The Unbearable Now: An Interpretation of The Witness

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SPOILERS FOR THE WITNESS
Twitter: / electrondance
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FEATURED GAMES
=========================
The Witness, Thelka - the-witness.net
Braid, Number None - braid-game.com
Sokobond, Hazelden & Lee - www.sokobond.com
* The Talos Principle, Croteam - www.croteam.com/talosprinciple
* Full Bore, Whole Hog Games - www.wholehog-games.com
=========================
FOOTAGE
=========================
The Last Mimzy
The Karate Kid
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
2001: A Space Odyssey
The Matrix
The Witness Consciousness - Vashishta Cave Talk With Anand [ • Go Beyond the Analysis... ]
MBSR Widening the Circle Video [ • MBSR Widening the Ci... ]
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MUSIC
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Worakls "Toi" - www.beatport.com/track/toi-or...
N'To "Trauma" (Worakls Remix) - / nto-trauma-worakls-remix
Fauré Requiem Op.48, Angus Dei (perf. by The Sixteen) - www.amazon.co.uk/Requiem-Sixt...
Worakls "Salzburg" - www.beatport.com/track/salzbu...
Edvard Greig, Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op 46, Anitra's Dance (perf. by Metropolitan Philharmonic Orchestra)
Edvard Greig, Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op 46, In the Hall of the Mountain King (perf. by Metropolitan Philharmonic Orchestra)
b.lakes "Cemetary Walk" - nowdefuncrecords.bandcamp.com...
The.madpix.project "Bad Chick" - www.jamendo.com/track/1111548...
Edvard Greig, Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op 46, Death of Åse (perf. by Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra) - www.amazon.com/Peer-Gynt-Suit...
Howlround "A Viewless Sea" - thefogsignals.com/track/a-view...
Mikael Fyrek "Bathing in a River of Discordant Music" - www.kahvi.org/releases.php?rel...
Push-Pull "Liquid Mountain" - www.jamendo.com/track/24884/p...
Lecyr "Luminautore" - www.jamendo.com/track/24890/l...
Teho "Ade" - www.beatport.com/track/ade-or...
Rémy Bourgeois "Nostalgic Memories" - remybourgeois.bandcamp.com/tr...
* Rémy Bourgeois "Few Minutes of Us" - www.jamendo.com/track/1314962...
* Boris Brejcha "Lost Memory" - www.beatport.com/track/lost-m...
Note: This video was monetized by the copyright holders of Toi & Requiem
=========================
FURTHER READING
=========================
Taming the Inexplicable, Liz Ryerson - thenewinquiry.com/essays/tamin...
The Meaning of the Witness, Sean Han-Tani-Chen-Hogan - www.destructoid.com/the-meanin...
The Witness: What It Means, Jeff Grubb - venturebeat.com/2016/03/06/the...
The Witness - A Great Game That You Shouldn't Play, Joseph Anderson (RU-vid) - • The Witness - A Great ...

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Опубликовано:

11 июл 2016

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Комментарии : 1,2 тыс.

@InskayDanork Год назад

I remembered this video a few weeks ago and finally got around to watching it again. The sequence following 23:15 strongly reminded me of a Cioran quote and since I don't remember it being in the game I wanted to share it. "A zoologist who observed gorillas in their native habitat was amazed by the uniformity of their life and their vast idleness. Hours and hours without doing anything. Was boredom unknown to them? This is indeed a question raised by a human, a busy ape. Far from fleeing monotony, animals crave it, and what they most dread is to see it end. For it ends, only to be replaced by fear, the cause of all activity. Inaction is divine; yet it is against inaction that man has rebelled. Man alone, in nature, is incapable of enduring monotony, man alone wants something to happen at all costs - something, anything.... Thereby he shows himself unworthy of his ancestor: the need for novelty is the characteristic of an alienated gorilla." - Emil Cioran, The Trouble with Being Born

@Electrondance Год назад

What a beautiful quote, thank you for sharing.

@not_herobrine3752 Год назад

returning to monke may have its benefits

@angellool9713 Год назад

Ψγηψψφ

@CassidyBooks 4 месяца назад

@@not_herobrine3752Agreed

@surrealentertainment 5 лет назад

Nothing short of astounding. Incredibly well put together video!

@Electrondance 5 лет назад

Thank you!

@babbisp1 3 года назад

I can't believe that the absolute channel that is surreal entertainment could string together such a sentence and be a fan of The Witness. Pleasant surprise.

@rodrigosebastiancastilloac1156 3 года назад

OMG, ITS SURREAL ENTERTAINMENT. I LOVE YOUR VIDEOS.SURPRISED TO SEE YOU HERE, though

@shakewell42 3 года назад

Tf you doin, being a fan of the best game ever made?

@thoughtupquick 7 лет назад

This is the importance of critics. There is an art to appreciating art. And this kind of communication has to come from the audience, not the author. So I very much appreciate that you put this together!

@Electrondance 7 лет назад

Thank you! Glad that people are still discovering this film!

@dannyboi7877 4 года назад

It takes mastery to recognize mastery. This world would be a much different place if this was not the case.

@V_y-r_e 4 года назад

It takes a commenter to understand a commenter, therefore I do not understand this comment.

@JosephAndersonChannel 8 лет назад

Wonderful video. Thank you for taking what must have been an extraordinary amount of time to make it. I know how much work must have gone into all the careful jumps and timing in clips, especially when flipping from puzzle panel to puzzle panel. I think the payoff was worth it. It's going to be invisible to most. They'll enjoy it without realizing it. I don't have much to say about the content itself because I already stated my case months ago. It's a great game that I am remembering more fondly as time goes by. Especially after playing the recent Inside. I hope this does well. It's one of the best produced videos I've ever seen on youtube.

@Electrondance 8 лет назад

Joseph, the panel flipping was *the* very first scene I edited. It seemed like it would be "hard work" so wanted to get it out the way. But that kind of scene is always fun compared to the endless war with sound levels and transitions. "Oh no I have 0.5s less footage than I need for this bit, what do I do now?" I'm glad there a select few who recognise all that pain in the process :)

@jcrise827 7 лет назад

I have watched this video three times, I believe, and this video, philosophically speaking, is perfect. I felt a sense of clarity and content from beginning to end. I'm glad you included your sense of humor in this video. You did a great job into giving the content of the game a deeper meaning for the rest of us, deep thinkers.

@Electrondance 6 лет назад

J Crise - as you replying to Mr. Anderson I never saw this comment. UNTIL TODAY. Grateful for your kind words. When I released the video I was a little nervous whether anyone would enjoy this or simply call it pretentious rubbish. (Of course, a small minority did, but I can live with that!) Always good to hear it reached people.

@IuliusPsicofactum 6 лет назад

You watched the video only three times? Oh that was 4 months ago. I have watched this videos so many times it is the perfect company while I work. It fills me. I feel I am going to cry. ;-;

@Electrondance 6 лет назад

IuliusPsicofactum, I used to think I held the record for "number of views" simply because I had to watch it during editing so many times! Honestly humbled that people such as yourself have got so much out of it.

@franciscofarias6385 7 лет назад

Holy fuck I can't remember the last time I saw a video on RU-vid that was THAT good.

