News

The Witness is available now for Xbox One

Jonathan Blow's Game of the Year contender runs $40.

September 13, 2016 4:06 PM

Developer Thekla has released The Witness for Xbox One (via GameSpot). This version rounds out the PC and PS4 editions, released to widespread acclaim earlier this year.

The Witness costs $40 on Xbox One, and will consume just under 4.5GB on your hard drive. You can buy it using this Xbox.com store link.

Jonathan Blow's latest masterpiece evokes shades of 1993's Myst point-and-click sensation. The Witness is set on an island packed with puzzles, and like Cyan's adventure, you're free to wander around and try any puzzle that strikes your fancy for the most part.

Former Shacknews editor Ozzie Mejia gave The Witness a 7/10 when he reviewed it earlier this year, stating, "The Witness is an intentionally simple game to grasp, but enjoyment almost feels proportional to patience. These puzzles are absolute brain-breakers, so anyone that doesn't have the patience for them will get no enjoyment out of The Witness. I was certainly on the verge of being one of those people, but exploring the sheer beauty of the island and learning more about its central mystery turned out to make returning worthwhile."

David Craddock

Long Reads Editor

David L. Craddock writes fiction, nonfiction, and grocery lists. He is the author of the Stay Awhile and Listen series, and the Gairden Chronicles series of fantasy novels for young adults. Outside of writing, he enjoys playing Mario, Zelda, and Dark Souls games, and will be happy to discuss at length the myriad reasons why Dark Souls 2 is the best in the series. Follow him online at davidlcraddock.com and @davidlcraddock.

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September 13, 2016 4:06 PM

David Craddock posted a new article, The Witness is available now for Xbox One
- boarder2
  
   reply
  September 13, 2016 6:46 PM
  
  So did this game have staying power for many people? I bought it when it was on sale a little while back. Played for a couple days, got past some shack on the beach then to a rock formation with multiple levels and stuff that was hard and stopped. Haven't even launched it once since then and have pretty much no desire to.
  - bigimp
    
     reply
    September 13, 2016 7:08 PM
    
    Played it till I "finished" it. Not 100% of puzzles (especially not all the insane ones after the main puzzles), but enough to complete the story thing, and a lot more than that as well (from semi-distant memory, I think I did over 95% of the main puzzles and unlocked 50% of the movies).
    
    Anyway, haven't played it in many months, but definitely enjoyed it when I played it.
  - dopefish
    
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    September 13, 2016 11:48 PM
    
    I thought it was fantastic
  - Kub666
    
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    September 14, 2016 12:02 AM
    
    I played it a lot until I finished it, and then some for this crazy trophy. After I got that I was finished with the game. I could hunt for the hidden puzzles still, to get all the monoliths working, but it was too tedious for me. Still, playing it was an amazing experience.
  - trelain
    
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    September 14, 2016 12:17 AM
    
    Consumed my life for a month or two. Finished it and thought it was brilliant.
  - Capcom Announcer
    
     reply
    September 14, 2016 4:29 AM
    
    Platinumed it. GOTY.
  - Conan
    
     reply
    September 14, 2016 4:31 AM
    
    I played through it, completed it, thoroughly explored the optional stuff and thoroughly enjoyed it.
    
    But given it's a fixed set of puzzles I'm not really going to revisit it until it's been long enough that the experience is fresh again.
  - jet-poop
    
     reply
    September 14, 2016 6:58 AM
    
    I'm with you. I played a bit, it's not bad, but the puzzles don't give me that "I'M A GENIUS" feeling that I get from getting past a challenge in most puzzle games, and there's no narrative carrot to pull me through the boring bits
    - [deleted] 1526492478
      
       reply
      September 14, 2016 7:03 AM
      
      [deleted]
      - at0micgarden
        
         reply
        September 14, 2016 7:07 AM
        
        A better approach is to find a basic puzzle that informs solutions for more complex puzzles.
    - boarder2
      
       reply
      September 14, 2016 8:38 AM
      
      Yeah, that's a good way to describe it. There wasn't any sense of accomplishment. Yep, beat that one, on to the next which will probably be harder. Meh.
- CrustaR
  
   reply
  September 14, 2016 6:30 AM
  
  WITNESS ME, CRADDOCK!!!