Kolzig

The Witness by Jonathan Blow

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Haha, oh man those Youtube comments:

 

At first I was all pumped because it looked like it was going to be some epic RPG in the style of Elder Scrolls, etc. ...and then instead it's about solving pseudo-mazes on sign posts or something? Dafuq, yo'.

 

Why.. why was he expecting it to be an epic RPG? Dafuq, yo.

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Vegetation means RPG. Why else would you be running around in nature, if not to gain XP and find chests and shit?

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I'm not that excited by the art style. Dear Esther set my standard for remote islands realllly high. The stuff shown in the demo looks really plain. The puzzles... I can't tell at all what they're about, which is probably the point, but is also making it difficult to form an opinion.

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Neat, I hope the island is interesting to explore (so, also stuff you can find besides puzzles).

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I like the art style, not sure if I'll enjoy the game, but visually it looks like a high-res Proteus, hehe.

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I get a big Myst-vibe from the game, and i do like Myst.

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I like the art style, not sure if I'll enjoy the game, but visually it looks like a high-res Proteus, hehe.

 

IMO Proteus has a really unique impressionistic style that's much more aesthetically interesting than what I've seen of Witness so far. Witness seems stuck between abstraction and realism, and judging from trailers, succeeds at neither.

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I think we're only seeing a very early portion of the game. 25 hours in a relatively small world? I'd imagine the island will take on some transformation during the game, no doubt a day/night cycle, maybe lens that'll let you view the world in an entirely different light. No doubt there'll be an aha moment when we realise the island isn't an island at all and we're actually inside the fucking cube chipping away from the inside.

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Oh there will undoubtedly be an Aha moment. I believe Blow has, in fact, distilled the essence of Aha into this game.

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After Sony saw The Witness, they just had to take it on.

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It totally looks like Morten Harket was urinating when the photographer called his name. Also, how can that knee be there?

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What's the exclusivity window on PS4 again?  Is it a "console exclusive" or will PC be severely delayed?

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I have no idea about release dates, all that's been said is that it's coming next year. Blow says it himself at the end of the video, so I guess it's a 'it's done when it's done'. Not sure if there is any console exclusivity on not. it's also coming out on iPad, but I would imagine that version would come later. Who knows

Edit, oh it's actually written in the article

which will make its debut exclusively on the PS4 sometime in the first half of next year.

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Console exclusive, in that it won't be on Xbox One until a while later. It'll still come out on PC the same day as the PS4 version comes out.  :tup:

 

Source: Jonathan Blow  "You will see the game on the PlayStation 4 for a while before you will see it on the Wii U or the rumored next Microsoft console... This exclusivity does not prevent us from being on the PC or iOS at launch, for example

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Right, that is familiar.  I think he was on the bombcast at E3 saying similar.  But "does not prevent" still leaves some room.  It may be worth focusing on a single platform for launch.

 

I really want to play this with a VR headset.

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fyi: he says pc and ps4 simultaneous near the end of this interview
edit: this auto video embed thing doesn't like gametrailers links? this interview

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I think this looks spectacular. The puzzle design seems like it even has great learning game possibilities for a wide audience.

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Coming to VR goggles

http://the-witness.net/news/2014/01/what-that-vr-post-was-about/

Also, nice write up of valves VR headset which blow links too

http://www.3delement.com/?p=332

In my brain the witness has been the flagship VR title, even if Blow himself wasn't convinced until very recently. Ever since first seeing the game around the same time VR started to get traction I wanted to experience the witness in VR. Annoyingly the VR version will probably come a lot later than the games initial release?

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