@Electrondance 7 лет назад

Thanks Francisco! I've seen some pretty good cat videos, though!

@NoahAlbrecht 3 года назад

When playing The Witness for the first time, I never got to experience the “epiphany” of solving my first environmental puzzle. I noticed them from time to time, but I never thought to solve them until learning about them online after finishing the game. I really love this game, and I would do anything to be able to experience the game blindly again but with the addition of “that moment.”

@Electrondance 2 года назад

I watched my family played and they, sadly, couldn't reach that epiphany without help either. I have a long Twitter thread on this tale over here: twitter.com/ElectronDance/status/1228362576322613250

@ilyxr 5 лет назад

I've been in a state of hating what this game is and also fascinated by the fact that it bucks every modern game formula...and I never knew why I couldn't just let it go. This video is an incredible complement to what exactly the game is trying to convey and explains why I have this internal conflict within me. That moment you break through and show the intrusive sounds of modern life and connect it to the pervasive distractions we've welcomed into our day-to-day...I understand now. The Witness wasn't wasting my time. It was just reflecting my own frustrations on how my time *should be* spent. Thank you for making this.

@Electrondance 5 лет назад

Thank you, Mike. To be clear, I struggle with this too. There are plenty of games that are meant to be savoured - puzzle games are big on taking your time - yet the urge to progress and complete and achieve can be overpowering. You can feel frustrated instead of enlightened or lifted, far from the place you're supposed to be. *shrugs* I guess we can all just try a little better to be a little slower.

@everygameapainting772 7 лет назад

Oh, so that's how the goddamn triangles work

@Electrondance 7 лет назад

At least that's how I act on them now... but yep the number of triangles indicates the number of sides of that square you *must* draw through to solve the puzzle.

@Fickji 6 лет назад

A bunch of walkthroughs on steam and you're the one who gives the best explanation. Thanks. Oh and I hate those sound and color puzzles. Especially when the internet goes out. Now wheres my graph paper....

@Electrondance 6 лет назад

Thank you! And on my bucket list: "to hear the sound puzzles properly". Probably will happen on my deathbed. "I get it, Blow, I get---akkkk"

@Geophaser 5 лет назад

@@Electrondance It's the pitch of the sound! It's really simple!

@Electrondance 5 лет назад

Hello L E I W Δ Δ N! I get that, the only problem is that particular one I had a problem with - which I highlighted at the start of Act III - just didn't seem to match up for me. The number of notes never seemed to match the number of steps in the puzzle.

@EzraKnickelbine 7 лет назад

I think this is the perfect companion piece to The Witness. I never finished the game myself but I don't feel "spoiled" by this video given its thoughtfulness and depth. Also... what an ending!

@Electrondance 7 лет назад

Ezra Knickelbine Thanks Ezra! It might seem strange after all this time but I was not sure the ending was going to work at all. Sometimes you're working so much in the dark you don't know whether you've actually disappeared up your own butt. My fave review some months ago was "sometime has actually managed to create a video about The Witness more pretentious than the game"

@EzraKnickelbine 7 лет назад

I gasped when I saw the rest of the link at the first frame, so I think it worked quite well! And now I've gone and looked at a bunch of your back catalog, and dang, you've got some compelling stuff. You might work on a slow schedule but I guarantee it will be a thrill when a new video of yours shows up in the ol' subscription box.

@Electrondance 7 лет назад

Ezra Knickelbine I switched to working on my book for the last few months and that's all but exhausted me! I'm probably switch back to working on A Field of Flowers (the next film) soon...

@RonMadYTP 8 лет назад

Take a look at the volume bar...

@Electrondance 8 лет назад

Yes, that's actually where I got the idea for what happens in the very final seconds of the film...

@RonMadYTP 8 лет назад

Fantastic video man, I love this game and this was enjoyable all the way

@Electrondance 8 лет назад

Awesome! Thank you.

@stephenkamenar 7 лет назад

jon blow wants us to mute all videos... interesting

@DeathnoteBB 4 года назад

The progress bar too, though....

@christindbk6580 5 лет назад

This is one of the "hidden" gems on youtube. Incredible that probably one of the greatest interpretations of the game sits at 50,000 views. I am new to your videos, and find it amazing the amount of work you put into these, in order to create a great commentary on various games. Thank you, so much. :)

@Electrondance 5 лет назад

Thanks Chris. We can never understand the Mighty Algorithm of RU-vid. We can only pray to it and hope it delivers us more views next time around.

@thefullestcircle 7 лет назад

Fun fact: it's faster to walk from the Quarry dock to the Symmetry dock than it is to take the boat on its default speed setting.

@Electrondance 7 лет назад

Yes I think I only used the boat for certain journeys. Just high tailing by foot was sometimes faster.

@faresalmia5131 5 лет назад

OMG... I'm one of the players that started playing this game by their own at first and then eventually got stuck and relied too much on RU-vid videos later on until "finishing" the game and being disappointed (like most of the others) that it didn't have any deeper meaning or story.... but when I came across your video I had my mind completely blown away !!! I realize now how brilliant the developers of this game actually are.... I'm speechless !!! Thank you so much for this video !

@Electrondance 5 лет назад

You're welcome! I daresay I haven't figured everything out and I should have probably made more of the implication of "Western tech adopting and packaging Eastern mysticism for its own ends" (thus it fails). But it's good enough!

@RiccardoCasula 5 лет назад

- Sakshi bhava, "the witness consciousness", where you become the natural observer of your own mind. The Witness. This sums up the whole meaning of this game.

@Electrondance 5 лет назад

Thank you for watching, Riccardo.

@yayflorida 8 лет назад

If the Witness was a gift, this was like the bow on top. Thank you for this!

@Electrondance 8 лет назад

You're welcome. I'm happy that so many people are really getting something out of the film.

@mlodikk 5 лет назад

Ive entered bamboo forest. Ha, easy puzzles, maby this guy have no musical skills. And then I proceded to the forth puzzle... You son of a... Im now crying and laughing at the same time.

@Electrondance 5 лет назад

It's nice to know I am not alone!

@onthespiral4054 3 года назад

Sound puzzles were garbage. Much like the sound puzzle in Myst. Glad they paid homage

@lachlanstill4813 8 лет назад

As someone who watches ungodly amounts of "highbrow" (and has even started making some analytical videos myself) let me tell you that this is one of the very best that I've seen. Truly remarkable in so many regards. You nailed the basics of analyzing the game and explaining its appeal, and most impressively you displayed a real understanding of and knack for utilizing the medium of RU-vid to the fullest. Hats off to you.

@Electrondance 8 лет назад

Thank you, Lachlan. I've been doing the odd video for years but it's only recently I've found my groove. But every time I finish one I need to rest for 1,000 years. ;)

@lachlanstill4813 8 лет назад

Electron Dance Trust me, as someone whose own content has not approached this level of ambition I completely understand that. :]

@philc494 3 года назад

There are so many small choices of quotations, narration, music in this video that I can't begin to list all of them and how brilliant they were. You have produced your own work of art, and it is a beautiful tribute to what this game was and what the game tried to be. Please keep doing similar things, it's great to know there are similar souls out there! Thank you

@Electrondance 3 года назад

Thank you Phil. I've been working on a brand new thing since December and I've already missed all my deadlines for the new one. I'd like to say "it'll be done when it's done" but that just encourages me to sit in front of Netflix and take a break all the time!

