THE WITNESS (2016) was an incredible first-person problem solving/puzzle game and existential mystery with beautiful graphics. While there is narrative, it's somewhat well hidden and few and far between. The game really makes you work to unravel the overall mystery.
"You awake on a mysterious island with no goal but to simply traverse the area's multiple landscapes, unlock new pathways and solve all of the puzzles that prevent you from escaping."
There seems to be a lot of puzzles (and puzzles within puzzles) and areas to explore and some of the problems are very challenging, especially in the later areas you come across. Visually the game is hyper vivid, almost surreal in the bright color choices, but also very beautiful and appealing.
Overall this game is very lovely to the eye, filled with many challenging puzzles and encourages perception, perspective and observation in the player in order to solve the presented puzzles. I would recommend for fans of the thought-provoking puzzle genre (such as Portal series, The Talos Principle) and also for fans of walking simulators (Dear Esther, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, What Remains of Edith Finch etc.). Although this is definitely more a puzzle game than it is a full narrative experience, I feel the type of crowd might be similar (Curious, patient, explorative, and experience seeking). This was a really unique game.
STORY: 8/10
GAMEPLAY: 8/10
GRAPHICS: 8/10
ART DESIGN: 9/10
MUSIC: 3/10
OVERALL RATING: 8.
