The Witness - TTLG Forums

Neb on 4/2/2016 at 18:42

I gave it a bit more time and found a few of the tutorial boards that I needed tucked away behind a bunch of exploration. Reached another section that started with tutorials, leading up to a larger board that is logically impossible based on what I'd just learnt, so figured that the actual answer is hidden away somewhere else on the island. At just under six hours I'm burnt out. I've just seen the Super Bunnyhop review, and it seems as if he had a similar experience to me:

[video=youtube;hDxxwFLs0d8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDxxwFLs0d8[/video]

Starker on 4/2/2016 at 22:58

Yeah, I can see where he's coming from, but for me, the reasons that he lays out for not liking the game are the reasons for liking it. I actually like that there is no hand-holding and I like figuring stuff out on my own. It's very satisfying to have things "click".

Sounds like if you like puzzle games because you like puzzles, then The Witness is your game, but if you see puzzles just as obstacles between the game's content or story or whatever, then you're probably going to be disappointed a lot.

Thor on 5/2/2016 at 12:56

Yeah, this game... It just clicks with me. I'm not going to say I'm particularly good at puzzles, as I've spent something like 15+ hours on it for sure and only solved 227 puzzles, yet I hear that most people already beat the game around this point, but the process is just so enjoyable. A beautiful world filled with puzzles to solve just for the sake of solving puzzles and figuring things out.There's no violence, no hostility, no cinematic cutscenes or hyper realistic graphics - it's just a game.

In many ways this game is the direct opposite of a game like Mirror's Edge but I love both of them so much.

Starker on 6/2/2016 at 00:01

The game has so much just in way of discovery. When I figured out the other day what the black obelisks are for, it was a bit like that moment in Matrix when Neo sees the world is made out of lines of code. Surprisingly, I haven't really gotten stuck anywhere (except the town puzzles -- those are pure evil). When something's too tough, I just move on and sooner or later there's an easier puzzle that makes it beatable and teaches the rules and techniques for it. Or sometimes I try to solve something for half an hour, walk away for a couple of minutes, and then solve it immediately.

There's so much mystery in the environment as well. For example, there's a lake that keeps changing as you progress. I haven't figured it out fully yet, but I think that the lanterns correspond to the activated beams and the water lilies correspond to the audio logs that you've found.

Thor on 6/2/2016 at 11:37

Quote Posted by Starker

How cool. I still haven't figured out the meaning of the stacked car tires made from carbon, but I hope I manage to do so at some point (and not get spoilered beforehand).
I also love wandering around, bumping against some hard puzzle, then coming back later to destroy it in seconds. I remember struggling at some puzzle for about 30 minutes or more, giving up, then after another long section of puzzles I came back to it and solved it within 30 seconds.

So many cool areas. So far the desert and the shipwreck are probably the most mysterious sections I have wandered into, though the mountain also has mystery in it that I have not yet gained access to. After I (hopefully) beat this game I think I'll take some enjoyment in revisiting all these areas in my mind (and in game) and rank them in various forms of awesomeness (beauty, puzzles, creativity and such), though that may prove to be impossible. Plus, ranking is kind of stupid anyway, but it serves well as an excuse to analyze the game.

So far I've activated 4 lasers and I can't really put any one of the locations over the other. Well, possibly the bridges & treehouses area is the most creative with its layout. It's funny that I solved all the puzzle panels it had it one go, then wandered off and did some other couple of sections and came back to it after about a week and finally realized how to activate the laser itself.

Starker on 6/2/2016 at 14:44

I've got access to the mountain, but the rabbit hole goes deeper than that. It seems you only need 7 lasers to open the thingy, but there are 4 more locks and 4 more lasers. What's in there, though... oh boy.

My favourite place so far is probably either the monastery, even though it's so short/small, or the pretty colourful bunker/greenhouse. Least favourite has to be the quarry, partly because it has less in way of scenery than the other areas and maybe a little bit also because it took me way too long to figure out how to move one of the ramps in there.

There's still so much more to figure out. For example, there are these white panels with triangle symbols on them that I think I finally know how to solve, but I have no idea what they do. Maybe they'll come into play later. And I found an interesting place where I can input the hexagonal diagrams that I found here and there behind some pretty tricky doors.

I think the only negative thing for me so far has been the lack of jumping that was mentioned before. I also understand why it's necessary from a design perspective, but as a player it really irks me when I can't get over a knee high barrier. Everything else is superb, though. The sound design has some really nice background ambiance, the art design is absolutely fantastic and the puzzles are so satisfying to figure out.

Thor on 6/2/2016 at 15:16

Quote Posted by Starker

There's still so much more to figure out. For example, there are these white panels with triangle symbols on them that I think I finally know how to solve, but I have no idea what they do. Maybe they'll come into play later. And I found an interesting place where I can input the hexagonal diagrams that I found here and there behind some pretty tricky doors.

Oh yes, I just got access to them too a few hours ago. I looked at the screenshots I took from the 2 hex diagrams that I had found thus far and listened to Feynman talk wise things. That was really, really cool.
I still don't know how to solve those triangle panels, I just solve them and go on, thinking of them as a secret-ish collectible until proven otherwise.
Yeah, the inability to jump or walk off a ledge is higher than 1 foot is annoying, and I sometimes feel like I want some binoculars also, but this game is of a different format, so I accept it for what it is.

Al_B on 13/2/2016 at 11:09

I didn't think much of this game at first (although I love puzzles) but I've been enjoying it more and more as time's gone on. There are a lot of puzzles, particularly the early ones, that wouldn't be out of place in a free app for a mobile device. Where this game shines for me is where the environment plays a part in the puzzles themselves - the tree shadows were particularly satisfying to solve. I believe I've tackled most areas on the island now although I've still no idea how to complete the timed tree-house. I've solved all accessible puzzles in the area so not sure what I'm missing...

Thor on 13/2/2016 at 15:00

I watched a youtube video with a misleading title and got spoiled some pretty major environmental puzzles that I had no idea existed... so that ruined the game for me... Assholes like that who spoil the game with no warning (or even a hint of spoiler alert) should burn in hell. Nothing less would compensate ruining this game for me (although even that wouldn't particularly compensate it).

But the treehouse one I actually figured out myself. If you want a hint: some puzzles can be solved in more than one way.

Edit: And the painful thing is that I was so close to figuring it out myself. I saw the similarity in one of them, hell, several of them a long time ago but I thought they would be applied to regular panels rather than that I could just simply click on them. I would have tried it out eventually, god damn it. This really screws up the game for me.

Al_B on 13/2/2016 at 15:40

Ah! That hint should allow me to progress, thanks :). I'm avoiding spoilers on the game in general as in many cases the reason that I've been stuck is because I need to return to a puzzle later once I've gained more information elsewhere.