@philc494 3 года назад

@@Electrondance I know the feeling - have you ever heard of the book The War of Art? It talks about "Resistance," a sort of shadow cast by the light of our creativity / desire to create great things that holds us back. As a creator you might find it quite interesting! Either way, I look forward to watching it when it comes out. “Resistance will tell you anything to keep you from doing your work. It will perjure, fabricate, falsify; seduce, bully, cajole. Resistance is protean. It will assume any form, if that’s what it takes to deceive you. It will reason with you like a lawyer or jam a nine-millimeter in your face like a stickup man. Resistance has no conscience. It will pledge anything to get a deal, then double-cross you as soon as your back is turned. If you take Resistance at its word, you deserve everything you get. Resistance is always lying and always full of shit.”

@Electrondance 3 года назад

@@philc494 Ha ha, I've not read the book - but I know this feeling! Progress is horribly slow. I spent several precious hours on a 30 second sequence yesterday and I'm still unhappy with it. I guess it did move forward, but it's dispiriting. Then again, it's not like I haven't seen this movie before...

@ArsenalAdamAce 6 лет назад

Amazing film. My brother and I just finished this game and were in awe. We had so many questions and no answer and this took care of it for sure. Thank you

@Electrondance 6 лет назад

No, thank you for watching this half-hour beast! And I'm pretty sure I don't have all the answers - nice to leave a little room for mystery. Take care.

@abanjoplayer 5 лет назад

Want you to know that I still keep watching this, even after having completed the game years ago. Something very special about this game, I don't think it will ever leave me. And this video does it justice. Fantastic work

@Electrondance 5 лет назад

Thank you, Chris. I *knew* someone was pushing these views up to the 60,000s and now I know it was you all along. I try not to open the film these days because inevitably I get suckered in and watch the whole thing rather than the 30 seconds I was intending...

@abanjoplayer 5 лет назад

@@Electrondance you know you've done a good job when even you struggle not to watch it for I'm sure at least the hundredth time

@Electrondance 5 лет назад

I have to admit to watching all of my "babies" multiple times. There are ones I watch less and the difference usually is a sense of momentum that carries you along. Like Netflix automatically starting up the next episode, there's no downtime in which to reconsider the time you're spending. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing...

@abanjoplayer 3 года назад

@@Electrondance guess who's back, back again

@Electrondance 3 года назад

@@abanjoplayer There's always time for one more visit. I still get sucked into it occasionally :)

@carloscbl3 8 лет назад

Man! Your music timing, and mood, is extremely good

@Electrondance 8 лет назад

Thank you, it takes a lot of time getting all of that right. (Oh and I am still not happy, even after publishing.)

@LB767 7 лет назад

Sir, this is one of the best video I have ever watched on RU-vid. I've played the game, watched many videos about it, speeches from Jonathan Blow, read articles etc. and this just made everything come together so well. I think I finally "got" what the game was all about. Thank you for making this, a like and a sub is the least I can do!

@Electrondance 7 лет назад

Thank you for appreciating my short film! Well, not that short really. I hope to have something new out in the next month...

@trollbreeder2534 5 лет назад

...and a dream.

@martimpintopaiva3628 3 года назад

The chills...

@ngwoo 4 года назад

Every now and then I look for a new let's play of this game since I can't experience it from the start blind again myself. When I can't find one or I find one where the person is clearly just using a guide, I come back and watch this video instead. It's maybe the best video essay about a video game I've ever seen.

@Electrondance 4 года назад

Gosh, thank you, ngwoo! There's been another surge of interest in the video again this week and I made the mistake of watching a little bit again and OH NO I CAN'T STOP

@FrancoBegby 7 лет назад

I even sat through your credits... what have you done to me? Great video

@Electrondance 7 лет назад

Oh no, you're going to sit through every Let's Play without skipping forward *forever*!!

@gdpakmansanchez0111 6 лет назад

If this isn't the best video that I have ever seen, it's one of the best, you helped me to understand almost all the game, when I first downloaded it (two weeks ago) I didn't think it was going to have meanings in literally ALL THE SMALLEST THINGS OF THE GAME, congratulations, I really loved it

@Electrondance 6 лет назад

Thank you! I found The Witness really meaty - I've not found satisfying explanations for everything however, such as much of the castle ruins - although the "servants" hidden *below* one of its puzzles did get me thinking on how "chasing the truth" is something that only the wealthy afford.

@rjagda 5 лет назад

It really is one of those games where almost every piece of visual design is so deliberate that it might make one go mad looking for the purpose when perhaps there never was one to begin with. It does give you a goal of making it work eventually as a lot of things don't conveniently look like a puzzle for no reason after all. Like why is there a single dark cloud in the sky. Why is a laser not pointed at the mountain? What is the purpose of this machine here with no puzzle to be found? Why does this move this pedestal where a pot sits go up or down? It is basically "Easter Eggs: The Game".

@bradleywalker8642 2 года назад

If you plot the locations of the 6 Black Obelisks, you can draw lines between them that intersect near the lake. If you then connect Obelisks 1,3,5 via the intersection, and Obelisks 2,4,6 via the intersection, they form "inverted triangles" or "Y" shapes. Well, after solving all environmental puzzles for an Obelisk, it turns white. Do you remember what the white "Y" symbols do in a puzzle? They cancel out puzzle rules and thereby solve the puzzle. So if you find all the environmental puzzles on the island, and turn all 6 Black Obelisks into White Obelisks, then you form 2 giant white "Y" symbols on the island, which cancels out all the island's puzzle rules, and means you've solved the final puzzle - the island itself. Understand?

@OldWorldFanatic 3 года назад

I saw this not long after it debuted. In the years since and the now dozens of times I've seen it, this remains one of the most impactful things I've ever witnessed. As a game developer, this, along with your video essay on video game exploration, has shaped my view of the medium. Thank you.

@Electrondance 3 года назад

It's lovely to know, CCCD, that the rather-a-lot-of-hours I spent on the making the film has had such an effect on others and still does! Keeps nudging me on with the current project :)

@TheEliteJohan 5 лет назад

I've kept some videos on hold until I played The Witness and just finished it earlier. To my surprise, this random video that popped up besides them was the one that struck me the hardest. I don't know what specific praise I could give that wouldn't take away from the other aspects of the video, absolutely brilliant work.

@Electrondance 5 лет назад

Hello Johan! Thank you for saying so. People still finding this video two years on is really gratifying. Each film pushes me close to madness, because they feel like impossible to finish, that there is always one more thing to do, one more thing to change, one more thing that feels out of place. And then it's out and you're all "imposter syndrome" about it. Positive reaction to this has been far bigger than I expected. (I still wish I could change the intro sequence though!!)

@zydeas 8 лет назад

One of the best produced analysis videos I've seen on this site. Marvelous. Keep doing what you're doing, and I will surely watch.

