The Looker is quite possibly the greatest parody ever executed in a video game. It creates the same kind of "ahah" moment that games like The Witness do, but in a way that really pokes fun at the level of pretentiousness those games tend to indulge themselves in.

It's the gaming version of Galaxy Quest: a parody that is not only great when it stands by itself, but is satirical in a way that shows they are genuinely big fans of the source material.

(Though perhaps unsurprisingly, Blow has only once mentioned The Looker, saying he hates how it devalues his art, and now refuses to talk about it ever.)

> Blow has only once mentioned The Looker, saying he hates how it devalues his art, and now refuses to talk about it ever

This is so fascinating to me, because when I really get a piece of creative art, like I thought I did with both Braid and The Witness, I usually feel like I get some insight and empathy with the person who created it. Yet every time I read or hear from Jonathan Blow ... I do not feel that. So, I guess I've been challenged by art again, hooray!

I've heard The Looker described as "If you liked The Witness, you'll like The Looker. If you hated The Witness, you'll love The Looker."

I never found The Witness to be pretentious, but I still think The Looker is a great parody.

I played The Witness and didn't find it remotely fun. I've enjoyed all of Blow's other titles.

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

There was not enough active narrative to keep me engaged with the puzzles and there wasn't enough "reward" in completing them.

> 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.

I ragequit the Looker when it spawned an apple in the snake game inside my snake.