Recent reviews by 5ro4

Genuinely endearing, original and with better combats than most JRPGs even if you don't fight.

The Witness is pretty much "The Puzzle Game", in a too literal way.

Most of the game consist in a series of puzzles that progress in this fashion:

1.- Solve a puzzle so simple that's almost impossible to fail, not really understanding it.
2.- Solve a variation of the same puzzle, now deducing what's the rule that makes the solution valid.
3.- Apply it to a more complicated version of the same puzzle.
4.- This next puzzle seems impossible to solve. Re-evaluate your assumptions and find out the twist in how the rule can be applied.
5.- More complicated version of the same puzzle.

And some times:

6.- A new rule is introduced. You don't know how it works and it's hard to deduce. Go find the tutorial progression for that rule in another part of the island.

Most puzzles are pretty cool and make your brain click a lot. However, some times you'll find an isolated puzzle that combines ~3 rules and ~7 conditions in a complicated way that crosses the line of what you can mentally solve, making a direct deduction of the solution impossible and forcing you to consider every partial solution you can think of and try out combinations until you find out a valid one that satisfies every rule and meets every condition. It's not so bad that you can't find the solution if you insist for a while (probably), but it will be out of spite or pride, not because you are really enjoying it. Luckily, these are the exception, not the norm.

Sadly, the final series of puzzles before the ending is pretty underwhelming, with puzzles that are either a complicated mix of previous rules or a not so complicated puzzle presented in an obnoxious way, like the it will be moving, spinning, changing color, or you can only see one section of the puzzle at a time, basically forcing you to draw them on a piece of paper and solving them there.

There's also a fair share of environmental puzzles in which you don't have to logically deduce the solution but to find it or reveal it using the environment in different and imaginative ways. These are generally cool, but in some instances they walk a bit too close to the edge of BS or plain obnoxiousness.

There are also some optional patterns that can be found and activated through the island. Making things align to reveal some of them is really cool, but trying to find them all is probably a lunatic path paved with patience and frustration.

Maybe the most disappointing thing is that the island itself serves little to no purpose. There's no interesting interconexion between areas, no substantial change, no big reveal. There are panels with puzzles, solving those puzzles get you access to more panels, and some times you activate a bridge that let's you reach even more panels.

There's barely a hint of a story, not enough to even understand what the title is referring to (if it's actually referring to anything) but enough to make you miss a proper one. The game also tries to convey some messages, but it does so in a confuse and pretentious 2deep4u way in which nothing makes more sense or has more meaning than what you are willing to pretend it does.

Overall, it's a really good puzzle game, almost the perfect puzzle game, but feels like it should have been more.

Overall the best implementation of an interactive narrative yet, even if the story ultimately lefts something to be desired. Really enjoyable.

Puede que la mejor entrega de la saga. Buen juego y buen final.

Really cool game. The exams are awesome and the writing is good enough to not fall sleep like with most VN.

Mismo estilo y calidad que la primera temporada, algo más cinemático y menos intento de aventura gráfica, y el final más flojo y abierto a la S3, pero se disfruta al mismo nivel.

Al principio es muy flipante, pero según avanzas se va volviendo cada vez más irritante. A veces te encuentras con puzles que todavía no puedes resolver, pero no te lo dicen, así que puedes perder el tiempo como un tonto dándole vueltas. Peor aún, hay algún puzle que tiene una solución sencillísima si tienes la habilidad que toca, pero si no la tienes también se puede resolver de otra forma, solo que ejecutarla es de lo más tedioso (pero no sabes que te falta una habilidad, así que crees que esa es la solución buena). Navegar por el mapa es muy confuso por razones obvias y controlar los cubos que lanzas para construir cosas en 3D puede ser un infierno. Cuánto más te acercas al final más momentos hay en los que no sabes a dónde ir o qué se supone que tienes que hacer, y pierdes tiempo deambulando y repitiendo puzles buscando dónde se esconde el siguiente.

Lo recomiendo porque al final es màs bien que mal, y las partes buenas y cómo juega con el entorno y la perspectiva es muy chulo. Tiene esos momentos frustantes y confusos que lo empeoran bantante y rompen la confianza en el juego, pero sigue valiendo la pena, especialmente si ya vas avisado.

Está entretenido y no hace falta ser fan del Dota o haber jugado para entenderlo.

A very short and original experience. Highly recommended.

Super Meat Boy pero con musicote. A veces muy hijo de puta, pero al final se consigue sin tener que dedicarle tu vida ni partirte las muñecas. Me ha durado algo menos de 4h y el nivel en el que más veces he muerto han sido 77, sin contar el mundo extra, que no lo he desbloqueado y no se si me atrevo a intentarlo.

Te hace sentir muy ninja.