slept on it or a few days later. To do anything else is to deprive yourself of something really special. Just this once, really try to let the puzzles and let the game soak in and sit with you.

Think about it like this - you only get to play The Witness for the first time once. If you give in and look up puzzle solutions, you'll enjoy the game. It's very pretty, you'll feel smart at parts, etc. But if you resist doing that, and truly solve everything youself, you'll enjoy it on an entirely different level.

To put it another way - the puzzles are the game. Looking up solutions is akin to letting someone else beat a tough shooter level for you, or giving in to the kiddie star after failing a tough Mario stage enough times.

...and plus every time you look at a walkthrough you run the risk of having The Thing spoiled for you, which you do not want.


Why u do this? This is cruel :'(
 

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
If you have a gaming PC, Steam offers refunds. Don't know about PSN.

Officially it's "No refunds" (including pre-orders, which is utterly ridiculous), but some people have been thrown a bone if they had a good reason. You definitely can't count on that, though, because the far more likely outcome is that you'll just be told that refunds aren't possible.
 
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