The Witness

 Xbox One
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

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  1. revenant221
    Apr 9, 2018
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The game is essentially a maze book you'd buy from an airport store to kill time between flights but instead of flipping to the next page to get to the next puzzle, you walk around a pretty landscape.

    The art style is very similar to Zelda: Breath of the Wild so that's a huge positive. Looks clean, vibrant and I never had any frame rate drops or other issues. I got a Myst "vibe" from the game in that you're walking around a seemingly abandoned, silent island with different puzzles to solve that, in turn, play their own part in solving a bigger mystery.

    But all throughout playing it I couldn't shake the feeling that this game was just a generic maze book you'd buy for a few bucks to pass the time between connecting flights at an airport. The mazes are definitely challenging so if you like good puzzles, I'd definitely recommend it. But if you're looking for anything more than a conglomeration of puzzles where you walk from puzzle to puzzle instead of turning a page or hitting "next," then I think you'll be highly disappointed. They incorporate some of the aspects of the world into solving some of the puzzles but overall they just seem derivative. "How do we make a maze harder? Make it so you can't see where your line is! Need some more challenge? Make it so you need to look through different colored panes of glass to reveal the correct path!" It feels as if the devs really wanted to make a really good maze game (which they did) and then realized that not many people will buy a game of mazes, let alone for more than $10 so they created an island for you walk around on in an attempt to make it seem like it's more than a maze game.

    Most of the challenge of the game ultimately comes down to how quickly you realize which item in the open world corresponds to the maze. Once you realize that the maze (and most of the mazes around it) reference the same object, they become child's play. For example [SPOILERS], there's a group of mazes in an apple orchard. As soon as you realize the puzzle solution is based off of a tree that has an apple on one branch, it just becomes tracing the tree branch on your maze...and the next 5 mazes too. So it's just looking at a tree, tracing, going to the next, looking at the tree, tracing, etc. Another, requires you to box alike colors together before reaching the end of the maze. The next step up from this is to use colored panes of glass to view the maze so that the correct colors are showing. My points is that most of the ideas the devs came up with the make the mazes harder seem like things that were just spit out during a random brainstorming session: "Ok, how can we make a maze, one of the oldest types of puzzles in human society, and make it a bit more challening? Ooh! Have the solution be tracing an object in the open world! Have a pane of glass show the solution if you look through it!" None of the ideas struck me as organic or even original.

    It's not a bad game, it just isn't much more than a $5 book with a pretty picture. If you go into the game knowing that solving top-down mazes is 99.9% of what you are doing here then you will most likely enjoy your experience. But if you're going into it thinking it'll be anything remotely similar to other puzzle games with "open worlds" like Portal, then you'll be highly disappointed. The open world is not even close to being necessary and only serves as a pretty lobby to walk around in between solving mediocre mazes.    … Expand
  2. jeffbizloc
    Aug 7, 2017
    6
    This is a puzzle game but was a little to obtuse for me. I had to look up a lot of solutions - I wasn't very patient most are solvable. Overall I felt time remorse when playing it as there didn't seem like there were "rewards" for solving puzzles and a lot of the puzzles could of been done on a tablet.

    Pros: - Solid visuals - Most puzzles are interesting and solvable Cons: -    This is a puzzle game but was a little to obtuse for me. I had to look up a lot of solutions - I wasn't very patient most are solvable. Overall I felt time remorse when playing it as there didn't seem like there were "rewards" for solving puzzles and a lot of the puzzles could of been done on a tablet.

