I never could understand Braid properly beyond the first few levels, and your write-up of The Witness perfectly reflects my own experience. I don't consider myself a stupid person but perhaps I should be playing this game alongside a Mensa genius to help explain the rules to me as they really are, not as they appear in the easy puzzles. The Talos Principle has a much better difficulty curve in my opinion. The Witness needed some better sign-posting as to where the beginner puzzles actually started so you didn't dive in at the wrong level and get confused before the basics were explained.
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