@Electrondance 8 лет назад

Thank you, Zargy. Have a couple of ideas for the next film, but I won't start work on it for a little while. I have a lot of writing on hold and my brain needs a reboot after a recent intensive work on the film!

@Zamzummin 7 лет назад

Just finished The Witness after 106 hours of gameplay spread over 8 months and no guide. This is a very well produced video and I'm impressed with your amount of research into eastern spirituality to describe the game's inner concepts. I also really enjoyed the connection to 1983's Mountain King in your secret video. Fascinating stuff.

@Electrondance 7 лет назад

Thanks +Zamzummin! I think it would be possible to go even further to properly address the "Western appropriation of Eastern spirituality" angle... well, if I'd spent maybe another month on the film, but you have to draw a line somewhere... The Mountain King bit was cut from the main film because it was just a bit of fun that didn't add anything substantial. But I'd spent a good week on that scene so wanted to release it somehow!

@Lowezar 4 года назад

Huh. And I thought I was a slowpoke having taken 43 hours to solve everything, paint all obelisks white and scout for audio logs I might've missed... I'm still quite a bit disappointed with the game. This "message" Electron describes is so obscure it might be just a coincidence. Kinda like searching for hidden meanings in books or songs. You can interpret them a dozen different ways and they all kinda make sense. Then you ask the author about it, and they say "woah... uh... um... No, I meant exactly what I said. ...But I like your interpretations too."

@bradleywalker8642 2 года назад

"The Witness" is a game about learning, about seeing new perspectives, about the journey up the mountain and what we see when we look back down. They started with a small island, and as their ideas evolved, the island grew to accomodate them. "The Witness" as it exists today is the final point of that thought process - an island full of puzzle screens, cables, shores, and castles. It's a game about learning without a single tutorial. The key to unlocking the island's mysteries is all about perspective. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-YdSdvIRkkDY.html

@MondSemmel 7 лет назад

Wow, that was pretty phenomenal in terms of production value, depth of criticism, etc. I even encountered stuff hadn't seen even on forums hotly discussing the game's secrets, e.g. the source of the final lines before the game resets. Thanks a lot for making this!

@Electrondance 7 лет назад

Thank you, that's great! I was hoping I could have surprises for even the most battle-hardened veteran of The Witness.

@MrPekmano 2 года назад

Just finished the game and the algorithm blessed me with this masterpiece! If the game is a journey of deep diving into the bellies of mindfulness, this video is like the perfect decompression chamber to help you re-balance and realign...In a sense, your video essay makes the experience whole. To me, this is the definitive ending of The Witness experience.

@Electrondance 2 года назад

That is very high praise, I am humbled.

@pbitten 7 лет назад

Beautiful. Thank you for making this. I have just finished playing The Witness after a total of 139 hours (not including time thinking about it) and I have been reflecting on it a lot. This video really adds to my reflection. I especially enjoyed the last two and a half minutes.

@Electrondance 7 лет назад

Thank you, Paulo. I also spent a long time inside The Witness...

@jessed1709 Год назад

I come back and watch this video every year. It is as brilliant as the game itself.

@limousinfabien625 3 года назад

Hi! I recently "uncompleted" The Witness (about one week ago) and I currently am in the "now that it's done and my mind is blown, let's watch every video about it and see what the other players thought" phase. Your video is AMAZING. It made me feel this sense of epiphany the game conveys again. Your video enlights me in many ways. Incredible job. I feel smart again after having uncompleted the game and felt very dumb and impatient (these words might be synonyms in the game's universe). Thanks a lot, really.

@Electrondance 3 года назад

Thanks for dropping by and writing some nice things about my little RU-vid adventure. Much appreciated, all of it.

@Tyronis 7 лет назад

The ending was fantastic. Well done.

@Electrondance 7 лет назад

Thank you! Sometimes you just can't tell which side of the "pretentious"/"no, actually quite fine" line you're sitting on.

@arbitrayer 8 лет назад

Wow, I am so impressed by this video. Seriously, I felt like it captured all of the most valuable knowledge I learned about the subjects presented in this game and conveyed them in such a clear and concise, yet extremely thorough way. Truly a great video, keep up the great work man. I'd love to see you're interpretation of a game like Inside as well.

@Electrondance 8 лет назад

Thanks! I tend to write/make films about subjects I find interesting. They don't even need to be *great*. I've a few ideas for the next film but nothing decided yet...

@notaaroniswear Год назад

Watched this video some years ago. At least once a year I come back and watch it again, it's too good.

@Electrondance Год назад

Thanks, Not Aaron. Hopefully they'll be something new on the channel within the next month... hopefully...

@darkgiggsxx 6 лет назад

As many others have said, this is the best video I've seen. It's only fitting that it's about one of the best games I've ever played. I've watched it "a few" times already and will probably continue doing so. Not only did you nail what the game was about, but the presentation and pacing is flawless. Thank you for what you did.

@Electrondance 6 лет назад

Thank you :) Keeps me energised to work on the next film! On watching more than once: I try not to start watching any of my films - particularly this one - because I have a horrible tendency to just watch them through when I was supposed to be doing something else! You know, like the next film...

@niallsb 4 года назад

"This video is unavailable." Why do I feel that the link has always been an unavailable video and that this is a deliberate point you're making. I may never know.

@Electrondance 4 года назад

I fear you do not have the full link. There is something on the other side of the rainbow.

@niallsb 4 года назад

@@Electrondance I did see both sides of the rainbow, but perhaps it is the lens with which I view it that's leading me astray. One second...

@niallsb 4 года назад

Haha, it was neither. I had all the information but a cross became a zigzig in my fatigue-blurred mind. Thanks for the response. I enjoyed the videos and you've got another subscriber.

@Electrondance 4 года назад

@@niallsb Wonderful. I thought for a moment I had to direct you to the other half of the link! I should learn my lesson. RU-vid links are notoriously difficult to scribble down intact...

@ethanheadrick7027 4 года назад

Just found these!!! I had hmfound the first part!!! Now to find out he second!

@joeholley3178 3 года назад

I come back and watch this video once every month or two. One of the best pieces of content on RU-vid, period. I love the way you use music and connect ideas, everything has such unique flow and voice and it’s such a rich game for analysis and abstraction. Hope to see more from your channel sometime in the future.

@Electrondance 3 года назад

Thanks Joe. I've been working on a new film since Dec 2019 which I lie about every month, insisting it is "almost done".

@MasDouc 7 месяцев назад

This is one of my favorite youtube videos of all time. Criminally underrated.

@oscarloria 6 месяцев назад

Agree, even Dayo loves this video.

@OlleLinge 4 года назад

I played The Witness after a friend sent it to me as a gift. I knew nothing about the game in advance, and read nothing about the game before finishing the cave challenge. It is, without doubt, the strongest gaming experience I've had as an adult. I finished the game a few months ago and have watched your video twice, once right after finishing the game, and once today. I also watched a bunch of reviews, interviews and so on, but your video distills the experience so much better than anything else I've seen. I very rarely watch, let alone re-watch, 30-minute video clips on RU-vid by people I don't know anything about, so that's saying something. Thank you so much for creating the video and capturing the essence of the game!

