miffy495 Posted July 19, 2016 So I bought this on the last Steam sale and just started it today. I would have kicked it off right at the start of summer, but I wanted to give my brain a break by playing through Doom first. I'm about 2 hours in now and have activated 2 lasers and found 5 +s. Holy everloving fuck this game is great. I successfully avoided spoilers to this point, so am going in green. I have finished the symmetry zone and the greenhouse, and feel like I'm close to finishing the area where the tree carvings block out your path. When I got to the broken part of the elevator in the greenhouse, I said out loud "Wait a minute. Does it want me to just imagine what the blocks would look like if the lighting were what it is on the next floor?" took a guess, and made the elevator take me to the top. I have never felt smarter in my 28 years on this planet than when that happened. I have the Giant Bomb "We Play The Witness With Jonathan Blow" video downloaded to my tablet for when I get to whatever I consider my "end" point, an am very excited to eventually hear what he has to say about all of this. This game is phenomenal. I'm sorry that I waited six months to play it, but also very glad that I held off on starting until I was on vacation so I have loads of time to obsess over it. I ordered a 1070 a few days ago, and it's weird to think that the game I use to break it in is going to be this super sedate puzzle game, but here we are. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dewar Posted July 19, 2016 That interview completely stripped away all the internet BS that's built up around him and made me realize he's an incredibly smart guy that just has difficulties relating to people sometimes, and that's something that hits really close to home. i can't wait until he announces what's next. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thainatos Posted July 22, 2016 Some of his lectures on the internet are pretty relevant to that interview. There's one where he talks about game design respecting the player's time and intelligence that I really like. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
atte Posted January 21, 2017 I really liked this interview/discussion. They talk about the broader themes and ideas behind the game in a way I hadn't really heard before. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Latrine Posted January 22, 2017 Yeah, the discussion of the philosophical/spiritual stuff in the game was really interesting. Hadn't seen that really covered anywhere else and I never bothered to look up myself who the people in those clips were. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Twig Posted January 22, 2017 Ooooh I'm looking forward to listening to this! Thanks for pointing it out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sucks2Bme Posted January 25, 2017 Should i wait to watch these vids until I finish the game? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
osmosisch Posted January 25, 2017 They get pretty spoilery but it's mostly abstract. My favourite bit is where the interviewer says that he felt Jon told him a joke via a series of puzzles, because I had that exact experience and it's amazing that humans can do such a thing via such an abstract series of interactions. I'll probably never finish the game but I am continually in awe of it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Moosferatu Posted January 25, 2017 It's a great interview. Thanks for sharing. I love this game so much. I think I'll start playing it again. Hopefully it doesn't still make me motion sick, its achilles heel. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Latrine Posted January 25, 2017 5 hours ago, osmosisch said: They get pretty spoilery but it's mostly abstract. My favourite bit is where the interviewer says that he felt Jon told him a joke via a series of puzzles, because I had that exact experience and it's amazing that humans can do such a thing via such an abstract series of interactions. I'll probably never finish the game but I am continually in awe of it. That was one part that I didn't get. What part of the game is that referring to? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
osmosisch Posted January 25, 2017 I definitely laughed out loud in several places, like some of the sound puzzles, or some of the cases where I had been led to believe one of the mechanisms worked differently than it did, tried to use a classic solution and it didn't work. There's a very dry sense of humour at work that tickles me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Latrine Posted January 26, 2017 Okay yeah, I can see that. I didn't really take those moments literally as "jokes" intended to make you laugh but more as a cute way of poking at the player with new challenges that subvert expectations. I certainly smiled at some of those moments. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sucks2Bme Posted February 16, 2017 I don't know if this video has been posted in this thread, but this might be my favorite video about a Video game ever. Also, spoilers Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
