Quick Look: The Witness

I hate when you guys always stop Quicklooks or whatever early because you don't want to give anything away, it we wanted to not see it we can hit that X in the top right corner. I watch your videos because I like watching you guys play games, so play.

Thanks; I might check it out then.

Nice, I'll definitely be picking this up on Steam... once it goes on sale.

Oh shit, we should make a 40 called "Puzzle-Solving Juice".

the price tag on this game is pretty hefty for what it is, i think. idunno. maybe later

Heads up, Brad gives away a pretty major revelation early in this QL, which is good I suppose as a teaser, but if you wanna play it you'll probably enjoy it more discovering it on your own. That said, it seems like a lot of people criticizing the game based on what they saw here missed the implications of what he said.

As someone who is easily annoyed by repetitive footstep sounds in games, this thing is one step away from being porn.

is THIS firewatch?

Hey guys, I don't think this game is for everybody, or even supposed to be for everybody. You don't have to see the point of it or appreciate the genre. There are plenty of other games to play.

Great idea to have someone new to the game figuring out the puzzles. This looks like exactly the kind of game I want to play (until I get stuck at puzzles that reset an entire chain).

If you want to get the game, do not go and watch the release trailer after this. I feel like it gives away a lot of twists to where the puzzles are going to go. Unless everything shown in the trailer is still early, if that is the case, GOTY2016.

My headcanon is that this island is a abandoned D'ni resort world, and we just had a stealth Myst game dropped on us.

I mean, they'd totally build this place as somewhere to go for fun. And I want to go there too.

@beachthunder: they go out of their way not to give anything away. Might be worth the watch.

I won't pick this up on release, maybe we will get this as a PlayStation plus release.

With the word being toss around yet no one has given the Webster definition of pretentious yet?

Regardless there are multiple layers of subjectivity going on here; if there's actually more meaning to be infer, if it is executed well, too heavy handed/too far fetch. Different people will probably reacts differently to any one of these.

Also if poorly translated Japanese games are pretentious, but yet people are into it then there are 60 hours of it for the player to wallow in, and if it is hated then it is 60 hours to put up with. In the case of Braid the ending is maybe handful of minutes long love it or hate it it is only that handful of minutes.

Saw some of Jon Blow talks a while back during the clicker craze a few years back, he raised some valid and interesting points and statement regarding the state of the industry, his solution however were a little weak and quite frankly I am not sure I agree with completely, and if the Witness is his answer...

It also contributes to the ongoing phenomenon of all games for all people, some games for some people, and niche games for niche people, and how the interplay between these groups seems to be diverging greatly.

As for the Witness itself. Well it sure looks interesting, but quite frankly I am only interested in the environmental puzzle it provides rather than the countless puzzle on a squared plate. Wonder if there'll be any story beat, twists, and narrative also. I just hope this doesn't make him to be a M Night Shyamalan figure.

The island is gorgeous, but I don't really see why people are so excited about this. 40+ hours of maze puzzles doesn't sound interesting to me at all, especially for the price.

I think it stems more from the game seeming like nothing more than a pretty world wrapped around puzzles. I guess you could say that about Layton, but there was at least an entertaining story wrapped around it.

Personally i think the game looks great, but it seems more like a game i would watch someone Let's Play over play it myself. I have trouble staying engaged in games that leave the story too nebulous. Puzzles are cool, and the bit they showed towards the end made me interested in what the game does, but I just dont think pretty visuals and puzzles would keep me interested, especially for how long this game is purported to be. I need something to propel me forward, even if its something as banal as "shoot those bad dudes" or "find the truth behind this mysterious location".

Hmm.. I think i prefer the Talos principle to this.. Cool though.

If more than one person had played the game that would be a valid point, but Brad probably wouldn't want to spoil aspects of the game for Jeff either. Time and time again the comment section has shown that it's not as easy as hitting that X in the top right corner, if they showed later game stuff people would complain and that's why the whole spoiler thing is a no-win situation for them. I think this struck a good balance.

