They would be, but it comes down to the notion that you don't NEED to do those things to finish the game, and as much as it sucks for people that can't interact with those puzzles, the game would be worse off if it didn't explore those ideas. There's simply no way to make things like sound and color work for those that aren't capable of discerning them.
Rain World is similiar to this, in that it’s a metroidvania where the means to progress is gaining knowledge of how the ecosystem and species work and getting better at platforming. You dont actually unlock anything Also Toki Tori 2 in how you progress through its interconnected world by understanding the mechanics and then applying that knowledge
Oh, yes, I think Blow said as much in that hour-long sit-down he had with Jeff and Brad from Giant Bomb: that he didn't want to just drop those puzzle concepts because of accessibility but also didn't want them to block people's progress because of something those people couldn't control. I don't know that he completely achieved that, since Spoiler you still need to finish everything for the true ending but yeah, I think for the most part he did the right thing here.
Across two systems, I never did figure out to do those puzzles in the desert temple near the start of the game. Playing on PS4, I stood in the right spot and it finally clicked. Cant believe I never noticed that before
The elevator really is no big deal. I liked it because it made you think outside the panels, or beyond. Like some others. The game is so good because it doesn't rely only on the panels and their mechanics, most of the things that are represented there have a meaning, even if it's only meant to inspire and may not say anything to you (like all the statues etc). But for the actual puzzles, it's not always ONLY panels and that's awesome. Edit: I'm actually NOT talking about the monoliths. I'll say it again: fuck the monoliths. It's cool they are there and I enjoyed solving many of their parts, but to me it's crazy thinking of solving EVERY one of them or even most. On the other hand, having to think about the solution for the elevator made my brain hurt a little. And I think it's the easiest out of some similar instances (if I remember right the solution for some shit in the town and/out swamp). A clue for the elevator, that may be too obvious and not really a clue but open at your own discretion: Spoiler: Clue to elevator solution see that each floor has a different color. That's the obvious part. Now find the way to interact with the panel so you pick the right floor. Although I don't remember everything about that puzzle, I think I remember quite well something I had to do, as well as in other situations, and that's very cool. Also probably each player goes through a particular way and order and workflow until finding the solutions and the fact that it still works for everyone who perseveres at it is amazing, too, regardless of way of thinking or the order of learning the game. It's also interesting to learn about what results easier for some while harder for others. :)
Yep. It's very rare for me to have that feeling about a game. I wish I could forget it all and play it over again. Maybe some day in many years I can achieve something like it.
This was one of my favorite games in a long time, easily a top 3 puzzle game of all time. One day I spent 14 hours playing it. I dreamt of lines that night needless to say.
It’s funny, when I first played the game I noticed the “detail” on the panels almost immediately, but I couldn’t imagine that they were related to the solution. I was like, “oh what a cool detail, but the solution has to do with their relative positions or shadows or angles or something else!” It’s so cool the way the game literally draws on everything in environment for its solutions, but never becomes too esoteric. It’s simultaneously never as complicated OR as simple as you think it’s going to be. Such a great game.
Haha, glad someone already pointed it out. The game is super consistent. Whenever I was stuck, I always blamed me first and as it turned out, I was always at fault. No, there are the two ending-like sequences that you've described in your spoilers 1 + 2. The challenge Spoiler is just an achivement that gives you access/the code to one of the videos in the video room under the village. Concerning your third spoiler: Spoiler The triangle/manuscript thing you described is the code to close the gate in the starting area again, so you get access to the hotel, without needing to restart the game and losing all progress. I forgot where I found the "code", but it defenitely wasn't from the "challenge"
Nope and I was disappointed by the reward for doing that, other than it being the trophy I needed for the platinum (and that was little before I ultimately put the game down). Spoiler: It's found... (all in this spoiler is iirc). In a tunnel in the area that connects to the challenge cave and to the videos chamber. One door is locked from the other side but you can see it as soon as you discover the videos chamber but can only wonder where the hell it would lead to. Also, it's designed like that so you arrive at the final zone, with all lasers, discover the bonus area, and now that you're full of knowledge and presumably have discovered the monoliths and shit, you recognize the pattern in the first door, enter the new found code, and it closing again is already a clue for you to do something with it, so you can discover the so called hotel (to me it's the credits area). The game calls itself over and you can do the challenge if you desire. I think that's neat design.