osmosisch Posted February 16, 2017 Wonderful video, thanks for posting it. Somehow those 20 seconds of nothing near the end were something I dearly needed, really brightened my mood. For all Mr. Blow's twattiness in some dimensions, he's definitely made some excellent games, with actual meaning for those that seek it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Trip Hazard Posted February 16, 2017 9 hours ago, osmosisch said: For all Mr. Blow's twattiness in some dimensions, he's definitely made some excellent games, with actual meaning for those that seek it. Couldn't agree more with this statement. I don't always agree with his politics, but the brilliance of his games cannot be denied Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sucks2Bme Posted February 16, 2017 2 hours ago, Trip Hazard said: Couldn't agree more with this statement. I don't always agree with his politics, but the brilliance of his games cannot be denied I guess. The Witness has blown me away (just finished the challenge room!) but I still fail to see how Braid is particularly brilliant, but I am open to be convinced Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Twig Posted February 16, 2017 This video is fucking good hahahaha. I'm dead. The little notifications for emails and messenger are so good. I'd meant to watch it a while ago, but it completely slipped my mind. THANKS FOR REMINDING ME. Ahhh. Christ I love this game a lot. I'm also onboard with "don't really agree with everything he has to say (and sometimes very much disagree)". He can be wrong, and even be a dick. I also think he should just get off Twitter. He's a very long-winded individual, for better or worse... Definitely worse, on Twitter. Also, I think this game has a reputation for attempting to explicitly express one point of view, and that's not really deserved, or true. But whatever!!! I hope another video game will one day make me feel like The Witness did. It's not my favorite game (although it is definitely, definitely up there), but mostly it was very unique for me. I can't name another game that made me feel like this one. I wish there was more. Maybe some day I can play it again and it'll be like new. ): Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dium Posted February 17, 2017 That's a great video. I really enjoyed that video. Here's a bonus video of stray obvservations and more review-ey criticism that he made, also worth a watch: I'm with Twig, The Witness aint perfect and I can certainly list things I don't like about it, but no video game has left the same kind of impression on me in years. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Latrine Posted April 19, 2017 I just got around to seeing The Unbearable Now video and rushed here to share it only to see it's already been shared. Cool cool cool. Definitely my favorite analysis of The Witness. (Although unfortunately what prompted this was Danielle made a video for Waypoint that may be my least favorite analysis of the Witness. Fortunately, someone recommend this one in the comments of that one and made my day.) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gormongous Posted April 20, 2017 1 hour ago, Latrine said: I just got around to seeing The Unbearable Now video and rushed here to share it only to see it's already been shared. Cool cool cool. Definitely my favorite analysis of The Witness. (Although unfortunately what prompted this was Danielle made a video for Waypoint that may be my least favorite analysis of the Witness. Fortunately, someone recommend this one in the comments of that one and made my day.) Danielle's slow transformation into a content factory in miniature for grudgingly love/hate analyses of The Witness has been one of the oddest outcomes of her time at Waypoint. We have Why 'The Witness' is a Rewardingly Painful Exercise in Frustration and 'The Witness' is a Beautiful Game with a Shitty Attitude and 'The Witness' is the Worst Teacher's Pet, plus a rant every time it comes up on Waypoint Radio (and Idle Weekend before that) and more than one tweet where she recommends other people's analyses of the game but adds in her gripes lest people think that she likes The Witness or something... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Latrine Posted April 20, 2017 1 minute ago, Gormongous said: Danielle's slow transformation into a content factory in miniature for grudgingly love/hate analyses of The Witness has been one of the oddest outcomes of her time at Waypoint. We have Why 'The Witness' is a Rewardingly Painful Exercise in Frustration and 'The Witness' is a Beautiful Game with a Shitty Attitude and 'The Witness' is the Worst Teacher's Pet, plus a rant every time it comes up on Waypoint Radio (and Idle Weekend before that) and more than one tweet where she recommends other people's analyses of the game but adds in her gripes lest people think that she likes The Witness or something... To play devil's advocate here, it's just like her opinion man. Sure an opinion can be mind-bogglingly wrong (as is painfully the case here) but it seems to me to be an honestly held opinion and her job is to share her honestly held opinions. Some might say that it's an intentionally controversial opinion serving as clickbait but I think she's been so forthright here that it can't possibly be the case. She's joining the proud tradition of vocal video game crazies like Tom Chick, Ben Kuchera, and Rowan Kaiser and I for one am glad to see the gender barrier on bad video game opinions finally broken. To those who dare to hate with flair, I salute you! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gormongous Posted April 20, 2017 23 minutes ago, Latrine said: To play devil's advocate here, it's just like her opinion man. Sure an opinion can be mind-bogglingly wrong (as is painfully the case here) but it seems to me to be an honestly held opinion and her job is to share her honestly held opinions. Some might say that it's an intentionally controversial opinion serving as clickbait but I think she's been so forthright here that it can't possibly be the case. She's joining the proud tradition of vocal video game crazies like Tom Chick, Ben Kuchera, and Rowan Kaiser and I for one am glad to see the gender barrier on bad video game opinions finally broken. To those who dare to hate with flair, I salute you! Haha, it's more that I groan every time someone mentions The Witness on Waypoint Radio because I know Danielle's going to have to get in one jab, at least, about how it's a mean game for snobs. Sometimes she holds out for a couple minutes, but I'm in the forties in my listen-through and she hasn't managed to let it pass once yet. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Latrine Posted April 20, 2017 Groaning is a part of life. I think I learned that from playing The Witness. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
