The Witness

Sort of like Myst but without the story.

great chill game with loads and loads of very cool puzzles. recommended 100%.

I don't want to be unfair, not every game is for everyone, but without subjectivity there is no opinion. The Witness looks beautiful, the parallels to Myst are obvious, and anyone who loved Myst will feel right at home here. My only problem is that I'm unable to solve the puzzles. It's fine at the beginning, but as soon as the rules get more complicated, I feel like I'm back in math class as a teenager: I just don't get it. Because I found the island so beautiful, I followed a walkthrough, and of course that worked – until you come across a puzzle that can only be solved if you actually understand the rules, and that was the end of it for me. I'll never know if the ending of The Witness reveals a significant story after all, which is a real shame. Conclusion: You should only pay the high price if you're sure that the game is really for you. Otherwise, you'll end up really annoyed.

If you want a game with a linear story, excitement, stimulation, clear objectives, achievments and a "beginning-middle-and-end" sequence, this game is NOT for you. Seriously, just pass it on and we can all avoid reading another review complaining that the game didn't offer something it was never meant to offer. This game is not as much played as it is experienced. No timer, no enemies, no stress, no help, just you and your curiosity, a beautiful location and the calmness, introspective and reasoning that is lacking in almost every aspect of our lives. This game is about learning. About learning how to learn. You need to enjoy the intellectual stimulation that comes from figuring out want you know and what you don't know in order to enjoy this game. Every section of puzzles teaches you a different part of the language you need in order to decipher the puzzles, and the rest is up to you. Some people seem to feel frustrated about the lack of "meaning" when the game is "completed". This shows that they didn't understand one of this game's lessons: learn to enjoy the ride instead of only thinking about its ending. Enjoy learning for learning's sake, and solving the puzzles for their own challenge, not to reach some arbitrary milestone. Live in the moment, enjoy the experience, reason about your actions and your surroudings. This game is not for everyone and it surely requires a special mindset. Some people call it pretentious, I think they're just not willing to reflect as much as the game invites you to. I just wish more people would be able to enjoy it, because today's world is in dire need of such a calm, introspective and intellectual journey.

Great game.