The Witness Critic Reviews

I'm so caught up inside the world of The Witness that it's hard to think about anything else. It is one of the best games I've ever encountered.

For the most part, its themes weave themselves beautifully throughout the gorgeous world and wide variety of puzzles, but even when it breaks subtlety in favor of a more heavy-handed approach to exposition, it never detracts from the truly fulfilling moments The Witness offers in terms of solving its physical puzzles and unlocking its deepest mysteries.

What truly makes The Witness everything that it is lies somewhere between the fundamentals of the puzzles and the deeply philosophical of everything else. These two work in tandem, complementing each other even when they seem worlds apart. There are so many layers of separation between the two that it's almost impossible to perceive or even conceive. But, they're there, working hand-in-hand and, on some level, one in the same. You'd be hard-pressed to declare that one of these components is closer to defining The Witness than the other.

Although I really liked Blow’s previous game, I just loved this. I became so absorbed in it, and its beauty complements the way it challenges my mind. I like how simply it begins and how complicated it is at the end but that there’s a logical line from those two points. There’s just a lot contained within, and I’m still finding more. I want that for others, too.

The Witness is not only a masterpiece of game design, but one that truly inspires and amazes, without relying on traditional tutorials or restrictive hand-holding. It's one of the few games that truly respects the intelligence of those playing, rather than guiding them through each and every step.

The Witness is a game that will genuinely have you punching the air or laughing out loud, just from correctly drawing a line on a grid. If that isn’t the mark of a truly special game, I don’t know what is.

The intricate puzzles and tantalizing secrets of this starkly gorgeous, mystical island are enough to lose yourself in for dozens of hours.

It’s pretty much the best puzzle game ever created.

Some fans of Blow’s earlier work seem to have been hoping that the mazes they saw in the trailers are just a veneer for a deeper, mind-blowing experience, but really the world and whatever narrative you can find in it are dressing for an incredibly impressive collection of puzzles. Whether or not you find a deeper meaning at the end, the journey will have been worth it. After all, only those who actually enjoy solving the puzzles will make it that far, and even after 41 hours and 358 solved puzzles I’m eager to go back for more.

When I step back and think about The Witness, it is a game that challenged me more than any has before. No matter what though, the challenges were always worth pushing through to find a solution because of the rewards that were hidden behind them. There will be a group of people who love this game for how rewarding it is, and at the same time, there will be a group that loathes it for how frustrating it is. All I know is I fell in the group of the former.

The depth of organic interaction, witnessing the world melt seamlessly into itself, makes for a near perfect experience. The Witness is a constant idea just within reach and then, once you grasp it, a new perspective altogether. It won’t be quick nor easy to solve, but you can’t help but be enraptured by its beauty through every frustration and moment of clarity.

The game's true achievement though is in how it teaches the player its intricacies, with minimal intrusion and subtle hints, allowing for a great feeling of accomplishment when everything clicks into place.

You will struggle, you will curse, you will encounter liars saying they did things 'easily', and you will achieve redemption through completion... eventually.

The Witness is a game that feels impossible for me to sum up as there are still an overwhelming number of secrets for me to discover. At present, all I can tell you is that I’ve found it to be daunting, confounding, maddening, and beautiful– altogether, in that order.

If the combination of a photo realistic world showered in clay isn't enough to persuade you to take a leap of mental faith, The Witness offers so much more than gorgeous visuals. Its puzzles and mysteries are so thoroughly thought through, and its open world so deep and intricate, that I cannot do anything but warmly recommend the game to all curious, adventure-seeking gamers out there.

The Witness gathers an incredible amount of puzzles scattered in an open world that many times surpasses the boundaries of the video game. Even though it's not as climatic as its predecessor, it respects the player as an intelligent being.

An intensely satisfying and stupendously intelligent puzzle game that's incredibly well crafted, making it a very early, yet solid, Game of the Year contender.

You’ll get frustrated, I can guarantee it – but that’s the point. It doesn’t offer tutorials, because the game is confident in your ability to prevail. It’s a treatise on our ability to develop and grow, as we attempt to make sense of the unknown.

A masterpiece. The Witness is an amazing and clever experience, rich in details and love. The game design is simply elegant and the atmosphere is out of this world.

Beautiful and intelligent. The Witness is exactly what we expect from a next-gen puzzle videogame.