I made it to the second drained stairwell/aquarium place in the swamp. The part dealing with the hollow blue squares. Pretty neat. I've worked out some solutions just by adding and subtracting the total number of squares in Tetris pieces out of the number of squares in a panel. For some of the bigger panels with more than 3 or 4 Tetris pieces it's been curious partially finding an arrangement for the pieces, then partly drawing the line on the fly and realizing that you've already excluded the number of squares left from subtracting and boom - it was right. Leaving me now to retroactively figure out the rest of that arrangement and why it worked. So, it's like, scientific method for most and, as the late Bob Ross used to say, "happy accidents" for others.
Agreed on the happy accidents. The problem is when you can't really figure out why it worked, which indeed happened to me in some instance of the puzzles you're doing right now, or probably in some related but more complicated later. Then I did some other that I was very sure why it worked and then went back and forth... lol.
Without having read to much of the thread to not get spoiled, is this game good on iOS? Or better to get in another platform?
I just started up this game again after beating it two years ago. It's so amazing. The puzzles are fantastic, but I really fell for the atmosphere and "story." I imagine it could feel pretentious, but it doesn't come across that way to me, and it actually makes me think. It's nice to have a game with messages about science, religion, being, meditation, etc., without there being a forced conclusion. The game is just trying to force you to think, whether it be puzzles or existentialism. Also, it's absolutely beautiful. I really need to take some of my screenshots off of my PS4 and same then in the screenshot thread.
Graphics and gameplay suffer a bit on iOS. If you have the possibility of playing it on either on a console (PS4 & Xbox One) or a similarly spec'ed PC, I'd strongly recommend it.
Major spoiler about the monoliths: Spoiler They actually show you the direction of every environmental puzzle in the game. Its not a wild goose-chase at all and some of them are actually the best puzzles in the game. I solved all of them though I did cheat my way through maybe two or three in total. I regret doing that :P
I may be too silly for those then. I know about Spoiler them having the shape of the actual solution and then it lits when you complete it, if that's what you mean by the "direction", or maybe you mean that the side of the monolith that contains the shape points into its general direction (which if true I hadn't noticed I guess), but even then I couldn't solve many. I did some which requiered more special things though like one that Spoiler had you travelling by boat while you drew the line, and had to hang on to the line drawing itself while sailing to complete the pattern :) , and it was fine while it lasted. There are probably some more smart ones and even smarter than what I solved, but I didn't feel any urge to find AND solve them. Maybe I will if/when I replay this (which would be, ideally, when I've got access to a nice VR version of it, no hurry).
Spoiler It's both the shape of the solutions and you can find the pattern in the general direction of the side on which it appears on the monolith. Some of them are really cleverly hidden. Often you find parts of a pattern, but you have to achieve very specific circumstances to complete it. That was fun for the most part, but some of them were just too finicky. I'd still encourage you to look out for some more than what you've solved so far. At some point you get rather good at spotting those patterns, just like you learn all the other mechanics of the game bit by bit.
I've been wanting to check this game out but firmly believe it'll plunge me into some existential drama and self-loathing fits only rivaled by a Wagner opera.
Spoiler They point in the direction as well as the height/depth of the puzzle's location. If you've solved one at, say, sea-level and it has one below that one drawn on the monolith, you know its going to be underground. Of course it doesn't give away the solution or anything but it definitely makes it feel less like randomly running around hoping to stumble upon some random thing, something I've seen plenty of reviewers and the like criticizing the game for. I mean it pretty much has a built-in walkthrough for pretty much everything. I love it.
