The Witness

 Xbox One
Metascore
86

Generally favorable reviews - based on 11 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 11
  3. Negative: 0 out of 11
  1. Gaming Age
    Oct 6, 2016
    100
    The Witness has an abundance of content, and even after 25+ hours I feel I have barely scratched the surface of the secrets the island holds for me.
  2. IGN
    Sep 13, 2016
    100
    The Witness has a power and pull that carried me throughout the more than 40 hours it took to complete it for the first time, and that, even now, beckons me back to confront the mysteries I left unsolved. Its graceful combination of tangible goals, obscurity, and freedom creates ample opportunity for small victories and grand revelations alike.
  3. Gaming Nexus
    Sep 23, 2016
    95
    They really don't make 'em like this any more. The Witness is an amazing game that you'll love to hate for its challenge, cursing it, wondering why you made the purchase, and then something will click for you, and it'll become one of the best games you've ever played.
  5. 3DJuegos
    Sep 16, 2016
    95
    Beautiful and intelligent. The Witness is exactly what we expect from a next-gen puzzle videogame.
  6. ICXM
    Oct 14, 2016
    90
    Just a phenomenal title which stands up well on Xbox One. Despite its 30 FPS presentation which results in feeling like trudging through molasses, the game still features intelligent puzzles and rewards the player when they finally figure it out.
  7. ZTGD
    Sep 16, 2016
    90
    The Witness is an example of superlative game design. Carefully crafted and mentally challenging. Everyone should dive into this world, it is the perfect game for several players to sit on a couch and solve. It will make your head hurt, it will tease your brain more than any game before it, but it also delivers satisfaction in solution better than anything else before, and perhaps after it.
  8. XboxAddict
    Sep 25, 2016
    85
    The Witness is one of the most emotional roller coasters you will find in gaming today, and on top of that, it's one of the most cerebral and intellectually challenging games you will probably ever play. Completing this game will require the comprehensive ability to decipher keys which in turn will teach you solutions, and you will need to combine all of this together with the ability to adapt on the fly because every single puzzle is different. Would I pay $39.99 + tax for this game? Regrettably no. Sadly, the game does do a good job at giving you a lesson in isolationism, and while that is unique, the game itself doesn't feel like one flowing cohesive experience with any sort of point. If this game was priced at $24.99 or below though, it would be a must buy every day of the week, and twice on Sunday.
  9. MondoXbox
    Oct 5, 2016
    80
    An unique experience with mountains of puzzles to solve, a great look and an intangible mystery to discover, but lacking on the storytelling side and with a sometimes unbalanced difficulty progression.
  10. Brash Games
    Sep 14, 2016
    80
    The Witness is undeniably self-indulgent; it’s too long, too single minded and occasionally, a little too abstract for its own good. It’s never more than the sum of its individual parts, but despite its issues, there is no escaping the fact that its individual parts are all universally fantastic. The puzzles are as compelling as they are plentiful, the art design is exemplary and the world itself a consistently compelling place to be. It lacks the magic that made Braid quite so special, but judged upon its own merits, The Witness is a worthy successor to Myst and one of the finest and most ambitious puzzle games of modern times.
  11. 4P.de
    Sep 14, 2016
    79
    Xbox fans had to wait a while, but now they also can experience this challenging puzzle experience. It is less adventure but more intensive puzzle marathon with creative tasks sometimes connected over multiple tiers that lacks a coherent combination of puzzle solving and story-telling.
  12. Metro GameCentral
    Sep 21, 2016
    70
    A colossal achievement in puzzle gaming, with a very cleverly conceived setting and story, but the lack of variety and reward becomes stifling.

Awards & Rankings

16
#16 Best Xbox One Game of 2016
62
#62 Most Discussed Xbox One Game of 2016
57
#57 Most Shared Xbox One Game of 2016

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 81 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 55 out of 81
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 81
  3. Negative: 15 out of 81
  1. NabaDwA
    Sep 25, 2016
    10
    As many have said before, this game is absolutely brilliant. In essence it's a smartphone game about drawing a line from a starting point toAs many have said before, this game is absolutely brilliant. In essence it's a smartphone game about drawing a line from a starting point to the finish. But put that in a huge open world with beautiful colours and landscapes, intelligent puzzle design and challenging you every step of the way. Some puzzles can be frustrating if you don't understand them but when you do, that sense of satisfaction keeps you playing on and on. Slightly pricey at first glance, but when you realize how much work and thought has gone into the game you will be astonished, it's definitely worth it.… Full Review »
  2. nickminus
    Dec 19, 2016
    10
    The Witness is not for everyone. It is a game that presumes you are a thorough, intelligent detective who wants to be challenged. If youThe Witness is not for everyone. It is a game that presumes you are a thorough, intelligent detective who wants to be challenged. If you don't like being stumped or getting stuck, then you'll quickly become frustrated. But if you are willing to think hard for several minutes, scratch your head, give up, move on, and then suddenly awaken to the epiphany that cracks a tough challenge, this game is for you.

    The puzzles in The Witness are delightful, and the game has this remarkable way of teaching you piece by piece how to solve challenges without stating any instructions. The challenges are also built into the environment in ways that are extremely clever. (Anyone who thinks this is a mobile game has not played it seriously.) And there's also an air of mystique that comes through, as if the mission of the game has a much deeper spiritual and philosophical meaning.

    I enjoy RPGs, shooters, and adventure games mainly. The Witness is unlike anything I've played before. And it is easily now among my all time favorite games. It made me feel like I did twenty 25 years ago playing The Legend of Zelda, uncovering a secret passage. It is a marvel of brilliant game design. It is full of experiences that touch profundity. It is a truly original work forged with passion and brains that deserves and repays the player's sustained efforts. Try as hard as you can to not look up cheats and spoilers. Sometimes the answers will come easily. Other times they will baffle you. Don't give up. Keep searching. The clues are there, waiting for you to find them, waiting for you to awaken to the mysterious logic and language built into the world of the game.    … Full Review »
  3. maybethatday
    Sep 25, 2016
    10
    It's unfortunate that many people might skip on this game because they think it is a mobile app in a pretty but unnecessary world. And fromIt's unfortunate that many people might skip on this game because they think it is a mobile app in a pretty but unnecessary world. And from the trailer, it's understandable people may think that.

    Though this is not true and anybody who says so did not play for more than an hour. This game needs its 3d environment or else many of its puzzles would either be unsolvable or simply not exist. So why don't the trailers try to explain this? Because unlike say Portal, many of the puzzles are easily spoiled and showing them gives away big answers that could be used to solve other puzzles.

    In The Witness, you are dropped in a open world surrounded by hundreds of puzzles with no instruction on how to solve any of them. This game doesn't want to make you feel smart because it believes that you are smart. The game gets hard, very hard, but solving everything is satisfying and I never felt cheated. As the game is all about rules, rules which aren't ever broken or changed. If you think the game is wrong, you didn't understand the rules that were given.

    Also, know that this game is puzzle after puzzle after puzzle. With very little story, The Witness is only for those who really like puzzles. Each of these puzzles managing to bring in an interesting new concept while building from others. Not a single puzzle out of the 600+ felt repetitive to me. It may sound like it may get old fast, but it doesn't. When I was 40 hours in, 50 hours in, 60 hours in, I was still discovering things that change the way I played and how I looked at its future puzzles. There is so much cool hidden stuff that continued to surprise me, because everything in the game has reasons behind why it exists and why it is where it is.    … Full Review »
See all user reviews »