There will be time to tear your hair out over The Witness' 677 puzzles later. For now, sit back for a relaxing bird's eye view of a stretch of the island, and try not to focus too hard on the many black panels just waiting to receive your inscrutable input.
I never played Myst, so the severe architecture and natural splendor of this trailer sends my mind back to Ico and Shadow of the Colossus instead. Even if you're not in the mood to solve puzzles, it looks like The Witness will be a lovely place to wander, albeit a quiet one. A blog post accompanying the trailer reveals that the game is eschewing a traditional soundtrack, and it won't even have any bird or insect sounds; the island truly is deserted, except for you.
The Witness will be released on PC and PS4 on January 26, 2016. Developer Jonathan Blow, who also designed Braid, says his next project will be a "traditional video game" rather than a puzzle-fest. Hopefully it won't take the better part of a decade to come out, either.
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