I knew what I was getting into when I bought this game, so I was prepared for an endless stream of line puzzles. Even so, I found The Witness to be an extremely uneven experience.

At its best, I felt smart when solving a puzzle. The rules of most--but not all--puzzle types are adequately conveyed to the player despite the lack of words, but there were still a couple times I got stuck, only to discover that the solution relied on some niche trivia in the ruleset. I disliked when three or more symbol types were present in the same puzzle, since at that point, it's not trying to teach you anything new or show off some elegant solution--it's trying to challenge you, and you know you can solve it but it'll be a slog to figure out, especially because the reward is always meager.

I enjoyed the nonlinearity of the experience, though perhaps unlocking areas would have felt satisfying. The Witness takes advantage of modern game engines and computing power to do some truly unique things with shadow, specular and diffuse reflection, tinting, and perspective. Areas involving these are far and away the strongest, and areas that simply rely on line puzzle symbol mechanics are the weakest. The final area is a gauntlet of rejected line puzzle gimmicks, which I wasn't fond of at all.

The island itself is nice enough, and I like the pastel color scheme. However, the environment lacks a certain amount of depth--it's just there, and you'll only ever be opening doors or unlocking stairways as its creator intended. The story is mostly nonexistent, which is fine, but there are hints of story elements that are unsatisfactorily addressed.

I would give The Witness a neutral score if I could. I respect the game, but ultimately, the line puzzles overstay their welcome, and there aren't quite enough game engine-related puzzles to make up for it.

I knew what I was getting into when I bought this game, so I was prepared for an endless stream of line puzzles. Even so, I found The Witness to be an extremely uneven experience. At its best, I felt smart when solving a puzzle. The rules of most--but not all--puzzle types are adequately conveyed to the player despite the lack of words, but there were still a couple times I got stuck, only to discover that the solution relied on some niche trivia in the ruleset. I disliked when three or more symbol types were present in the same puzzle, since at that point, it's not trying to teach you anything new or show off some elegant solution--it's trying to challenge you, and you know you can solve it but it'll be a slog to figure out, especially because the reward is always meager. I enjoyed the nonlinearity of the experience, though perhaps unlocking areas would have felt satisfying. The Witness takes advantage of modern game engines and computing power to do some truly unique things with shadow, specular and diffuse reflection, tinting, and perspective. Areas involving these are far and away the strongest, and areas that simply rely on line puzzle symbol mechanics are the weakest. The [spoiler]final area[/spoiler] is a gauntlet of rejected line puzzle gimmicks, which I wasn't fond of at all. The island itself is nice enough, and I like the pastel color scheme. However, the environment lacks a certain amount of depth--it's just there, and you'll only ever be opening doors or unlocking stairways as its creator intended. The story is mostly nonexistent, which is fine, but there are hints of story elements that are unsatisfactorily addressed. I would give The Witness a neutral score if I could. I respect the game, but ultimately, the line puzzles overstay their welcome, and there aren't quite enough game engine-related puzzles to make up for it.