Are both of you on the PS4 version? I'm playing the Steam version and can't find that info anywhere (not that it really matters).

If anyone here liked Myst/Riven (or puzzles in general), I cannot recommend this game enough. Go get it. It's absolutely worth the $40 price tag. For all you PS4'ers, I think I'd recommend that version to maximize performance.

To improve performance on my machine (Retina MacBook Pro), I added these Launch Options to my game in Steam to make it run at "1x" pixel mode:

-width 1440 -height 900

Oh yeah, did I mention that it's GORGEOUS? Because it's GORGEOUS! After I finish the game, I want a free-cam photo mode with focal length and depth-of-field adjustments just so I can take pictures of this environment!
(Big, lossless PNGs behind these links)

2.9 MB

3.7 MB

1.7 MB

3.7 MB

3.8 MB

Kind of like Wind Waker.

Anyway, Steam reviews are bombing the game. Hard. I'm confused.

What's your take? It's a puzzle / exploration game right?

1. Are the puzzles hard and fun to solve?
2. Is the island fun to explore?

Really all you need to answer to review it.

Kind of like Wind Waker.

Anyway, Steam reviews are bombing the game. Hard. I'm confused.

Huh? According to the game entry in Steam:

User reviews: Very Positive - 82% of the 486 user reviews for this game are positive.

I perused a few of the [minority] of reviews that are negative, and I saw a lot of whining about how the puzzles were too hard, and a few complaints that it wasn't a complete spiritual successor to Myst like they thought it was going to be.

Kind of like Wind Waker.

Anyway, Steam reviews are bombing the game. Hard. I'm confused.

Most of the negative reviews I've seen are just people bitching that it's "only" line puzzles, which, while technically true (so far anyway), is so amazingly reductive I feel they've pretty much missed the point and absolute brilliance in its design.

It usually feels sort of like a cop out to me when people say this, but this game is very, very difficult to actually talk about in any real way without completely spoiling and destroying the magic of it for those that haven't played.

He has a habit of saying just the most nonsensical and/or pretentious things. He makes great games though.

Sadly The Internet often has trouble separating those two facts.

I want to try this game, but I am off put how ugly the graphics looks. Aside from the main character design Braid was gorgeous. It's a huge step down. Why would I want to explore an ugly island?

I think it's gorgeous, and almost every comment I see about the game's art is positive.

Some of us just don't need super high resolution realistic graphics to see beauty I guess.

Neither do I. But everything I see in this game I hate aesthetically. It looks amateur.

I want to try this game, but I am off put how ugly the graphics looks.

The game is gorgeous. See my screenshots above. The approach is anything but "amateur."

I've only played through the first tiny area, but it's beautiful so far.

That said, I do not like the game.

Care to elaborate? I'm genuinely curious. I'm digging it, but I am very unfamiliar with puzzle games, except for Portal and Monument Valley on iOS.

I know what you mean about the story in Braid being difficult to latch onto. This has a very different feel. Like CyberKN said, it's mostly about wandering around and solving the puzzles. I do like the audio clips that I've come across so far, but those are mostly ambiance (so far at least).

I didn't play Braid, but this seems really light on any sort of narrative so far. You're a person on an island solving puzzles, and occasionally stumbling across Audio Logs that feature little quotes from famous scientists and philosophers. That's my impression after 5 or so hours.

Sounds pretentious.

- No text -

Bullshit.

Good morning to you, too, sir!
.

Sorry,

We all know you're not actually sorry about whatever is going to follow this, but I understand the sentiment. Let's continue...
.

but even if that's true the game is no fun, which makes it terrible.

Really? I'm having a total blast with it. Just like I said in the post above. Maybe you're not having fun with it, but that does not make the game "objectively bad" on a universal scale. Lots of people are really enjoying this game.
.

The puzzles are all super easy too, and the game pretty much tells you how to solve them by easing you in to them.

What, you want to brute-force these things? Let me know how much fun you have with that approach. Breadcrumbs are important. One element of good game design is like a symphony; early on you ease the player into a theme and then you progress, developing and iterating that theme over time into something more complicated and climactic. You vary the approach and intonation along the way, sometimes going off in unexpected directions, but always looping it back to the theme. Think about Beethoven's 5th. The Witness does this very well (and in ways that I'd wager you probably aren't fully aware of yet).
.

Over 100 solved

Hey, mine is bigger!
.

and I haven't had to put on a thinking cap yet.

I think we plebeians simply fail to understand the grandeur and expanse of your towering intellect, Cody.
.

If it doesn't get harder soon I'm gonna give up.

Wait, what? It's so easy that you surrender? Let me get this straight; you haven't seen a single puzzle that you don't know how to solve yet? How much of the island have you even explored? Oh, right, 100-ish puzzles’ worth. If you do stick it out, tell me about the Red Door.
.

I'm assuming it gets much harder based on what people are saying,

Yeah, it gets more difficult. That's why people are saying that. Coincidence? I think not! Call me when you bust out the ole pencil and paper. But remember, none of it is impossible (and it's not supposed to be). Look, it's a game, it should have a solution to every puzzle, and none of it should require calculus. See the comment about progression above.
.

but if I don't like the environment (it is really not appealing),

Fair enough, it's a subjective thing. You don't like the environment, I do. We can agree to disagree.
.

nor the [movement] (you can't walk off ledges and it sucks getting around),

There are a few points here and there where I'd like to shortcut a path, too, but why the hell would you want to walk off a ledge?
.

why would I stay to solve the puzzles?

Right, if you're not having fun, then it's okay to not play it! I have stopped playing many games because I wasn't having fun with them. Games that other people have enjoyed and finished (the first Mass Effect immediately comes to mind). If you don't like it, then that's okay. You're not obligated to finish it.
.

Also Vanquish was released in 2010, so it's pretty much impossible for any other game to be game of the decade.

Haven't played Vanquish. But I wasn't saying that The Witness was the game of the decade. I said, "I think The Witness may be the best game I've played in the past decade, bar none."

Edit: I really should add that this game is about the journey, not the destination. Solving puzzles is simply the mechanic; the meaning is found in the experience and exploration.

I bought it and finished it last year in hopes of catching all the hype everyone seems to have for it.

Was the first encounter fun? Yes!

Was the rest of the game? I can't remember anything about it, which leads me to believe that it was so repetitive that at some point my brain stopped storing it to my long term memory.

I do remember that the story was cringe-worthy and riddled with cliche. Oh, and there was a boss fight at the end where I was fighting two of the same guy. That's about it.

Edit: After having my morning coffee, this post seems uncharacteristically grumpy of me. Still don't like Vanquish.