    Pros:
    - Solid visuals
    - Most puzzles are interesting and solvable

    Cons:
    - Some puzzles were too obtuse
    - The "rules" for solving puzzles weren't always clear to me
    - Lifeless environment    … Expand
  3. 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 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 ofAs 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.… Expand
  4. 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 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    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 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.    … Expand
  5. 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 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,The 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.    … Expand
  6. MrTusks
    Feb 28, 2019
    2
    Don't believe the comparisons: it's not at all like Myst. There is no story and no atmosphere, and the setting is completely incidental to the rest of the game. The entire thing is solving puzzles like the ones you might find in a cheap newsprint book from the dollar store. In fact, the only similarity to Myst is how some of the puzzles can be so absurdly obtuse that you don't understandDon't believe the comparisons: it's not at all like Myst. There is no story and no atmosphere, and the setting is completely incidental to the rest of the game. The entire thing is solving puzzles like the ones you might find in a cheap newsprint book from the dollar store. In fact, the only similarity to Myst is how some of the puzzles can be so absurdly obtuse that you don't understand the solutions even after you cheat and look them up.

    And you might enjoy that! But I didn't. At some point you, like me, may hit a wall. If you do, don't feel bad about giving up.

    Edit: I'm reading reviews from other places and I was pleasantly surprised to see other people using the word "obtuse," so I feel like writing a little more about that. It's very easy to dismiss a game as "too hard," and also to dismiss a critic as "too stupid." And I admit, I lost patience for the demands of this game. But how patient do I have to be with a game that does such a poor job of telling me its own rules? And when you think you learn the rules, the next puzzle will seem to violate them. And then rules will stack upon rules, overlap each other, cancel each other out. The puzzles go beyond all reasonable permutations of their various rules in a joyless trudge. The only thing you have to look forward to is another puzzle, and the only thing you feel after completing one is relief. When does a game stop being challenging and start being sadistic? Or worse, boring? Maybe if Jonathan Blow published a companion treatise outlining his thought processes while building the puzzles we'd have a chance. It feels as though, overall, the game and its creators want you to be impressed with how smart they are, and how smart you must be if you can match wits with them.

    And that leads me to the next word I saw in a lot of reviews, one I initially left out of mine: pretension. One thing the game "rewards" you with--indeed, they're the only things you actually "find"--are audio recordings and videos of scientific and philosophical musings. They do not advance gameplay, such as it is. They do not flesh out a world or a story, because there are no bones to put them on. No, they are simply there to lend a false air of intellectualism to a bunch of f***ing line puzzles.

    The game wants desperately to be smarter and deeper than it is.    … Expand
  7. AlbertPonty
    Apr 1, 2018
    3
    I got a headache playing this :v let´s wait come AC Syndicate on Live Gold, ´cause I don´t play this anymore
  8. thedaarkbatty
    Sep 21, 2016
    0
    Most boring game I have ever played. I plaed it for 15 minutes and got bored almost right away. There is littetally nothing remotely good about this garbage.
  9. osprey
    Apr 9, 2017
    5
    This game is neither a 10 nor a 0 in my opinion. First of all the environments are beautiful and at first the puzzles are fun and interesting and I particularly loved the environmental ones. As the game continues and you come upon more and more multiple panels of puzzles and frustratingly slow bridges and boat rides you start to get annoyed. Then after labouring through all this you areThis game is neither a 10 nor a 0 in my opinion. First of all the environments are beautiful and at first the puzzles are fun and interesting and I particularly loved the environmental ones. As the game continues and you come upon more and more multiple panels of puzzles and frustratingly slow bridges and boat rides you start to get annoyed. Then after labouring through all this you are tortured and timed and in the end you get two endings, both of them pretentious in my view. I went from loving to hating this game and I imagine quite a few people were left feeling this way. To the ones who loved it I get it, I just didn't have that experience.… Expand
  10. Broyax
    Apr 2, 2018
    0
    Alors, l'étron indé du jour est un "jeu" (?) qui consiste à résoudre des **** labyrinthes en traçant des traits pour débloquer des interrupteurs qui actionnent l'ouverture de portes et comme il existe de nombreux interrupteurs pour chacune des putains de portes (et de grilles), on comprend aisément que le développeur se targue de proposer rien moins que 500 labyrinthes dans son étron deAlors, l'étron indé du jour est un "jeu" (?) qui consiste à résoudre des **** labyrinthes en traçant des traits pour débloquer des interrupteurs qui actionnent l'ouverture de portes et comme il existe de nombreux interrupteurs pour chacune des putains de portes (et de grilles), on comprend aisément que le développeur se targue de proposer rien moins que 500 labyrinthes dans son étron de pseudo-jeu à la mords-moi-le-noeud !

