Thekla, Inc. has released The Witness for Xbox One.
In The Witness, you wake up on a strange island full of puzzles to solve. Your character doesn't remember who they are or how they got there. The only thing you do know is that you must make your way off the mysterious island while trying to recover your memories through clues and puzzles. That is about all there is to the storyline in The Witness.
The Witness is only a single-player game but takes place in an open world environment that contains various locations to explore and over 500 intricate puzzles to solve. The game has some intriguing ideas that focuses on non-verbal communication throughout the entire story. Gamers must be aware of their surroundings where they will find clues and audio recordings that give hints on how to solve the various puzzles.
The game is divided into several sections arranged around a towering mountain. Players must reach a gold box in each section by solving all of the puzzles in that area. Once the player has done this then a turret arises and a beautiful beam of light shines toward the top of the mountain. All of the lights must be activated in order to go inside the mountain and reach the final goal in The Witness.
While you have your main objective to follow, The Witness also contains extra puzzles scattered around the island that are available as you reach certain points in the game. If you were to try and solve every puzzle in The Witness, then it could easily take you 800-1,000 hours to complete. That is one good thing that I can say about the witness is that you get a ton of gameplay for your buck.
While the overall concept is intriguing, The Witness isn't a game for just anyone. The complexity of the puzzles in The Witness, and the amount of work it would take to finish everything in the game, is something only a select few die-hard puzzle fans would appreciate. The gameplay can get a little repetitive after a few hours and most of the puzzles can seem very similar.
In the end, The Witness delivers an intricately complex puzzle experience that only a select few hardcore puzzle fans can appreciate. While the soundtrack is superb and the game is very colorful, the other aspects of the game just aren't as impressive as they could be. However, the overall concept and gameplay are very unique and intriguing. If you have been looking for a puzzle game that will challenge you and maybe drive you mad, then The Witness might just be for you.
Reviewed for Xbox One