Too hard?

[╣T☠T╠ ℳike.littlelegion]

I am all for a puzzle and a decent challenge, but many of the puzzles in this game are so damn hard I have to get the solutions from the internet. You try like 30 things, none of it works, you can't work out the rules of a puzzle so end up just giving up after like 10 minutes.

Anyone else finding this incredibly hard, it just seems like none of the puzzles really have rules you can follow to solving them, and those damned reflection puzzle things in the desert ruins......dear God they are finicky, too hard to get into the required position to see the reflection or the dirty smudge on them, only like 4 of them were possible for me, the rest I just could not see anything and had to resort to cheating.

I only have 4 hours on it so far, so I am wondering if I should return it. I am normally pretty good at somewhat tough puzzle games, it is not like I am a 12 year old COD fanboy or anything, but these puzzles are either too finicky or too obtuse to solve.

I am not saying it is a bad game, it is good, I only wish it wasn't so damn hard. Thoughts?

[Nazemec]

Originally posted by ╣T☠T╠ ℳike.littlelegion:

I am all for a puzzle and a decent challenge, but many of the puzzles in this game are so damn hard I have to get the solutions from the internet. You try like 30 things, none of it works, you can't work out the rules of a puzzle so end up just giving up after like 10 minutes.

You looked at the solution, so you did not really understand the rules by yourself, so you can't apply them perfectly on the next puzzles, so you looked at the next solution, and so on... That's why you feel the game is incredibly hard. The game isn't childishly easy, but it isn't excruciatingly hard either if you actually understand the rules the game tries to teach you. I think you simply missed the point of the game. :-/

And all of this about one specific puzzle mechanic which may be the least used one in the game... Try other areas, but don't cheat this time.

[eys]

Originally posted by ╣T☠T╠ ℳike.littlelegion:

I am all for a puzzle and a decent challenge, but many of the puzzles in this game are so damn hard I have to get the solutions from the internet. You try like 30 things, none of it works, you can't work out the rules of a puzzle so end up just giving up after like 10 minutes.

Anyone else finding this incredibly hard, it just seems like none of the puzzles really have rules you can follow to solving them, and those damned reflection puzzle things in the desert ruins......dear God they are finicky, too hard to get into the required position to see the reflection or the dirty smudge on them, only like 4 of them were possible for me, the rest I just could not see anything and had to resort to cheating.

I only have 4 hours on it so far, so I am wondering if I should return it. I am normally pretty good at somewhat tough puzzle games, it is not like I am a 12 year old COD fanboy or anything, but these puzzles are either too finicky or too obtuse to solve.

I am not saying it is a bad game, it is good, I only wish it wasn't so damn hard. Thoughts?

Perhaps you are trying puzzles you don't actually know how to solve yet? Every type of puzzle in the game has some sort of easy tutorial somewhere, you just might not have found it.

You shouldn't have to guess at any rules to the game.

[Zednaught]

Keep exploring! As others have said, you'll find the rules to solve every type of puzzle.

[spreitzer.gary]

To better understand the rules for a puzzle type, look at the simpler (tutorial) puzzles. An incorrect path can often give you as much insight as a correct one. Also, be patient. The Challenge nearly broke me, but after many attempts the soultion to the individual panels became instinctual. Solving the more difficult puzzles took some time, but also felt great.

[david_aeon]

Originally posted by spreitzer.gary:

The Challenge nearly broke me, but after many attempts the soultion to the individual panels became instinctual. Solving the more difficult puzzles took some time, but also felt great.

"The Challenge", that little devil took away my sleep, but finally my sanity prevailed...
And yeah, trying a puzzle which you think you're clueless about is as effective as solving it by brute force, it takes away the point of the game AND the fun.
The important part on the solving ladder in this game, is being able to absorb hints that the game gives you through the subtlest of ways, just keep your mind open and be creative, never settle down with a modus operandi in a way that you think that everything boils down to a single perspective.

[Nazemec]

You guys really had that much trouble with the challenge? I mean, I expected something really hard since a ton of people complained about how difficult it is, and managed to do it on my 5th or 6th attempt. I mean, I don't know... :s

[david_aeon]

Originally posted by Nazemec:

You guys really had that much trouble with the challenge? I mean, I expected something really hard since a ton of people complained about how difficult it is, and managed to do it on my 5th or 6th attempt. I mean, I don't know... :s

I don't know either, as I ventured where it takes place, I visualized the place and though: This is going to be one hell of a puzzle series. Tried twice then decided to leave it for the next session as I discovered that it was different each time . But after another workshift, went back to it and tackled it a few times, done on my 6th try or something.
It isn't actually hard, it was just scary, when you pass all the game with puzzles that lets you take your time, and suddenly you're faced with a gauntlet and classical music on the background .

[╣T☠T╠ ℳike.littlelegion]

Thanks for your comments guys. The game is good but you would certainly have to be on some kind of opioid to broaden your mind so you could find the most abstract and obtuse of clues or be a myst veteran to make swift progress, or at least some measurable amount in less than 1 hour lol.

