Braid Creator Teases New Game, The Witness

Keane Ng

New member
Sep 11, 2008
5,892
0
0
Braid Creator Teases New Game, The Witness



Despite officially taking the wraps off his new game, Jonathan Blow is still playing coy with real info. What we do have, however, is a title - The Witness - and a whole lot of philosophical mumbo jumbo.

As of today, we still know more about what Braid creator Jonathan Blow's new game, The Witness, is not than what it is. As revealed by previously posted job listings [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/93257-Job-Listings-Reveal-Braid-Creators-Next-Project], we can infer that Blow does not want The Witness to be a game with "Girls With Big Tits; Barbarians Wielding Axes, Covered in Blood; Aliens; Space Ships; Gangsters Getting Shot in the Face; Orcs; Giant Robots; and, of course, Postapocalyptic Wastelands."

Now that Blow has officially teaser site [http://braid-game.com/news/?p=612] of sorts, we know a little bit more. For one, there's the title. Then a remark that the game is "An exploration-puzzle game on an uninhabited island" and is due to be released on multiple platforms possibly in late 2011, which is when Blow is hoping the game will be finished. Yeah, it's gonna be awhile.

The site just has a title and some text, nothing else to see, really. Blow says "the game is very visual, and once we have developed those visuals to the point where they are representative, I'll start posting them there." So keep waiting.

Anything else to go on? Well, the site launches with a mysterious philosophical quote that's a passage from the Daodejing [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daodejing], a classical Chinese text attributed to a fellow (or fellows) called Laozi. What does the Daodejing have to do with this game? The passage quoted describes a "something" that existed before everything else, a "something" that encompasses "solitude" and is "vast." Sounds kinda like it could apply to the island setting of the game, to take the first interpretation that comes to my mind.

Permalink
 

Pipotchi

New member
Jan 17, 2008
958
0
0
That description made it sound like Myst....

I hated Myst, pretending to be fun and so on, just thinking about it angries up the blood
 

Curtmiester

New member
Jan 13, 2009
1,331
0
0
His description honestly turned me off. It sounds like everything generic thrown together. But maybe that's what makes in original.
 

HardRockSamurai

New member
May 28, 2008
3,122
0
0
This is all he's giving us? Well lets see here:


Judging from the picture, I'd say the game is going to be about a Times New Roman font...who becomes a grizzled space marine...
 

Proteus214

Game Developer
Jul 31, 2009
2,270
0
0
I enjoyed the look and feel of Braid, but I felt the obtuseness of the plot was borderline pretentious. If he can maintain the same kind of satisfying puzzles that Braid did, it could have potential.
 

ghalkhsdkssakgh

New member
Jul 16, 2009
1,520
0
0
A new Blow game? I'm on board already. Which could be a problem considering it's not for another two years. *marks calendar*
 

Wandrecanada

New member
Oct 3, 2008
460
0
0
It sounds like he's proceeding along the same lines as Braid. Specifically with the "something" that is both vast and solitary but remains mysterious and undefined. Braid did the exact same thing with the mysterious princess.

The princess from Braid was theorized to be many things within the context of the game and the philosophical quotes provided alongside. She was called many things from science to nature, to the atomic bomb. All definitions provided ample backup for their arguments while none could conclusively disprove another.

Of course the best part of Braid was the feeling of value placed in figuring out a particularly engaging puzzle. It was the puzzle aspect that made the game amazing. The fact that it was done without blood, gore OR quick time events was just icing on the cake.

If this next game can live up to the standard set by Braid I can strongly suggest that every gamer with any amount of cerebral voltage will need to play this game.
 

Keane Ng

New member
Sep 11, 2008
5,892
0
0
HardRockSamurai said:
This is all he's giving us? Well lets see here:


Judging from the picture, I'd say the game is going to be about a Times New Roman font...who becomes a grizzled space marine...
If only...
 

hansari

New member
May 31, 2009
1,256
0
0
Keane Ng said:
The passage quoted describes a "something" that existed before everything else, a "something" that encompasses "solitude" and is "vast." Sounds kinda like it could apply to the island setting of the game, to take the first interpretation that comes to my mind.
Really? Cause the first thing that came to my mind was if he was making a game about God...

oh boy...
 

raemiel

New member
Jun 8, 2008
144
0
0
Does Blow seem pretentious to anyone else? Honestly everything this guy says seems to be so full of his own self-worth that I can't stand it. Sure he made a good game but it really strikes me that he's looking down on us all and the game industry.
 

Eskay

New member
Sep 2, 2007
303
0
0
raemiel said:
Does Blow seem pretentious to anyone else? Honestly everything this guy says seems to be so full of his own self-worth that I can't stand it. Sure he made a good game but it really strikes me that he's looking down on us all and the game industry.
Yeah he does, incredibly pretentious. But at the end of the day, if he makes another game of the quality of Braid then I couldn't care less.
 

Proteus214

Game Developer
Jul 31, 2009
2,270
0
0
raemiel said:
Does Blow seem pretentious to anyone else? Honestly everything this guy says seems to be so full of his own self-worth that I can't stand it. Sure he made a good game but it really strikes me that he's looking down on us all and the game industry.
He does and he is. He wanted to prove that someone could break the mold of the cookie cutter big budget games that exist today, and in a way he succeeded (even if it took him 3 years to do so). Braid did contain some really great artwork, but it had a plot that was purposely designed to be totally ambiguous, which I think is kind of a slap to the player since it doesn't come full circle until the end of the game.
 

Allan Foe

New member
Dec 20, 2007
198
0
0
Proteus214 said:
raemiel said:
Does Blow seem pretentious to anyone else? Honestly everything this guy says seems to be so full of his own self-worth that I can't stand it. Sure he made a good game but it really strikes me that he's looking down on us all and the game industry.
He does and he is. He wanted to prove that someone could break the mold of the cookie cutter big budget games that exist today, and in a way he succeeded (even if it took him 3 years to do so). Braid did contain some really great artwork, but it had a plot that was purposely designed to be totally ambiguous, which I think is kind of a slap to the player since it doesn't come full circle until the end of the game.
Yeah, Blow is absolutely full of himself, but when you make a game like Braid you have every right to be as much of a pretentious reproductive organ artist as you like.
 

zamble

We are GOLDEN!
Sep 28, 2009
226
0
0
scifidownbeat said:
I don't care if Blow is full of himself or not, Braid was a great game. IMO Blow deserves to look down upon some members of the game industry.

You freaking commies.

Edit: And I personally believe Braid's story was genius. I'd rather have a wide, open-ended story with multiple interpretations than the generic "you're in the army, you're in space, you are the only one who can save humanity, humanity is unquestionably and collectively morally good, aliens are unquestionably and collectively morally evil, explosions, sex, gore, violence, blood, death, horrors of war, and the little detail/game mechanic that sets us slightly apart from everyone else" copied and pasted 50 times every freaking year!
Amen!! I believe the reason Braid was so good was the puzzles and the atmosphere, but having a plto with multiple interpretations - wich didn't affect the gameplay, that´s the most important thing - was a really good idea.