@Electrondance 4 года назад

Thanks Olle. I initially just set out to share a bit of my experience and express how much I got into The Witness, but it did seem to take on a life of its own. I never intended it to be 30 minutes either! I hear from a lot of commenters who rewatch. The amazing thing is that it's not just me who does that :)

@Zindokar 7 лет назад

You are e genious transmiting your ideas and the feeling, I guess. I enjoyed every second, thanks. This is not fake, it's a real gratitude.

@Electrondance 7 лет назад

Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!

@brentjohnson9593 7 лет назад

This is a phenomenal video. The Witness was my favorite game of this year so far and watching theories and all of the content produced surrounding it has really nailed it home for me.Keep up the great great work!

@Electrondance 7 лет назад

Thanks! I'm trying out No Man's Sky right now and I wondered if I should make a film about it but... it just doesn't excite me very much so far.

@videospielesindkunst 2 года назад

I played this game when I was 14 years old. Back then I felt like my mind was enlightend. 2 years later I realized, that I only have strong memory back to when I was 14. That still holds true to this day and I also feel like I‘ve only started to gain real conciousness at that age. This analysis gives me the feeling that The Witness had much more to do with it, than I realized. I was always a little introverted and reflective and just feeling the world from an outside perspective, while standing in the bus to school, was always a fun thing to do. At least fun as far as I can remember… when I was 14. Maybe it wasn‘t fun before playing The Witness. You don‘t have to understand art to feel it…

@inter-loper Год назад

I spend a lot of time watching essays, critiques and reviews on RU-vid, but this has got to be my favorite one. I keep coming back to it. Thank you so much.

@Electrondance Год назад

Thank you for coming back all the time.

@MartSlot 7 лет назад

Definitely your best one yet... and that's saying something! Truly mesmerizing as always, can't wait for your next video

@Electrondance 7 лет назад

Thank you. I have a few ideas... we'll see what comes out in the wash!

@karllenasson 5 лет назад

Fantastic video, probably one of the best pieces of art I've seen on RU-vid ever.

@Electrondance 5 лет назад

Thank you Karl. Still a bit unreal to me to have so many people turn up and stay for the full half hour!

@RahulJaniBEng 6 лет назад

This is great, I've just returned to this video for the fourth, maybe fifth time since you released it, and came here to say how much I enjoy coming back to it. It's my favourite video on a game I constantly feel like an apologist for. The complexity in your editing (as noted by Joseph above), and the deft touch you have in weaving your journey through the game hasn't gone unnoticed. I'm clearly not the only one! Love it.

@Electrondance 6 лет назад

Cheers, Rahul. It's appreciated. I'm working on the next one right now... spent half of this year on a house move so everything has sloooowed down!

@D4RCKS0RC3R3R 6 лет назад

A criminally overlooked video for the quality it has

@Electrondance 6 лет назад

Thank you for the kindness, Yuri.

@BrunoB78 8 лет назад

best videogame youtube video ever

@Electrondance 8 лет назад

Damn it I knew I should've monetized :)

@Roxfox 7 лет назад

Sharp. And extremely well produced. Wish I could show this to everyone I know, but... first I somehow have to convince them to play the game... Nicely done.

@Electrondance 7 лет назад

Well, that's a puzzle in itself! I'm still waiting for my wife to come back to the game so she can finally watch herself slapping my face in the appropriate context.

@Scrivens1 3 года назад

I found this today and this video made me feel completely peaceful after. thank you so much for making this. it is absolutely beautiful

@Electrondance 3 года назад

Thank you Jason.

@PopstarCharles 2 года назад

Absolutely brilliant. I watched a popular review of this game years ago and haven’t thought much of it. My life lead me to study non-duality and Rupert Spira, and it brought me back here. By far one of the greatest explorations of the piece, and you approach the game with such an innovative grace. I felt the peace and fulfillment of awareness within the finale of the video, the music was just lovely to simply watch a boat go by. The game isn’t for me but I adore everything that it stands for. I’ve uninstalled most of my social media apps and want to enjoy the world around me as it is. Thank you for this.

@Electrondance 2 года назад

I'm glad you managed to get something out of my little film! Much appreciated that you stopped by to share.

@StevenJosephLee 6 лет назад

I really enjoyed this video. The Witness has endured with me a long time since I first played it and I find myself thinking about it a lot. This is one of the best analyses of the game I've seen. Thank you very much for your work.

@Electrondance 6 лет назад

Thank you Steven. I, too, still reflect positively on the time I spent with the game.

@StevenJosephLee 6 лет назад

Electron Dance I find myself thinking perhaps too much on how the game should be perceived. Obviously there is the construct idea, but I cannot help but be drawn to the notion that it is in a decayed state, but that state is too intentional to be true.

@Electrondance 6 лет назад

Some of the unanswered questions keep me up at night, too :) e.g. full meaning of the figures inside of the castle

@StevenJosephLee 6 лет назад

When I was first playing the game I was tempted to go through and document all of the statues. I love their style and wonder what each of them means, or why they are where they are. I feel like there is so much more to pick through in The Witness, even if that's not the point.

@Electrondance 6 лет назад

And that's the thing, right? The Witness warns you to stop searching, that beyond a certain point you're grasping at truth straws: you're not actually achieving anything and constructing meaning from phantoms. That's why I don't do any more digging into The Witness, even though I haven't understood some parts of it. There are still players who think there might be another ending to the game and making "clues" out of the noise. I don't want to fall into that trap here, even though that can be fun at times - during my videogame childhood I could draw labyrinthine mysteries out of the smallest game glitches!

@Sabbz22 7 лет назад

just wanted to let you know how much your work is appreciated with this video. after watching a few others with millions of views, all of which dissed the game and sadly must have deterred people from playing it, it was great to see someone "get it" as much as you. and you have the video chops to back it up and make an entertaining video. keep up the good work!

@Electrondance 7 лет назад

Thank you! I was hoping the film would be interesting even for those who didn't/wouldn't play the game.

@fandegw 8 лет назад

This is beyond any quality video I could find on RU-vid. This video is fantastic. Always perfect moment for each joke, the video is less about the game than your perception and analysis of it, and at this level of analysis, presented in a comprehensive and meaningful way, this is just brilliant. The end with the little meta-joke is also brilliant. Even the little secret challenge make a reference to the game. I could not handle your video without feeling overwhelmed emotionally, and your 20s of silence just finished me.

@Electrondance 8 лет назад

Thank you so much! The silence & boat was sketched out very early on and I wasn't sure it would work until it was in place. (You can't really tell unless you've got all that weight of content before it.) The original pause was actually meant to be a countdown with some dramatic music but I realised that silence was probably way more effective/appropriate. I'm really pleased you got something out of the ending; for me, it's the most important part of the film.

@Electrondance 8 лет назад

I had a little browse of the video! I tried out RU-vid's unreliable English subtitles and it was pretty horrible :) But I get the point. Silence is, indeed, powerful in many films. My memory of watching Trois couleurs is lots of silences. That's not true, but strangely that's what I recall.

