[h2]A Masochistic Puzzle-Solver's Delight[/h2]
The Witness has been sitting in my backlog purgatory for a few years. It's a game I wanted to like. I've played many puzzle-type games like The Talos Principle and feel I have the brain capacity to enjoy these kinds of games.
However, after completing it, I can say that there's too many warts to recommend The Witness to others.
[h3]What Works[/h3]
There are some good aspects. The graphics, for one, are rich, colourful and the simple style allows the game to age gracefully even a decade after release.
The developer(s) also clearly put a lot of thought into crafting the different types of puzzles found across all the island regions, with more than a few being quite clever.
[h3]The Rest - Feels Like Homework[/h3]
Playing the game, however, was not fun.
For one, the volume of puzzles (500+) is insane.
After several hours of completing different puzzles and scratching my head at others due to the lack of explanation of game rules, it all started to blend together and feel like homework; at that point I opted for a walkthrough to cut down on the time commitment and preserve my sanity.
Having more of a story as a supporting framework might have alleviated this and encouraged me to push forward.
[h3]Constant Crashes[/h3]
I have a good PC. The game itself has never been resource-intensive. But, no matter what settings or game version I used, I would encounter crashes throughout, usually at the worst times.
[h3]A Highlight: Post-End Game Challenge[/h3]
Without spoiling too much, I was locked-in for the timed post-game challenge that follows the regular game ending.
After learning the game rules that I had glossed over in my Speedrun, I was able to improve my time and ultimately conquer the challenge.
But, even here, the fun came with an asterisk due to the aforementioned game crashes. I had no idea when they would happen, which made a hard section even harder.
To save myself the agony (and my recommendation to you too if you decide to play), I resorted to a still active glitch near the end of the challenge run.
