> I've enjoyed all of Blow's other titles.

"All other titles" would be just Braid, no?

I'm actually a fan of his game/prototype Painter from 2006 - was just talking about it today.

http://number-none.com/blow/prototypes/index.html

It's very different from his more recent stuff, but charming.

He was focused on creating a very particular feeling of epiphany as an artistic statement, and I think he succeeded at that. Is the game not especially fun? Is it perhaps overlong? Probably? But I can think of very few, if any, games that provided the very particular feeling that The Witness provided in those moments that I felt it -- the feeling of the world opening up with new possibilities and interpretations.

Yes, I agree with this - as an expression of learning by wordless doing it was a really profound experience. The ending video of real life was great, reminded me of when I played a lot of Katamari and started seeing the whole world as things to roll up. I share the sentiment in these comments about Blow himself, but The Witness is a great game - though I get why people don’t like it: it’s a slow burn and requires a tolerance for pretentiousness. I don’t feel it was too long, it was as long as it needed to be, it’s just a big game

I thoroughly enjoyed The Witness, but it nearly collapsed under the weight of its own pretentiousness. Especially to your point, what counted as a "narrative".

Interesting. Being in that world was deeply captivating for me. Every time I've played that game I've experienced a jolt of creative drive.

> I suppose I was coming in with expectations of a modern Myst and/or Riven, but it was not that.

If that was your expectation going in I can definitely understand you feeling underwhelmed.

That said, you may still enjoy The Looker...

I'll give The Looker a shot. I usually pick-up "some puzzle thing" around Christmas time.

Sounds like you'll really enjoy the Looker then

They say The Looker is made for two kinds of people: if you loved The Witness, you'll love The Looker, and if you hated The Witness, you'll love The Looker.

It's a pretty short game - a couple of hours, if you don't spend hours and hours stuck on one of the puzzles. (just look up a walkthrough at that point - the game's not so awesome to be worth spending hours stuck)

> I played The Witness and didn't find it remotely fun

All the more reason to try the Looker!

I enjoyed the Witness to a degree.

* spoiler *

I did not notice the environmental puzzles, even after the obvious one at the top of the mountain looking down. I didn't get that that wasn't a one off. Someone had to point them out. I've had other friends who also missed that. It's arguably the game's single biggest reveal / surprise. It was pretty amazing!

That said, only found maybe 20 of them and was not compelled to keep looking for all of the rest.

> I suppose I was coming in with expectations of a modern Myst and/or Riven, but it was not that.

I loathed Myst, so had avoided The Witness for the same reason you played it; I'll maybe give it a try now.