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The Witness is a somewhat unique title that I've been debating on getting for a while, ever since it popped up on the Playstation Store.  I ended up buying it on impulse, and I don't regret doing so.  The Witness is a Puzzle game made by the creator of Braid, and is available for PS3, PS4, PC, iOS, and Xboc 360.

First off, the review itself is going to be different because of two things: I'm still working my way through the game, and story is an "optional" thing since the main focus is purely puzzles.



Welcome to the island, your only location you get to explore throughout this game.  Don't get me wrong: it's actually a decently sized island, and is jam packed with over 500 puzzles (the creator clocked it at over 650) waiting to be solved by you.

First off, the island is a hit or miss for people.  Some will find it beautiful to explore, some will find it downright boring.  Personally, I'm in the former category, because I like exploring places.  But the island has different areas with different looks, feels, and puzzle types.





Now, I say "different puzzle types," but I use that term very loosely.  The Witness' puzzles are all of the same type, being line puzzles...but they range in difficulty.  However, this may be one thing that is offputting to interested people, who may have been looking for more varieties in puzzle types.  But despite every puzzle being a line puzzle, they do have their own variations that range from okay, to interesting, to pretty frustrating.





And the types of line puzzles are spaced in variety, from ones that rely on sound, being able to flawlessly see colors (so if you're colorblind or deaf, this game isn't for you), traditional ones you see above, and other types you'll find on the island.  Some of the solutions are simple and clearcut (getting from point a to point B), some are a little less obvious (using the environment to choose the right branch to go), and some take a bit more effort and patience to figure out (ones like the 3rd puzzle listed above).

Either way, it's a game that tests your mettle with puzzles, and does so without any handholding.  That's right, the Witness is one of those games that tosses you in with no explanation whatsoever, no tutorial for the puzzles, no guides to help you out occasionally, and no option for hints for each puzzle nor being able to solve them automatically without doing the work yourself.   You can skip doing puzzles if you choose, but you'll need to solve a number of them to make it to the end.

The objective of this game is to light up all of the beacons/lasers in each area by solving a number of puzzles.  Do that, and you can make it to the end.  But like the game doesn't have an exceptional focus on story, the ending is no exception except to be something that says "Great job! You made it this far."  Once you've beaten the game, it takes you back to the island right before you went to that area, so that you can solve more puzzles.

And this is by means not a short game, either.  As I said, there's over 500+ puzzles on the island, and I've read other reviews and comments from people who have clocked in over 40+ hours and have solved just above 300 puzzles....so if you're a completionist, this game will take a bit of time.

Speaking of being a completionist, puzzles aren't the only thing found around the island.  Scattered around are areas with audio recordings that provide insightful quotes to the player (and yes, with voice).  There's also a theater found somewhere on the island that plays short video clips.  Likewise, scattered around the island are remarkably life-like statues of people...giving the island more of a beautiful, yet slightly creepy vibe since you'll be wondering if a number of these statues were in fact people at one point.



Overall, the Witness is a game at least worth trying.  However, it's definitely not a purchase that you should make on impulse unless you've read about it beforehand and have a good idea of what it's about...being as, for example, the PS4 version is $39.99.  But I haven't had any regrets spending that, since the game itself is quite a lot of fun...even if it can be frustrating at points because of the lack of actual variation of puzzles (since they're all line puzzles, despite them being different types of line puzzles) and naturally because some of the puzzles are downright challenging.

But it's one I recommend people to try when/if they get the chance.

Dammit, Pengu, I didn't realise you'd already reviewed it.

Maybe I'll review three other small games, two of which being new, one of which being Super Hexagon... unless someone already did that too.

On to the topic at hand, I find this game beautifully bizarre. The random audiotapes scattered all over the world on such a wide range of topics seem to fit in with the design of the architecture of the game, and with the puzzles themselves.

What's wrong with reviews by multiple people of the same game? Gives different views.

True, but once someone has reviewed something already, we'd probably want to do something more like a bunch of reviewers simply pitching in with their own views on a game in a separate article, and leave one review as our official position on the game.

I've decided to review Undertale, and old-fashioned RPG that harkens back to the SNES era.

It's something a lot of people can play, too.