First Look PS4 #1

The Witness by Thekla, Inc (2016) - PS4

I'm often a bit wary of games that require more than perfunctory use of one's grey matter, chiefly, I suspect, because I have little in the way of processing power in that area, but when an offering is free as this one was last year from the PlayStation Store, I'm more than happy to give them a go. For a few minutes, at least, until I get stuck (chortle!). The Witness is a puzzle game but it definitely doesn't have much in common with the shape/colour matching games that we generally think about when people say 'puzzle games' which, let's face it, aren't really puzzle games at all. No, this one is an actual puzzle game, and a mighty challenging one at that, which puts the player in the shoes of an unnamed human (or at least humanoid) who we'll call Grimpleforth.

Since we have no idea what species Gimpleforth is, never mind what gender (if any), I will invent some ple/plum pronouns for when I refer to plum. Upon being violated by the player, ple is found in a spooky metal tunnel. There's no backstory for plum or anything, ple just has to emerge from the tunnel, explore and try to work out what the frack is going on. The game appears to be a first-person action/adventure at first but it soon becomes clear that Grimpleforth is trapped within a walled area of some sort. To escape, ple must find various panels around the landscape and solve the puzzles presented thereon. Most of these are grid-based, often featuring symbols as well, and usually involve tracing a path from one point to another. There is one drawback, however.

Namely, that there aren't any direct objectives or instructions on how to do this, so it's down to you to work out. And herein lies the problem for intellectually-inept oafs like myself. That said, I managed to succeed in helping Grimpleforth escape plus initial imprisonment. Solving one of the puzzle panels, you see, often provides power to the next which you can find by following the now-illuminated power cable, although other panels are sometimes arranged in rows of increasing difficulty as well, and the odd solitary panel may be found here and there too. It doesn't take too long to discover that (minor spoiler alert!) Grimpleforth is trapped on an island with panels or groups of panels dotted all over it. Presumably (hopefully) ple will find out why ple is trapped there if ple solves them all.

Happily, with a few exceptions, the game does ease you in (giggity) with regards to the complexity of the puzzles but I did, inevitably, get stuck eventually, which is why this post is a 'First Look' and not a full review, but I played it for a few hours before that and was very impressed. The visuals are truly gorgeous, featuring lovely colourful trees and grassy areas with the odd building between them. The audio is less impressive due to the absence of music, though this may be intentional to create and sustain the mysterious atmosphere the game excels at, but it's the puzzles that make or break games like this and, though occasionally frustrating, they are creative and superbly realised. I kind of feel guilty I got it free too, as it's well worth buying. A fantastic and original game.

RKS Score: 4/5