Judging by the comments, it seems that the overly paranoid precaution to avoid any spoilers in this QL has actually given the game a bad (and hopefully false) first impression to some. I mean if the game really is 40-80 hours long, I don't see the harm in showing at least a taste of the depth Brad talks about. I'm sold on the art and Brad's enthusiasm alone so I'm excited to dive in, but to be fair to the naysayers, the puzzles shown here were pretty dry.

@cgeare: Judging by the spoilers I've read, showing later game stuff would be considered huge (mechanical) spoilers of the game by a lot of people. So there's probably a reason for the paranoia.

Bought the game on Steam to show my support for developers who some people think are bald.

Here is my proof, it's in the pudding.

@phished0ne: Yeah that's completely understandable. This is somewhat off topic but hearing Brad talk about how complex this game gets has made me very curious but it has worked against me in the past. I remember when Fez came out, hearing the guys on the bombcast talk about how "crazy" the game gets and how they took pages and pages of notes actually really put me off the game because I found it quite intimidating. I did eventually play it years later but by that point I knew what a lot of the secrets were and I fizzled out on it. My logic is that if this game gets complex in similar ways to Fez, I will be playing along with everyone else and I won't give myself time to ruminate about how complex it is and get scared away.

Sorry for the long tangent.

I liked this quick look and was sold on the game. I've put it on my wishlist until I have some free time (away from University). I appreciated the restraint in showing off the game despite your excitement, Brad.

The name "Johnatan blow" doesnt mean anything to me. I feel like this game is only getting attention because of this apparently famous creator. As someone with no connection to this game who's seeing this for the first time this looks like a very mediocre indy maze puzzle game that doesnt deserve the attention it's getting , let alone cost 40 dollars.

I don't understand Brad's commentary on this at all, he keeps acting like this is some masterpiece that will be remembered for the rest of time. If i didn't know better (luckily i do) and didn't know Giantbomb i would think these guys were paid off by the devs, that's how ridiculous this sounds.

Maybe the fact i'm not into puzzle games at all has a small factor in my opinion but even if i was this would not strike me as a 40 dollar game. I don't see what's pulling people in to play this.

31:25 is my exact reaction even now after having watched this. And if it gets that much better when you're further in then maybe they should have done the QL further into the game because now it sounds like they're saying "its great guys , i cant show you because reasons but trust me it's great" wich is what a paid off reviewer would say. And again i'm not implying anyone at GB was paid off , i know better but that's pretty much what it sounds like.

There's your problem right there. That's like saying:

"The name 'Leonardo Da Vinci' doesn't mean anything to me. I feel like this Mona Lisa painting is only getting attention because of this apparently famous creator. As someone with no connection to this painting who's seeing it for the first time this looks like a very mediocre portrait that doesn't deserve the attention it's getting."

Maybe now you understand the ignorance of your words.

This looks boring to me, but I'm glad it exists. I'd rather just have a menu and some cool puzzles. Wandering around an empty world to find more puzzles seems like a hassle. I know the QL was only 30 min and it does look gorgeous, but doesn't look like a space I'd be interested in exploring or learning more about. I didn't get that "I need to know more" feeling. I'll have to pop in on a stream and see a puzzle from a few hours in. If the puzzles get significantly more interesting than what was shown here (tutorial, I know.) then I could see slogging through the walking around stuff to play them. I'll probably grab it on a whim when it's on sale.

Edit: I'm just saying it's not for me, not that it seems bad. It looks very well-made.

Do you seriously think anyone would spend 8 years of their life making a game that is nothing more than a series of simple maze puzzles?

So you, a person who knows nothing about this game and has never played it, are more qualified to judge this game than the professional video game reviewer who has played the entire thing? OKAY

And it's a lot smaller than the poster I can buy in the gift shop! one star.

I had no idea what this was. It looks astonishing.

This reminds me a lot of The Talos Principle, and that is very exciting.

