Few titles attempt to offer such deep metaphysical reflection as The Witness. Certainly, The Talos Principle can boast of touching on these kinds of questions, but it is much more explicit. The Witness is a hated title: its progression, asceticism and lack of interfaces put off the average player. In an age of linear, guided progression – even in 'open worlds' – the title takes the edge off all reflexes. Our avatar, whose only shadow is visible, wakes up on a dense island and has to solve an endless series of puzzles, without being given any goal. Solving these circuits and frustration are our only rewards. Our quest for the hidden truth of the island is vanity of vanities. The rules accumulate with experience, but there is never anything new under the sun: experience does not give access to the truth, only to what we personally wish to gain from it. Often, as I solved the most difficult riddles, the words of Ecclesiastes came to mind: "I have applied my heart to know wisdom, and to know foolishness and folly; I have realised that this too is the chasing of the wind. For with much wisdom there is much sorrow, and he who increases his knowledge increases his pain." Would the truth be to overcome this pain, not by triumphing over it, but by embracing it all and the present moment? Hubris is that of wanting to solve everything instantly. It is an ambitious message, especially in a video game. The misfortune is that it is sometimes eroded by the very principle that it is a video game. I won't go back to the discontent and harsh criticisms of a part of the public: they are understandable. It is important to point out that certain types of puzzles are not very elegant and prevent a certain part of the public from playing: the greenhouse and the coloured puzzles are not accessible to people with visual problems; the jungle and the bird songs cause problems for people with hearing difficulties. I myself was thrown off by the strangeness of the field of view and the movements, which often made me feel sick. So, The Witness is a unique experience and it colours itself differently for each person and with the passage of time. Despite the sometimes annoying technical flaws, the boldness of the concept and its fine realisation deserve some laurels.

Reviewed on Sep 10, 2022


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