The Witness is definitely one of the most challenging yet fun to play games that I’ve played. Here is The Witness Review. The game has every aspect that a puzzle game should have which are, confusion , uncertainty , mental exhaustion and most importantly the feeling of satisfaction after solving a horrendously difficult maze puzzle. And I will admit that I have experienced all of those aspects. I really found the game frustrating at times as I try to figure out the puzzles and de-crypt the cryptic hints of the puzzles. The Witness opts to convey its mechanics through cryptic ways in order to solve the maze. Yes, The Witness my friends is all about different types of maze puzzles.
If there is a chart for different types of mazes, then you will find all the types of mazes in the game. Ranging from simple to difficult to insanely difficult. But mind that those insanely difficult puzzles are the tricky ones. If you find the trick then its an easy one for you.
From the very beginning of the game requires you to be deductive in its puzzles. The game doesn’t make you feel like Sherlock Holmes, instead it assumes you are Sherlock and has faith in you that you are observant and capable , yet patient enough to blast through its puzzle. Its not an easy game , I must have played it over 48 hours to complete nearly all the 500+ puzzles. There were times of frustration and I wanted to give up , but the satisfaction which I got by solving one of its mind boggling puzzles is what kept me going forward.
THE WORLD.
You wake up on an unnamed and unknown island and surrounding you is a vast sea. The island consists all types of earth’s Biomes, starting from green forests with lush vegetation to barren desert , to an autumn forest with cherry blossoms and also a snow top mountain beside which there’s a swamp area too . These habitats are spread across the island , and consist of a lot of things , secrets and mazes to be explored .
The world also includes secret tree houses , caves and underwater routes(spoiler !).
THE GAMEPLAY.
The base of the game is that you solve a maze, which activates a panel , then a glowing wire guides you to the next panel and it continues. Most of the times the wire takes you to the next puzzle but , it also opens doors and moves platforms back and forth. Initially the puzzles are simple and the wires easy to follow , but as you advance through the game the complexity takes a leap and so does variety in the puzzles or mazes.
The notable thing about the game is how it leads you from one point to another , from one area to another , from one puzzle to the other. The initial puzzles are easy and fun . But as the complexity rises , new puzzles with symbols and shapes appear with their own rules. For some puzzles you have to change the way you perceive the game and finally there are puzzles which make you break all the previous rules and set their own rules which might make you go WHAT?! . The hints and instructions are never direct or right in front of you, you have to search for it , you use your deduction and solve it. This is how you learn to solve the game using your own intuition.
In some cases you use the knowledge gained in some different area of the game and put it to use in the maze in front of you in another part of the game. And moreover if you feel the difficulty of one area is too much , then you can go to another region and learn a new set of rules to solve the mazes in that area.
THE GRAPHICS.
Graphics was not the main concern of the developers i think. Their main motive was to engulf you in really beautiful and artistic environments full of vivid colors which will trap you in its beauty. I don’t mean that its graphics are not good, the graphics and visualizations look great of this painted style game.
THE VERDICT.
In simple words , the game is just awesome and mesmerizing. There is no word called ‘end’ in The Witness’s dictionary . I completed all the necessary puzzles to reach the primary ending but there are a lot of secrets and I have no idea what those are( I have solved some of them) . Moreover there is a secret ending too .
I salute the developers of this game as it is one of a kind. I have never experienced a game like this in my life. It is one of the best examples of what the human mind is capable of imagining.
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