I will likely repurchase it in the future when I am more patient or if I find a pair of trainers hanging from a nearby telephone line (calling card of weed dealers in the UK). Nearly all the puzzles I am encountering are too obtuse, or like the light based ones, very finnicky, so I have to cheat, theres no fun in that, and it is not worth £30 for the nice scenery alone. Had my eye on the sims 4 recently, so I may buy that if you can get refunded money sent back to your paypal or credit card etc. instead of just to your steam wallet.

Not really the games fault, at least, not entirely, I did research it but evidently not enough, as it turns out all puzzles revolve around the little line puzzle things, which I just cannot do and it's not like when I eventually beat it and move on I am greated with something equally impossible but at least different, only impossible line puzzles haha. They really should have said that it is really rather tricky though, it never really said anything like that in the trailers, if it did I would have avoided it, I am pretty good at puzzle games but not ones that are this hard.

Personnaly I think that the talos principle is better, more variation and less obtuse, with trial and error I was able to work out the success criteria for the puzzles in that. Still, good game.

[erekose_handy]

You are supposed to struggle. Some puzzles are supposed to take several hours, or a walk around the island to clear your head. Trial and error doesn't work because often the solution lies outside the puzzle. It's as much about drawing lines as, say The Longest Journey is about adding one object to another, or Planescape is about clicking dialogue boxes.

It was billed as being of the same ilk as Myst. So several days on a puzzle is to be expected.

[david_aeon]

Originally posted by erekose_handy:

It was billed as being of the same ilk as Myst. So several days on a puzzle is to be expected.

True, now that you said it, reminds me of some segments like the chromatic puzzles at the village or that borderless one at the top of the castle, took me over a week to scrape the surface, without any aid from editing sofware or any third party info... And I don't even have to bring the sunken ship dreaded vault to the subject.

[jabbadude]

It is too hard for me as well. Eventually it becomes boring. Now I'm stuck everywhere on the island and the only entertaining thing I can do is to take the boat ride. This game is not for everyone. There is such a thing as IQ, and the puzzles in this game are like IQ tests. Maybe it should have come with a warning like 'suited for people with IQ > 115' ?

[IHNN]

A good puzzle game bulids on its mechanics and tests the player on what they've learned constantly, and in new ways. The Witness does exactly that, and its difficulty is directly tied to how well you understood the unspoken rules. You could argue that the rules being unspoken is unfair or cheap... and it would be if the game wasn't meticulously designed around that fact. Come across a concept you don't understand? Either experiment to figure out how it works or look elsewhere for easier versions of that concept to learn what it accepts.

That being said, it's definitely not for everyone- no game is. But I'd still say that anyone who puts in effort to learn the rules should be able to complete the game, as the majority of the hardest puzzles are entirely optional. The final area may be a gauntlet of challenges, but I'd would argue that only the second floor there is on par with the toughest puzzles in the game.

As for The Challenge... well, you really need that understanding. I still think just about anyone could do it with enough tries as some of the generated puzzles can be trivial, but understand that most people won't want to go through that.

[Catgirl Jessica]

Originally posted by eigilh:

It is too hard for me as well. Eventually it becomes boring. Now I'm stuck everywhere on the island and the only entertaining thing I can do is to take the boat ride. This game is not for everyone. There is such a thing as IQ, and the puzzles in this game are like IQ tests. Maybe it should have come with a warning like 'suited for people with IQ > 115' ?

I think there is some merit to this. I think the game definitely might appeal more to higher IQ players. Not so much in their ability to solve puzzles, but moreso that people with IQ >120 might tend to enjoy mental exercises more than the average person.

[Bing987]

I am finding the game to be tedious. I do like puzzles and have enjoyed most of the classic puzzle games. But, I am just not finding this game very rewarding or fun. Apparently, each puzzle cannot be solved by thinking about it or by trial and error. And, when the right tutorial is found, it's either too easy or still unclear what to do.

But, what frustrates me most is knowing that the solutions are out there on the Internet. I don't have to bang my head on the keyboard for an hour or a day waiting for the solution to pop into my head. I can have it in ten seconds. It's just not fun being frustrated for a day.

[Catgirl Jessica]

Originally posted by Bing987:

I am finding the game to be tedious. I do like puzzles and have enjoyed most of the classic puzzle games. But, I am just not finding this game very rewarding or fun. Apparently, each puzzle cannot be solved by thinking about it or by trial and error. And, when the right tutorial is found, it's either too easy or still unclear what to do.

But, what frustrates me most is knowing that the solutions are out there on the Internet. I don't have to bang my head on the keyboard for an hour or a day waiting for the solution to pop into my head. I can have it in ten seconds. It's just not fun being frustrated for a day.

If you're seeking solutions more than the process of solving, I don't think this game is for you.