Brad also reeeeaaally liked Brothers, and he plays DOTA so.. Grain of salt guys, big grain of salt.

Honestly $40 seems like a lot for this game. It seems like a very simple environmental puzzle game, that's what I got from the Quick Look. I feel like they should've shown a little more.

I like puzzle games (at least in theory, I never seem to stick with them though) and I want to check this out, but somehow Brad's effusive praise of this is actually souring me on it. That's weird. Like, it can't be possibly be as good as he's claiming so I shouldn't bother. I think it will be a good game to pick up in a few months, after I've gotten through Tomb Raider, Firewatch, and at least one playthrough of XCOM2.

I agree that people would complain either way. But it's kind of funny that Jeff playing a game and experiencing it as it unfolds would be spoiling it for himself.

You can't fall off a simple safe ledge a few feet off the ground to cut down on tedious infuriating backtracking in an already very slow paced game with nothing else going on in it besides walking and puzzle solving?

Fuck. This. Game.

Interesting.

I wish someone would spoil this game at least a little. Putting down 40 bucks for this is too much of a leap of faith based off this quick look and the reviews I've read. Yeah, the review scores have been great, but what have I seen? Yeah the island is pretty but you're just walking up to tablets anyway and solving maze puzzles they put out for kids at a Shoney's.

@chumtoad: I'm sure you could find all the spoilers you wanted with a cursory google search. There are probably full playthroughs on youtube.

@mub said:

@brads_beard said:

@relkin said:

@billyok: I was going for cheeky, rather than snarky. Sorry bout that. @mub conveys my thoughts on it pretty well, for the most part. To say that I think the big reveal in Braid feels like a stretch would be a bit of an understatement. It's pretentious, but in an adolescent sort of way, if that makes sense.

you woulda loved it if it had been poorly translated from Japanese

pointing out that someone appears to have radically different standards for games from Japanese developers than they do for games from Western developers is in fact not an ad hominem argument

Did a bunch of people throw a fit about the price of Talos Principle when it came out too? It also got near universal praise and cost $39.99

Fuck, the art in this game is incredible. I'd pay $40 to walk around the island even if there were 0 puzzles to solve.

@brads_beard said:

@mub said:

@brads_beard said:

@relkin said:

@billyok: I was going for cheeky, rather than snarky. Sorry bout that. @mub conveys my thoughts on it pretty well, for the most part. To say that I think the big reveal in Braid feels like a stretch would be a bit of an understatement. It's pretentious, but in an adolescent sort of way, if that makes sense.

you woulda loved it if it had been poorly translated from Japanese

pointing out that someone appears to have radically different standards for games from Japanese developers than they do for games from Western developers is in fact not an ad hominem argument

Im pretty sure that's exactly what that is but ok buddy whatever you wanna tell yourself. You do you.

Yes. There was a bunch of that directed at Talos Principle too. Maybe not as visible since it wasn't as high profile as The Witness, but there was a ton of that aimed at the game on forums, Reddit etc.

@brads_beard: Nothing I had said prior to your first comment would indicate that I had radically different standards for games from developers of different nationalities. I thought it was a funny comment, though. I didn't/don't think there was any malice in what you said, but Mub has a point. If you had been looking to start something, you technically did bypass my position and made a comment about my person.

Goddamn, I don't have the money for this...

Wait... I do.

I just don't have the time...

What's wrong with liking Brothers, one of the best games to highlight storytelling in this medium?!

Seems very similar to Antichamber, not sure I want to play that kind of game for whatever ridiculous hour count the game actually is.

if you like puzzles, whats wrong with $40 for a 80-100 hours game? Also, have you even listened to brad on how challenging the puzzles will get? how can you define "very simple" if you have no experience on what the challenge defines? Brothers and DOTA are both amazing games. If you don't like them, doesn't mean they're hot universally known as hot garbage. Reflect.

I picked a bad time to overdraft my bank account.