    Au fur et à mesure que l'on ouvre les portes, on se balade en vue subjective dans ce "monde" en 4 couleurs criardes et de mauvais goût pour tomber sur d'autres interrupteurs qui ouvrent d'autres putains de portes... Les sons sont aussi minimalistes que l'absence de musique, de voix ou de but ou d'intérêt tout court... ça sert à quoi au juste ? on ne sait pas... ou plutôt si, on en a une très vague idée. Oui, ça sert à que dalle. Ou à perdre son temps et son argent dans ce truc qui est vendu au prix public conseillé de 40 boules !

    Ce n'est même pas un "concept" de jeu vidéo, ni une ébauche, c'est du remplissage de branleurs et du foutage de gueule pur et simple. Mais plus c'est gros et plus ça passe auprès d'une frange très limitée de bobos la bouche en coeur et l'air béat : "c'est de lard", c'est de la couleur sans la couleur, c'est un "génie" ! on se croirait dans le sketch des Inconnus...    … Expand
  11. Tn_Dev
    Mar 13, 2019
    6
    This game is fine. But that's really all it is.
    It has great and interesting puzzles, however, the game is generally a waste of time , most puzzles are easy, movement is slow, and certain puzzles are just impossible to solve and have no general correlation with puzzles that seem to have similar patterns/themes. I never did finish the game, not only because of these impossible puzzles but    This game is fine. But that's really all it is.
    It has great and interesting puzzles, however, the game is generally a waste of time , most puzzles are easy, movement is slow, and certain puzzles are just impossible to solve and have no general correlation with puzzles that seem to have similar patterns/themes. I never did finish the game, not only because of these impossible puzzles but also just from the general slowness of the game. However, the puzzles that didn't insult your intelligence or purposely waste your time were fun to solve and the environments were gorgeous, this game is great to just relax and look at for a while. In all, a great game that was hindered by the developers trying to be pretentious.    … Expand
  12. Magma17
    May 1, 2018
    6
    Uma direção de arte incrível,muito boa para apenas um jogo de Puzzle,mas esses são os únicos destaques do jogo,se você procura uma progressão de level relativamente boa,esqueça,o jogo não te pega pelas mãos,explorar é necessário para achar os painéis de lazer e entender como os puzzles funcionam,demora tempo e é necessário dedicação para passar sem ajuda de um guia.
    é ótimo BASEADO em sua    Uma direção de arte incrível,muito boa para apenas um jogo de Puzzle,mas esses são os únicos destaques do jogo,se você procura uma progressão de level relativamente boa,esqueça,o jogo não te pega pelas mãos,explorar é necessário para achar os painéis de lazer e entender como os puzzles funcionam,demora tempo e é necessário dedicação para passar sem ajuda de um guia.
    é ótimo BASEADO em sua PROPOSTA,mas não agrada a maioria dos jogadores,principalmente pela dificuldade que o jogo proporciona.    … Expand
  13. DKurac
    Jan 5, 2019
    10
    Really great game. I've enjoyed it so much. Also this game has really beautiful visuals I love that colours. Sometimes it took me longer to complete some puzzles but with patience I did it. The hardest part for me was The Challenge I played i so many times but finally did it.
  14. Droubek
    Jan 19, 2018
    9
    One of the best logical/puzzle games I've very played. Clever puzzles that increase in complexity. Despite the fact that they are all based on similar style, the developers managed to squeeze in enough variety so that it keeps one interested.
    The graphics along with the story told in small hints makes the game very enjoyable.
  15. wfsenior
    Jun 29, 2018
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The Witness is one of the best games I have ever played, period.