@VideoG101 3 года назад

Just recently went on the witness journey, and saw a few vids on youtube talking about it (including this one, of course). This is the best one, because it blends your own style and love with the game. You express ideas so well that i think others on this platform may have missed. I think you get it right. I like this a lot.

@Electrondance 3 года назад

Thank you! Still happy to be wrong about anything, really, although I do think I missed out on covering the McMindfulness critique.

@galic249 7 лет назад

this video is pure brilliance. thank you very much for making it!

@Electrondance 7 лет назад

Thank you! It makes the months of grind putting this film together worth it :)

@HalloAnno 7 лет назад

This video is so good. Glad I found it. Great job man!

@Electrondance 7 лет назад

Thanks!

@indijohnson 2 года назад

Genuinely a great review. I look forward to watching more, and I appreciate your attempt to communicate more than what you said or showed, and instill a feeling in the viewer. It's taken me about three days of setting aside ten minutes each to watch this, and I really appreciate that you took so much time to put it together and post it.

@Electrondance 2 года назад

Thanks Indijohnson. It's true, I tend to spend much more time in trying to convey a feeling instead rather than just presenting information for consumption. Somewhat the bane of my video work :S

@indijohnson 2 года назад

@@Electrondance I think it's worth it, but that's just, like, my opinion, man.

@NikolasRex 6 лет назад

I'm not quite sure what to make of this. I stumbled upon it quite by accident while watching The Witness playthroughs, and I loved it. I love the music you used and the somewhat cheeky but also overall introspective nature of your critique.

@Electrondance 6 лет назад

Thank you! I have an automatic reflex to undermine myself if I get too serious, it's an built-in safety feature in my writing to protect me from going full-frontal pretentious. I like to think even if viewers didn't learn anything, at least they were entertained.

@rodrigopacheco12 8 лет назад

you just won a new subscriber! Wow, I didnt expect this much talent and effort in this video, but im glad I made the leap to watch it. Fantastic stuff.

@Electrondance 8 лет назад

Thank you, glad you enjoyed it! It really wasn't supposed to be half an hour long, meant to be something like 10-15 minutes...

@kyriakoszarifis833 7 лет назад

Thank you for creating this. Watching it brought some more of those amazing feelings and thoughts that came while playing the game. I, like most people, consider anything on RU-vid longer than a few minutes "too long", and yet at the end of this video I found myself wanting more. Just like with those 20 seconds, which I had to go back later and check they weren't 10, because you managed to make them feel precious, although I like most people, can't normally sit still for just a few. I think you really hit the nail on the head. Among everything I have seen, your analysis is by far the best - and closest to what I too got out of the game. Everyone who played the Witness needs to watch this; and everyone needs to play the Witness.

@Electrondance 7 лет назад

I'm glad others have managed to "feel" the game like I did and be able to experience it again through this film. I deliberately included that I didn't "get" Braid to clarify that I fully expected to bounce off any messages in The Witness. It won me over, as opposed to being some sort of Braid fanboy. What I love about those 20 seconds - without any countdown which I'd considered in the early draft script - is how long they really feel. Just 20 seconds! I don't know if everyone needs to play The Witness. Some people are absolutely terrible at logic puzzles and making them play the game would probably be a special kind of hell for them. Actually, if they led a bad life, I imagine Hell would involve being forced to play logic puzzles forever.

@ChestersonJack 6 лет назад

This video... something about it.... the editing, the narration style. It feels like it touches my soul. How dare you...? Truly, how?

@Electrondance 6 лет назад

I wish I knew! This one seemed to affect people more deeply than I had expected. I anticipated a lot more negative comments along the lines of vapid pretentiousness :) I was terribly let down by the RU-vid community: seems the comments are mainly positive!

@rickwoods5274 2 года назад

I keep coming back to this video, and rewatching it. I've typed up several comments here only to delete them because the words on the screen are always insufficient to express my appreciation for it. So here's just a comment to simply say: Thanks, once again :)

@Electrondance 2 года назад

Much thanks for watching and commenting. More fuel to keep going with the next one which is taking far too long. I'll be dead at this rate before it gets finished...

@Oldstalk 3 года назад

I watched this video 3 or 4 times now, and this is still the best content I've ever seen on RU-vid.

@Electrondance 3 года назад

Thank you! Still amazed that this one gets replayed a lot.

@JamesOKeefe-US 6 лет назад

What an awesome video. Loved the ending :) Thank you for this, I thoroughly enjoyed it!

@Electrondance 6 лет назад

Thank you, James. Two years after it was made, I'm still getting nice comments on this film. Sorry for the late response as I've been on holiday for a week!

@Losty316 4 года назад

I think this is the closure that I needed after finishing The Witness. The 20 seconds of emptiness bit at the end was perfect. Thank you so much for this amazing work.

@Electrondance 4 года назад

Thank you for being so kind.

@VojtaIsLame Год назад

Best sound design I have ever seen on RU-vid, I love your use of music and sync!

@Electrondance Год назад

Thank you so much Vojta. I think I'm more interested in making music videos than videogame essays! 🤔

@artemisruse436 6 лет назад

okay, whats the the alerts? i love this video but the alerts keep snapping me out of my concentration. Edit: oh holy fucking shit nevermind

@Electrondance 6 лет назад

edit of the year

@Subcide 7 лет назад

Really great. What's sad is that by half way through the video, I'd actually got a new email, FB message, and twitter mention... :/

@Electrondance 7 лет назад

After the Waypoint article, I can't ignore my phone which is buzzing with notifications...!

@limme2001 3 года назад

Found this video now and the witness has since it came out been my favorite game. I didn’t necessarily reflect on everything in such a deep manner but I sought truth and played the game for hours on repeat. The effort put into this video matched the effort put into the game. One of the best videos I’ve seen on RU-vid! Thank you

@Electrondance 3 года назад

Thanks Linus. I can confirm that this video was responsible for many late nights but I can also confirm I didn't take 7 years to make it!

@dave88866 8 лет назад

Brilliant, in terms of both interpretation and production. Your narration is very easy to listen to. Thank you for putting so much time and attention into this, it greatly enhanced the whole experience.

@Electrondance 8 лет назад

Thank you! I'm glad you got something out of it.

@mineraljunction 3 года назад

I really love this game and since playing it have been looking for a video or piece of writing that aptly articulates why I loved it so much. finally found that in this excellent video!

@Electrondance 3 года назад

Thank you, mineralzone!

@rjnye 7 лет назад

What a fantastic breakdown of the themes in The Witness. Super well-produced!

@Electrondance 7 лет назад

Thank you RJ!

@mehdi5491 5 лет назад

That was truly beautiful, most interesting and fascinating video I've seen in a while. Thank you sir for the amazing work you've done.

@Electrondance 5 лет назад

Much appreciated that you sat down and took the time to watch it.

@treyp7881 7 дней назад

I just played the witness for the first time and this video puts everything into words that I could not. It even brought forth feelings that I didn't know I had while playing. You've done an exceptional job at exploring the world of the witness!

@Electrondance 6 дней назад

Thank you, it's good to hear that after all these years new people are still finding their way here.

@ab14g22 7 лет назад

This video is the best documentary so far, about the amazing feeling we feel when playing The WItness.

