Winter is still lurking around and with the stormy weather and rain it’s kind of OK to daydream about a beautiful island filled with vivid colours. I mean no offense, it’s OK to solve some puzzles you found in your newspaper while staring through the rainy window. But what if you could combine the brainmelting puzzling with the island exploration? Be the witness of that successful marriage!
See beyond the fog of MYST
Let’s get it over with, yes it draws some inspiration from 1993’s MYST. But why be ashamed of being compared to a legend in the genre? The Witness clearly took some bits of MYST but that’s where the comparison ends. You won’t be looking for clues hidden between pixels. You will be treated to an open, colorful island where the puzzles aren’t the only mystery!
Indie doesn’t mean small and pixelated
You start out placing your first cautious steps through a dark tunnel and when you get out it’s immediately clear this isn’t your small indie production. Thekla’s Jonathan Blow has been working on this title since the much acclaimed ‘Braid’. It’s gone through a solid development and that pays off! The Witness is a great looking game and the island is way bigger than anything I expected. It’s divided into 11 sections with a goal that is as clear as day once you get out of the tunnel in the first few seconds of the game; a mountaintop that is always visible from wherever you are on the island. But it’s a hard climb to the top if you wanna rock’n roll.
Vegetation is a clue, the scenery is a clue… Hell, the entire island is a clue!
Now before you go explore the island you are treated to a short tutorial on how the puzzle mechanic works. There is no text at all, it’s all about you getting the clues and thinking ahead. You are the center of this game and somehow I found this way of giving you credit fo finding the solution very rewarding. Once the tutorial is over the first gate opens and the island is yours to explore. It’s great to know there are still games out there not holding your hand every step along the way. It’s you versus the island filled with puzzles.
The puzzles are maze based and you can activate this ‘puzzle view’ at any time even when you are not facing a puzzle screen. I found this feature to be somewhat weird in the beginning but at one moment you will understand that the puzzles are not solely on the many screens/panels scattered around the island but you will have to see the island itself as a puzzle. Check your surroundings when you are stuck! Clues are everywhere. And straight from the start you will be left with a seemingly unsolvable puzzle on a door. Don’t worry, the game is progressively difficult and you will get to those puzzles you had to skip one day or another.
Prepare for a challenge
And yes I am mentioning the word ‘days’. This game offers between 80 to 100 hours of gameplay. It is a solid game that will have you scratching your head more than once. It feels good to have another game going against the mainstream idea of making games too easy.
This how it should be, a challenging experience.
Now aside from the puzzle panels you will be spending a lot of time on the island walking around following lit up cables to your next piece of the puzzle etc. The island itself looks amazing and has this very vivid and colorful art style. it has different area’s with their own unique vegetation and ornaments. All clues basically, a great way to blend beauty with usefulness.
| The good: | The bad: |
| + great maze mechanic | – Not the most ‘exciting’ game |
| + 80-100hours of gameplay | – May be too difficult for some |
| + Very good game for the more hardcore puzzle kings |
What you are left with are questions, where does it all lead? What is your real goal on the island? With no text guiding you and open island it’s easy to conclude there’s no story to be found in this game, but you couldn’t be more wrong. You can find audio logs throughout the island. Now these are not ‘in your face’ clear about their exact contents. But if you pay attention, which I’m sure you are able to do if you solved most of the puzzles, you can try to deduce what this is all about.
So in the end you get a solid game that is able to give triple A productions a run for their money. 80 to 100 hours of gameplay in a beautiful environment. There are worse ways to fill rainy days!
Score: 4.5 out of 5