    This puzzle game is so immersive that I began dreaming about it, and seeing puzzles in my everyday life. Calling it a game feels almost insulting...this feels like a movie...or simply an experience. The creator, Jonathan Blow, is a genius (a term that I don't use lightly). This is his second game following 'Braid' (a game which I haven't played).

    In terms of gameplay, you find yourself in a large tunnel, and as you exit you find yourself on an island. I had no idea quite how enormous the island was, so this is initially rather intimidating. You are told nothing... you have to figure out the secrets of the island that you find yourself on. There are numerous visual puzzles that require solving. The main point of focus is a large mountain, which is one of the first areas I explored...I then came to a realisation as I stared down at the water below...the whole island is a puzzle. By that I mean the puzzles are revealed based on your perspective (based on where you are standing)...It's difficult to explain. But it's so gorgeous. You explore an array of biomes, each with different personalities and an abundance of secrets. Solving a series of puzzles will often unlock a new area, and the final puzzle in an area will activate a laser... Activate enough lasers and you can enter the mountain.

    The attention to detail on the island is immaculate. You have to actually use your brain and dedicate time, which will turn away a lot of individuals. And I think that Jonathan Blow knew this. The island is also very creepy. It is littered with abandoned mobile phones containing religious and poetic voice recordings. And there are statues which look like people turned to stone which leave a pit in my stomach. They are terrifying. They are happy yet frozen. What happened here?

    The toughest moment of this experience is a timed challenge which requires you to solve a series of puzzles whilst 'In The Hall of the Mountain King' (the most tense song ever written) plays...if you pause the game it resets... If you're too slow it resets. The puzzles change each time. There is no possible way to cheat. Essentially, Blow knew that many people would cheat there way through each puzzle, so added this in at the end as a f*ck you to cheaters. You had to master every type of visual puzzle you had learned this far...this took me several days. But the feeling of finally solving this puzzle is so immense.

    The whole game features no soundtrack - only the sound of walking combined with silence... when the game ended I felt cleansed. (Spoiler alert) When I finally completed the final challenge, I was carried back through each biome in a floating box, revisiting each area I had spent so much of my time exploring and solving. Each puzzle resets itself as the lasers retract. The soundscape is so beautiful. This is so peaceful and calming. This ended with me back in the tunnel in which I started, encased in darkness, so that I could play again. It gives the illusion of everything being pointless. But it is very far from it. This is a game that allows you to grow as a person.

    Artistically, this is the best game I've ever played. Never before have I seen a game with so much creative control. Nothing that I say can truly prepare you for The Witness. What did I Witness? I feel as if there's so many secrets and eastereggs that I missed. Everybody will get something different out of this. I recommend this to anybody that is very patient, that is determined, that wants to get a better understanding of themselves and anybody who appreciates the artistry behind video games. I feel nostalgic despite only just completing it. This is very special. 10/10.    … Expand
  16. lordscythe
    Apr 25, 2023
    10
    Best puzzle game of all time. It is something that has to be experienced in order to fully appreciate the grandeur and brilliance of this game. It sounds very elitist to say, but others who have commented along these lines are absolutely correct: this is a game created by intelligent people for intelligent people. For those who appreciate art, philosophy and puzzles in equal measure and ifBest puzzle game of all time. It is something that has to be experienced in order to fully appreciate the grandeur and brilliance of this game. It sounds very elitist to say, but others who have commented along these lines are absolutely correct: this is a game created by intelligent people for intelligent people. For those who appreciate art, philosophy and puzzles in equal measure and if you do appreciate these things I can't think of anything that combines these elements in a more perfect form.… Expand

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

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
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. 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.
    Read full review
  2. 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.
    Read full review
  3. 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.
    Read full review
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