@Electrondance 7 лет назад

Thank you! Currently trying to add full English subtitles...

@Hi-sk3kc 5 лет назад

The greatest video on RU-vid for the greatest game I have played. Thank you so much for this and good job

@Electrondance 5 лет назад

I am humbled that you think so!

@darcyhayes6664 3 года назад

this is the best video on youtube. i keep coming back to it and it makes me feel awe every time. thank you for this

@Electrondance 3 года назад

Still trying not to watch it myself and failing. I can't keep losing half hours like this :)

@mariana.r 3 года назад

I always return to this video at least once every year since 2017. Beautiful interpretation!

@Electrondance 3 года назад

Thanks so much Mariana!

@kacomk24 3 года назад

I dont know why, but i just started crying in the 20 seconds pause, god i love this game so fucking much, it really changed my view of my surroudings, im not even american or raised in a native english country but being able to understand the whole game and fell it without the need to read a single word, jesus it's pure art.

@Electrondance 3 года назад

Thank you for dropping by and sharing this. The Witness is definitely one of my all-time favourites also!

@DiegoTan66 2 года назад

lol it's pretentious as hell, but don't worry, you'll grow out of it

@mjmalkin 8 лет назад

This video is incredible. Why it has only 4K views I will never understand. I went through your whole back catalog of videos and they are all thought-provoking.

@Electrondance 8 лет назад

Thank you Michael! It's always great for people to discover and, moreover, LIKE the previous films. Why does it only have 4,000 views? I do not know. The mysteries of the internet. Perhaps I do not appeal enough to people to share or retweet. But each new film I do seems to do better than the last. If I recall correctly, Into the Black got around 1,500 views in its first week - whereas The Unbearable Now got 3,000. Maybe the next film will do 6,000 during opening week...

@NickKrefting 4 года назад

Found your video in my ramp-up to a replay of this amazing piece of art. This is really well done criticism, taking the game for what it is and organically building your interpretation from the text itself. You've beautifully put to words things I felt while experiencing the game. Thanks for this video and your analysis!

@Electrondance 4 года назад

Thank you, Nick. Almost four years on and people are still finding their way here.

@phantasos12 7 лет назад

This video is incredibly thoughtful and the time and effort you must have put into it really shows. I really enjoyed the personal style. It's truly a short film with creative edits and good film-making skills on display. There are no shortage of video creators out there simply typing out a review or essay, reading it aloud, and showing random footage of the game and it's refreshing to find someone taking time to create something unique with a personal style. What you do takes much more effort and it doesn't go unnoticed. Subscribed for sure and I'm about to watch your previous videos right now. edit: edited wording slightly

@Electrondance 7 лет назад

Thank you phantasos12, it's nice to hear. The particular structure/style is also why I cannot possibly match the output of others simply because each one takes so... many... hours. But rest assured something new is coming this month!

@AlecPrice 5 лет назад

Criminally underrated video, I love this

@Electrondance 5 лет назад

Thanks Alec, much appreciated.

@galic249 6 лет назад

Thank you for this. You are an amazing person

@Electrondance 6 лет назад

Thank you! Although I can think of some people I know IRL who might disagree! :)

@CassyCZ 7 лет назад

such an incredible video! thanks so much for all the time this must have taken to create, it helped me finally "get" The Witness. definitely favourite YT thing in a while... now to check the rest of your stuff :)

@Electrondance 7 лет назад

Thank you! Yes, this one was a lot longer than it was intended to be but I kept having ideas of what I wanted to put across. Something new is coming out *hopefully* in the next week. And it clocks at a more reasonable time under ten minutes...

@zachariemorin1146 4 года назад

I am absolutely speechless. The amount of effort you put into this video as well as research, the way you compiled all of that seemingly meaningless information. I dropped the game after almost beating it about two years ago because I simply didn't take the time to understand what I was doing, instead switching to guides and such, figuring out that there was an alternate ending but not knowing its meaning or why it existed. The idea you highlighted of basically living in the moment and dissociation is mind blowing and I'm just sad to have missed out on this experience for so long. This is mind-blowing, i cannot thank you enough. You are incredibly talented at this and I hope you go far.

@Electrondance 4 года назад

Thank you Zacharie. Sometimes it's a lucky happenstance that some of these epiphanies click into place - the mountain climb and descent/crash seemed obvious, but finding out the core meaning of "The Witness" meant was a complete accident which just popped out because I was doing some reading around Rupert Spira. And in fact, I originally laughed that off as a funny coincidence - it took a few days to take a deeper look at what he meant by "the witness" and it was only *then* I realised *this* was why it was called The Witness. I started Googling more heavily around non-duality after that. I read a lot about the Diamond Sutra after discovering the cage ending narration = Diamond Sutra - I read the whole thing, trying to appraise it's "truth". But the original discovery came from - of all places - a Reddit thread. (The thread was just acknowledging the fact, like it was just another passage from human philosophy, rather than trying to understand if it meant anything.) And you're making me feel bad for not producing a new film for awhile :)

@RekenberGlastenheim 5 лет назад

25:56 "How long does 25 seconds feel?" I dunno, I read through some of the comments while waiting… hurrdydurr… In all seriousness, I clapped for like 7 seconds after that. I think that the art of taking a pause is something we as a species is slowly unlearning. "Life is like a flash in a pan, and every moment counts", they said. But really, with the inevitability of "busy-ness" invading our lives, there's no guarantee of being able to make the most out of "mindfulness" or "meditation", unless you have all the time in the world. Heck, some even warp those activities, transforming them into "focus-finders", claiming increased productivity at work, the very thing that "a pause" is trying to detach you from. By putting this into a game, the hidden truth is lost to the achievements, the collectibles, and the fame of walkthroughs, speedruns, and let's plays. But alas, having this as an audiobook would bore me too… Welp. Excuse my rambling, just want to vent it out…

@Electrondance 5 лет назад

No, no, I think that's fair. One of the messages of The Witness which I missed initially - and I would have added it had I done the film later - was about the urge to distill Eastern spirituality into a Western-friendly package. That while machine of The Witness is attempting to better life, it is a reflection of how mindfulness is used to manage the stress of existence rather than ask questions about why that existence is so stressful. And the way we are driven to ultra-productivity and FOMO, to eliminate daydreaming in favour of purpose and action, is not a positive development. The machines were meant to help us, but all they do is tell us where we are failing and how we could get better - by someone else's definition of better. Haven't you done your 10,000 steps? Did you achieve your personal targets today? How are your calorie levels? How are your anxiety levels? You should be worried about your anxiety levels, they are too high. Incidentally - this is one of the reasons I did not 100% The Witness. I had learnt the lesson. I got from The Witness exactly what I needed and did not feel the importance of demonstrating my faith to a particular software.

@RekenberGlastenheim 5 лет назад

@@Electrondance Thank you for taking the time to read my reply, and letting me ramble. I honestly gave up halfway and used some walkthroughs to progress - only to lose interest afterwards. That could be why my mind is so disturbed by this game: it tries to give you a way to "take things slowly" but not exactly providing the right atmosphere to it. You need to keep your mind running and not allowing it to "rest through the maze"; solve puzzles, think, clear gauntlets of zones, think, analyze the theme of an area, think, use the theme to beat the area, think, clear more puzzles, think, think, think… I agree with your perspective of "the game is trying to translate Eatern philosophies for a Western audience"; we were taught that "there's joy in the mundane", and while that's not necessarily true all of the time, it kept us working. A "pause" won't easily break that.