I really enjoyed the puzzles, but the tetris ones still fuck with my head. I still feel like there's a rule there that I'm not comprehending. (all lasers are up, just need to finish the last area)
Fuck the Tetris puzzles, and fuck the swamp. Made me almost quit the game. Decided to give it another shot and cheated my way through this section. Fuck that noise.
Eventually it'll click. At least for your sake I hope it will as all the puzzle types need to be used in the end game. I've actually started to really like the Tetris puzzles on my second playthrough. Mainly because I fully understand the rules now.
I got really dizzy playing it and then got stuck because I couldn't figure out where to go and the only available puzzles gave me 0 clue of how I was supposed to solve them. I figure I missed a few puzzles that were supposed to teach me some crucial point.
Oh, hey, nice to see this thread back. Time for a tiny update I guess. Girlfriend and I got through the Marsh. Then went down the environment puzzle rabbit hole for a while until we couldn't find anymore and ditched the boat at the treehouse entrance. These made my head spin, but we managed between the two of us. More environmental puzzles. Then she finished the Tetris half of the quarry while I was busy sending an email! Anyway... I've got the Greenhouse and the village left. (Also, that second panel at the top of the Keep. WTF)
The Witness is cheaper than ever now on Steam, only €9.99 in my country. I'm still not sure if I should buy it or not. I like puzzle games, but not for days in a row. It seems like the witness is hard to resume after a break?
Only puzzles I wanted to smash things were the most difficult sounds puzzles. But I got through them eventually. Probably one of my all-time favorite games
One of my favourite games of all time. I say buy it. :P Not sure what you mean about days in a row... you don't have to play it everyday. It's not *that* complex. It's more like if you don't play for a year you'll probably forget a bunch of the rules.
Ge0force That's a very good price. And also I didn't play everyday, you can (and sometimes maybe will need to) stay away from the game for a couple weeks and you may get back to it with a fresher mind and it would be useful indeed. Just don't forget your progress on the island and the mechanics of any puzzle type for too long. It's hard to get lost in the island anyway once you get to know it and you can always go back and re do any puzzle group to refresh the solutions and mechanics. If you really like it anyway you'll want to play often.
That's a fantastic description of the game. I think you nailed what it was going for. The game is a game, and it knows that and tries to teach using that. Now, did you complete the Challenge?
Haha, same here! After almost 2 hours of trying the most ridiculous things, I gave up and watched the solution of the 1st puzzle on youtube. That was all I needed to finish the other puzzles in that area. I wonder how many hours I would have needed to find this myself if there wasn't a walkthrough available...
Big Boss, if you haven't yet you should really start up a new game. The opening area takes on a whole new feel once you've completed the game and really understood all the puzzle rules.
Or just make sure to load his last save and find out if he has every single laser activated and puzzle done including that particular area. And every video, etc. That will naturally lead to all.
I'm not done with the challenge, yet. Although some audio logs are sort of, but not really, breaking the fourth wall. I'm getting a Talos vibe from the two women and the interview. Also, I did start a new game. The game pretty much forced me to. I found the "exit".
Yeah the exit (I suppose you watched the credits) and the fourth wall kinda breaking. That's what I'm talking about. All the thoughts you got out of the story are cool but that's not the whole story. :)
Perhaps this is the best thread for this. I interviewed Jonathan Blow the other day in Barcelona, here's the full thing in video (video is in English): https://www.gamereactor.es/articulos/512593/Jonathan+Blow+y+la+epifania+The+Witness/ First third is about his JAI programming language, but then we talk a look back at The Witness most of the time. We talk about "the thing", about designing things to be discovered, about The Witness best as a shared experience and so on. Besides, it's looking like The Witness for Nintendo Switch will take some time (not planning new versions for now, though it's probably happening) and there's also some comments on Thekla's new game project.
