The Witness

So here's what it is.

The, the, for, for people who aren't, aren't aware of, of this game's history, um, like I said, it's been being worked on basically since The Witness wrapped.

And what it ended up being is Blow, Jonathan Blow's language is game design super collider, uh, which combines the mechanics of four existing independent Sokoban-style box-pushing puzzle games.

It's just a highfalutin way of saying it's a mashup.

As far as I can tell, it's kinda hard to get, uh, that much information about, about the, its, its actual development history.

I know there was some controversy because Jonathan Blow was being so forefronted in the marketing.

And Jonathan Blow, by the way, for, uh, for, I didn't give that context, Braid, The Witness.

Um, uh, he's in, uh, Indie Game: The Movie, one of, one of the three creators profiled.

Because...

This is the witness, right? Yes.

Okay.

I was like, is it the messenger or the witness? The messenger is the sea star.

I wonder if they take any feedback and maybe tweak it to maybe make it a little easier or add a hint system.

I personally doubt it knowing what I know about the witness, but I guess it's an option.

yeah maybe i wouldn't hold my breath for sure because i think like i would say the witness is easier than this and that by itself as a statement is going to scare off a lot of people uh because people think that the witness gets to a point where it's impenetrable and to an extent i i would agree um just get your notebook Yeah, I mean, yes, you sort of do have to at certain points and be like, if I just sketch this out, especially if you walk away from a puzzle, which I would encourage you doing, right? And that to me is the excellence of the game because, and I bring it up in the review, I say it reminded me a lot of Elden Ring.

Because in Elden Ring, you go in one direction just exploring what's over there.

right and you know that guy is not amazing

Yeah, putting aside all that, I was just curious, what is the Jonathan Blow game like? Because I played The Witness.

It's called Order of the Sinking Star.

And it is, as you might

The

puzzles seem very good.

But like The Witness, I feel like it's like trying to do the storytelling that to me, I'm just like,

eh.

Speaking to Famitsu in issue 1965, Okamoto looked back on the series' revival since its, uh, big Silent Hill transmission announcement in October 2022.

With all three initially announced titles now released, he was glad that this opening act went off without a hitch.

"All three titles we initially announced were able to be released successfully, so we're relieved." Uh, and then he laughed about that.

"They've also received high praise, and we are satisfied wist it, wi- with it." He, however, stressed that Konami isn't treating those three releases as the finish line.

"Successfully launching this first wave comes with great relief, b- but, uh, we're not stopping here.

Somebody tell, uh, Duke Mitchum.

Uh, he's gonna be very upset.

Uh, from Chris Scullion at VGC, "The last two games in Leisure Suit Larry series are being de- delisted this month following the deli- delisting of the previous seven titles.

I just, like-

Do you ever play The Witness?

No.

There's w- it's like that.

Yeah, but I got through, I got through, like, 11 of the 12 puzzles, and then time ran out and I was like, "I'm not doing this again." [laughs]

Oh, I would never do that again.

The Witness is a good one too.

It's like a walking sim puzzle sort of thing.

... like games where you explore and you find what you find, and you're as interested as you are, you know.

Um, so like in The Witness also, uh, we don't tell people how many puzzles there are.

[laughs] So you, you get a solve count and that's it.

It's...

But, but the point just being, um, you know, every game is different.

When you make this decision, I want this game to look nice, it's sort of a different decision every time because the, the ramifications of that decision depend on what's in the game, how big is the game.

Is it so The Witness was first person and this is third person, right? And, and does that matter? Yes, it does.

And, um, well, in a game like this where we don't totally understand the game in the beginning, the ramifications of that decision are not even quite clear yet because we don't know what the game is.

... hopefully that makes sense, um, to Tim and others.

Uh, our next email's from Declan from Montreal I recently finished playing Blueprints, Outer Wilds, and The Witness in the past few months.

They are amazing in concept, although I think I am burnt out on these high concept, interconnected true endings.

They seem hit or miss for me, but are GOATs for many.

I think I-- So I've played Outer Wilds, and I've talked about it on the show before, but I, I rate myself a bit as a gritty gamer.

I think that I, I can be quite gritty and dig down and, you know, think, "I'm gonna try this boss again." I'm-- Whether it's a 2D platformer, a 3D action or whatever, I'm quite gritty when it comes to re-attempting those things.

I want to be grittier when it comes to games like Blueprints, Outer Wilds, The Witness.

I want to be able to be that same level of stubborn and be like, "Right, okay, but now I need to lock in and work out how does this link to this?" Because I went into Outer Wilds not being patient enough.