Posted Fri Nov 20, 2015 at 12:41 PM PST by Brian Hoss
So different from 'Braid.'
Among its other strengths, 'Braid' scored beautifully in the music department, and that has raised some questions about 'The Witness.' As it turns out the sound design for the game is quite demanding. It's to the extent that a musical soundtrack is not only unnecessary, but would be considered a distraction.
From Jonathon Blow,
There is (almost) no music in the game. This is not an arbitrary decision, but is in fact very important to the coherence of the thing we are making.
The Witness is a game about being perceptive: noticing subtleties in the puzzles you find, noticing details in the world around you. If we slather on a layer of music that is just arbitrarily playing, and not really coming from the world, then we’re adding a layer of stuff that works against the game. It’d be like a layer of insulation that you have to hear through in order to be more present in the world.
Instead, we put a great deal of care into the sounds of the world around you, in a way that maximizes immersion in the game.
And music isn't the only element at odds with 'The Witness.' There is a stated desire for things to sound natural, or at least natural for an island without people, animals or insects. There won't be the typical birds in the trees, bugs in water ambient. Instead, Wabi Sabi Sound has been tasked with making 'The Witness' have produced an audio world that can be previewed (along with a long shot of the island) below.
There will, however, be English voice acting, courtesy of Warner Brothers Game Audio. This will be exhibited in voice recordings that the player will find, and to serve the needs of other languages, more than a dozen subtitled languages will ship with the game.
Does anyone of this make anyone anxious for the January 26th release date? Well no, not exactly. That said, we should expect to learn some more during the upcoming PlayStation Experience. That, I suspect, will be when the coyness surrounding the game will be relaxed.
You can find the latest info on 'The Witness' linked from our Video Game Release Schedule.
Source: The Witness
The latest news on all things 4K Ultra HD, blu-ray and Gear.