@Electrondance 5 лет назад

Totally fine to get bugged by the game. I'm having a long discussion with someone else who is working through The Witness for the first time and finding it annoying to have to go "find puzzles" and is getting lost. Whereas for me, this was one of the best things about the game, that enforced pause, the potential to get lost and not be directed at all times. But it doesn't matter at the end of the day. If it clicks for you, it clicks, if it don't - it don't.

@maxvenker736 5 лет назад

@@Electrondance This is a fascinating thing to discover so recently. I may not directly reply to your comment or Reken's, but it relates to either. I recently decided to watch videos and such on the ending as I felt it was time to move on to new games. I totally enjoyed the mystery, yet sometimes despised it. It is something beautiful that can be portrayed from something so simple. I feel after this video, I feel content. I feel able to move on and potentially come back to this game to rediscover it and contemplate its magnificence again. I hope to make games like this someday, ones that leave a long lasting change in perception of the world. I love how Jonathan Blow describes that exact thing in an interview he has with another channel. Those are all the thoughts I have. A great video, one that allows to contemplate, wait, and....dream

@Electrondance 5 лет назад

My little asides about "pretentiousness" are based in my feelings when I spun up The Witness initially. I didn't like all those little clips. Nothing seemed to add up to anything. It was just a jumble with no coherent theme coming through. But I could dig the puzzles. The puzzles were great. Somehow, through the process of the working through the game, I really fell in love with the thing. It all started with realising the journey up the mountain instantly resulted in a rapid vertical descent - you can't have one part of the mountain climb metaphor without the other half - and I was hooked. I still thought the audio clips didn't quite do the game justice - there is something pompous about their delivery, like listening to earnest poetry on open mic night - but I could better appreciate them as part of the whole. Thanks for watching the film and hanging out.

@YouFightLikeACow 7 лет назад

Amazing video! And that ending is awesome!

@Electrondance 7 лет назад

Thank you, Victor!

@bradleywalker8642 2 года назад

28:14 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-XKu-UduZ8-c.html

@benjaminp9241 4 года назад

wow. this is one of the best produced videos i have ever watched. love the style - must have taken a while to edit but i think it was definitely worth it. Just finished this game and really enjoyed hearing another perspective on it. thanks for making this. have subscribed and will defo check out your other stuff

@Electrondance 4 года назад

Thank you, Benjamin! Still amazed this film continues to find new viewers. Encourages me to keep going with making new stuff...

@Felixicity 8 лет назад

You've made some wonderful videos over the years, but this is hands down perhaps my favourite. Excellent, excellent work.

@Electrondance 8 лет назад

Thank you Felicity, so kind.

@ch10031a 6 лет назад

I just finished the game and watching stuff online about it. This is the first video of yours that I'm watching, and I gotta say, it so impressive that I had to pause to instant fave it and subscribe. I didnt manage to decipher the link in the end (cant make out the last letter is neither S or 8), but anyway, hope you post more in the future. Im off to watch your other vids.

@Electrondance 6 лет назад

The link is not complete. You might need to go back to the beginning. The answer may have been in front of you all along.

@bradleywalker8642 2 года назад

@@Electrondance Ah, the clue I needed.

@bradleywalker8642 2 года назад

28:14 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-XKu-UduZ8-c.html

@Dropdeaddonuts 3 года назад

I played this game for hours and didn’t understand what I was experiencing or why. This video was incredibly well made and gave me the answers I sought

@Electrondance 3 года назад

Thank you N W.

@skooore 2 года назад

I was curious how many times I have watched this video by now, so I checked my YT logs. I first watched it in January of this year (2021). I've since watched it at least once a month for a total of at least 20 times (it does not count immediate rewatches, I think). Sometimes in every-day-for-a-few-days spurts. I've recommended it to many people over these months and consider it to be part of the The Witness Canon. I've just watched it again. Like The Witness, it is an Oasis of Calm and Thorough Contemplation that you want to return to in order to fire up those neurons once again. In these days, watching somebody just make sense for half an hour is an absolute treat. One thing I have started to wonder in the past few rewatches - is that jump cut at 21:10 a transition that bugged out? (I mean the one from circle-and-line to zen circle.) And thank you. (also: Hey! I was the guy who got you hooked on Simons LP! ;-) Sorry!)

@Electrondance 2 года назад

I've lost count of how many times I've watched the source mp4 on my PC :) I'm sure you're not the only person to have noticed but you are the first to have mentioned it. The circle to zen motif switch is an entirely deliberate jump cut. :) Can you refresh my memory - the Simons LP...?

@Electrondance 2 года назад

Sorry I got it now! Cracking the Cryptic! I thought you were talking about music (LP)!!

@skooore 2 года назад

@@Electrondance Hah! Did you see he recently moved on to The Challenge? As for the jump cut: And I thought I had uncovered a flaw! Of course not!

@Electrondance 2 года назад

@@skooore I checked out Cracking the Cryptic running through The Challenge after you mentioned it (while I was on holiday!). It was pretty fun, was amazed that he did figured out the puzzle=map aspect so quickly. I never worked that out! One of those things the internet told me while I was working on The Challenge.

@skooore 2 года назад

@@Electrondance I'm only halfway through that video, but casually scrubbed over the timeline to see that he got through the whole thing. Just amazing. And a lot of the extra puzzles that took me many, many approaches - he just blazed through them... I think partly why I don't watch the rest is because I don't want to know whether it's the last video or whether he makes a commitment to explore further. Still - always a marvel to watch him play and his LP got me thinking a lot about the nature of spoilers on many levels and meta levels in the game. It's quite something.

@kntautsos 6 лет назад

After watching the video and the reactions of the viewers I got to feel one of the topics in the game: Aw. Awesome to see such fine videomaking and at the same time explaining things so well informed and clear to everyone. Awesome to see that pretty much everyone who commented in the video had a similar reaction (on the side: 1300 likes also >>>>>> 13 dislikes :OO). Not only that, noticing that you replied to almost all the comments feels awesome as well. Thank you, really

@Electrondance 6 лет назад

Thank you, kntautsos. I think it was hardest keeping up with the comments when I was shared by top Spanish RU-vidr DayoScript. Wow, the comments came in thick and fast that day, and it was exhausting trying to keep up. There's always the possibility that the comments will eventually go south - if you reach a certain popularity threshold, you can end up with a comment avalanche which is difficult to respond to and maintain. Right now, I can still manage :) Fun facts: This is not my most popular video (and actual top video is just game footage that has been embedded in many sites) but secondmost. And my most disliked video is the Bioshock Infinite one with some comments to match. I actually deleted one of its comments recently, which was not something I ever expected to do. I can't believe it is August and I haven't released a proper new film yet! (Blame buying a house, which blew my life up for months.) I just have to keep plugging away at the new production...