Why is this game so popular?

[☆AkaAkoVT☆]

Every single thing I've seen of it screams "pretentious and arty" so why the heck is it so popular? Do people really buy it and "enjoy" it juat because it's the popular thing to do? Or is it the same kind of "respect" people have for terrible books like The Lord Of The Flys?

[Catgirl Jessica]

Originally posted by deadlyviper78:

How are ANY of the aforementioned features even REMOTELY "pretentious"? I think I've heard it all. Just wow. The Witness is probably one of the more original and enjoyable games I've played in quite some time. Games of it's ilk come around once every blue moon...

I agree, The Witness is unique, expertly designed, and one of my favorite games ever. That being said, the Gangaji and Rupert Spira video clips are pretty cringy and it was hard to watch them without cracking up laughing. Especially the Rupert Spira one. He talks at like 10 words a minute and still manages to say nothing meaningful, at least not to me. Both speakers talk as if they have some great 'wisdom' to share with the viewer, yet when you listen to it they really aren't saying anything useful. To some, they might sound humble and wise, but to me they give off a vibe of self-importance and that is the definition of pretentious. In IHNN's post, he drew some connection between these clips and the game, which I will accept, but that doesn't change the fact that they're awfully hard to sit through.

[SmithDoc]

I like how games that actually involve 'games' are now pretentious? is chess pretentious? no. you know what's pretentious? $60 corridor shooters that recycle the same gameplay annually. that's pretentious -using graphics to disguise cultural and mental shallowness. 'pretentious' should mean "well, it looks nice, but it's actually trash, upon closer scrutiny" - whereas i think the witness has immense depth designed into every facet of it. this game will literally blow your mind. that's the opposite of pretentious - the witness is gaming as an artform, not art 'pretending' to be gaming.

[Ryles]

Originally posted by SmithDoc:

I like how games that actually involve 'games' are now pretentious? is chess pretentious? no. you know what's pretentious? $60 corridor shooters that recycle the same gameplay annually. that's pretentious -using graphics to disguise cultural and mental shallowness. 'pretentious' should mean "well, it looks nice, but it's actually trash, upon closer scrutiny" - whereas i think the witness has immense depth designed into every facet of it. this game will literally blow your mind. that's the opposite of pretentious - the witness is gaming as an artform, not art 'pretending' to be gaming.

It literally contains art pretending to be gaming in the same way that your post is a paragraph pretending to be intelligent. Just banter, mate.

[Evilous]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZokQov_aH0

[Lunar Bird]

Dude...why do you have a problem with Lord of the Flies? I'm actually curious. Were you forced to read it in highschool or something? Because it's a genuinely good book.

[Smef]

because its a good game