![]() ![]() There’s something admirable about something that doesn’t exist to grab the widest audience, it simply is what it is. The Witness isn’t for me, but it unapologetically makes its choices and sticks with them, and doesn’t care whether or not I’m along for the ride. Despite my inability to commit to chipping away at the indestructible wall that is The Witness, to say that a game that is functioning exactly as intended is worse for doing so is a bit reductive and shortsighted. However, I don’t think that any of these things I’m saying are, for the lack of a better term, legitimate criticism. There are other things I can be doing and other games that I can playing that don’t have that same inaccessibility. It’s true that what makes The Witness great is its sense of discovery and that “aha” feeling, but when those epiphanies are as few and far between as they can be in The Witness, there’s little reason to continue playing, and breaking out a guide feels like cheating. Even now I still have yet to figure out what the actual solution is to certain puzzles, and can’t even find the “tutorial” panels that are meant to gradually demonstrate the rules to you. However, I found a lot of the time when I reached some puzzles I was given nothing that resembled guidance as to how they worked. You’re shown the most basic of concepts and are forced to apply them to more complex puzzles, and even learning how those simpler puzzles work gives you a references point for some of the mid-tier ones you’ll come across. ![]() There’s nothing that resembles a traditional tutorial, and I think that actually works in the game’s favor in the beginning. It’s something like Journey or Gone Home in that way.īut even so, it’s hard to appreciate much of that mystique when the game seems altogether unwilling to meet you halfway. The Witness is something that is filling every inch of a very specific page, and it means it’s compact and structured in a way that few games ever are. It’s the advantage of having this enclosed space to walk around, and limiting freedoms in order to make sure the player is seeing exactly what you want at any given moment. You’re right about one thing, the game feels very focused and deliberate. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |