The Talos Principle II is a thought-provoking first-person puzzle experience that greatly expands on the first game's philosophical themes and stunning environments with increasingly mind-bending challenges.
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- More refinement of the first game with a more expansive plot.
- The puzzles never actually got hard like the first game and the mechanics were never fully explored to get a chance to shine.
- A puzzle collectathon is still unique enough to warrant existing.
- The puzzles never actually got hard like the first game and the mechanics were never fully explored to get a chance to shine.
- A puzzle collectathon is still unique enough to warrant existing.
She talos on my principle until I question existence
So I enjoyed the first Talos Principle. The puzzles were fun headscratchers, not easy but also not too hard. But that's really all I can tell you about it, except for the musings on humanity and impending apocalypse. And you know what? The second one hits the same notes, for better and for worse.
Talos 2 can't be described without first talking about the puzzles. These are the kinds of puzzles that I really excel at: 3D-space-based, heavy on positioning and really make you use the tools at your disposal. For completion, you have to complete 4 zones of three smaller sections of 10 total puzzles per section. And for the most part, the puzzles are very clever and the difficulty has a great curve. Slowing down and spending the time to really concentrate on what your goal is, what tools you have right now, and sometimes working backwards, you can get the answers within a few minutes.
That said, after about 10 of the 12 areas, I think I was about done. Some of the puzzles became a bit convoluted, like I would place a button, but didn't get the feedback of what that button did, or extremely tight positioning of a laser made progress more of a headscratcher of "Wait, but why?" (that puzzle was "Jailbreak", where I finally lost a bit of interest). Again, great puzzles, and there are definitely people out there that will find each a treat, but I personally thought it a bit too many and the game could have benefitted from cutting a few.
The second thing you have talk about with Talos 2 is the graphics. Much improved, with full DLSS and RT on PC. But you know, the first game did just fine without the extra graphical fidelity, and I don't think it added much here, overall. I'm usually a graphic snob, but it wouldn't have bugged me if they hadn't used the extra enhancements.
The sound and music ARE much the same as the previous game though, to the point where the puzzles SFX I think are literally used over again. The music is just not good, at all. For a puzzle game where you're going to sit in thought for long periods of time, I found the music kind of grating after a while, and there just wasn't a ton of variety. I was hearing the same song over and over again, so I ended up turning it off and just became a podcast/Youtube game.
Philosophy is another massive part of the Talos series, and if you hated it in 1, you'll hate it in 2. I didn't really mind it, though it seemed like the writing staff spent more of their time talking about if robots can be considered human than spending time on the plot and dialogue. There are also the requisite audio and text logs for extra flavor, but honestly this is where the game got a little to "up their own ass". A fun extra, but I ended up just skipping them after collecting them.
So, is Talos 2 a good puzzle game? Yes! I would consider it top tier for 3D puzzle games and would love to meet the psychos who come up with these things. Just be warned that there are some annoyances that may or may not be your cup of tea, but if you're willing to sit and give the game the time it needs/deserves, there's a lot of good content here
Talos 2 can't be described without first talking about the puzzles. These are the kinds of puzzles that I really excel at: 3D-space-based, heavy on positioning and really make you use the tools at your disposal. For completion, you have to complete 4 zones of three smaller sections of 10 total puzzles per section. And for the most part, the puzzles are very clever and the difficulty has a great curve. Slowing down and spending the time to really concentrate on what your goal is, what tools you have right now, and sometimes working backwards, you can get the answers within a few minutes.
That said, after about 10 of the 12 areas, I think I was about done. Some of the puzzles became a bit convoluted, like I would place a button, but didn't get the feedback of what that button did, or extremely tight positioning of a laser made progress more of a headscratcher of "Wait, but why?" (that puzzle was "Jailbreak", where I finally lost a bit of interest). Again, great puzzles, and there are definitely people out there that will find each a treat, but I personally thought it a bit too many and the game could have benefitted from cutting a few.
The second thing you have talk about with Talos 2 is the graphics. Much improved, with full DLSS and RT on PC. But you know, the first game did just fine without the extra graphical fidelity, and I don't think it added much here, overall. I'm usually a graphic snob, but it wouldn't have bugged me if they hadn't used the extra enhancements.
The sound and music ARE much the same as the previous game though, to the point where the puzzles SFX I think are literally used over again. The music is just not good, at all. For a puzzle game where you're going to sit in thought for long periods of time, I found the music kind of grating after a while, and there just wasn't a ton of variety. I was hearing the same song over and over again, so I ended up turning it off and just became a podcast/Youtube game.
Philosophy is another massive part of the Talos series, and if you hated it in 1, you'll hate it in 2. I didn't really mind it, though it seemed like the writing staff spent more of their time talking about if robots can be considered human than spending time on the plot and dialogue. There are also the requisite audio and text logs for extra flavor, but honestly this is where the game got a little to "up their own ass". A fun extra, but I ended up just skipping them after collecting them.
So, is Talos 2 a good puzzle game? Yes! I would consider it top tier for 3D puzzle games and would love to meet the psychos who come up with these things. Just be warned that there are some annoyances that may or may not be your cup of tea, but if you're willing to sit and give the game the time it needs/deserves, there's a lot of good content here
I accidentally used cheats to teleport to a storypoint. Erased my entire progress. Fuck this
If you loved 1, you will like 2. Unfortunately, it's not as hard as the Road to Gehenna DLC until you get to the gold puzzles.
This review contains spoilers
"This game was good."
I dont know why I have to type that out for myself to believe. I think the only reason I have hesitancy with that statement is because of how much I just LOVED Talos principle 1. I went into that title knowing NOTHING about it. So everything was so different and inspiring.
And in Talos Principle 2 I wasn't nearly in a place in time that left nearly that same impression.
Now that's the most subjective, inner personal, (World revolves around me), take I think I've ever written. Like who am I to judge an entire game based off just because I'm older and was exhausted while I was playing this one. I do plan on returning to it potentially one day to try a different ending.
Some positives
I enjoyed was that the puzzles were an absolute high point here. leagues is better than Talos 1 and those puzzles had some highs as well.
The graphics were jaw dropping, and the environments were bigger than ever. Which of course feed into the narrative it was to tell (Which I wont get into because of spoilers), But I will also talk about this... "Bigness" in the negatives to.
I really enjoyed the story it had to tell. I will leave this here, because its at its best the less you know.
Negatives I had:
Its too too big. I have completionist brain. I have to get all the shiny tokens and coins and bits and bops. So having to wander around these GINOURMOUS maps for sometimes over and hour just for one level is not enjoyable. Especially when some puzzles are just "Find the switch hidden in this huge desert." Having beautiful vistas is wonderful, but after some time they become annoyances and background noise while you chase after the same Star for the collectible.
The lack of reason to explore these large Vistas.
They are OH SO PRETTY. Like easily in the top ten on the PS5. BUT like there is nothing... Any and all secrets of Talos principle 1 have been stripped and simplified to finding cardboard cutouts or purple rings with cute animations. Another thing is The City. I wish the City just had more to it.
The coolest part of the city is the museum where they have an entire section dedicated to Talos 1. Outside of that, there are some NPCs to talk to, 5 data logs to listen to, and 3 interactive adventure computers.
Side content that went nowhere.
Specifically, I want to criticize a side story in this game with Robot 666. There are light spoilers...
She asks you at the beginning of the game if you would like to enter into an underground discussion with members of the City who have great influence. You then answer a survey to find out which of the 4 influences you will match with. All representing different takes on different philosophical beliefs. Then you will go a Long long time without hearing from this group. Only to get one interaction with them. Only for them to never message again.
This feeds into my next complaint, the NPCs. They do talk... a lot. To go from Talos 1 with a very solitary world, you now have a party with you who can have some fun dialogue and moments. I found myself losing interest in them more and more as the game continued. None of them outside of the main two party members Byron and Alcatraz. The others I grew tired of ... and felt less and less likely to search for them in the large open world to get some dialogue and updates on their opinions on philosophy.
All in all, this is a GREAT puzzle game that's beautiful. And the story it tells is amazing. But there are small dings and bumps that make it a very taxing experience.
I dont know why I have to type that out for myself to believe. I think the only reason I have hesitancy with that statement is because of how much I just LOVED Talos principle 1. I went into that title knowing NOTHING about it. So everything was so different and inspiring.
And in Talos Principle 2 I wasn't nearly in a place in time that left nearly that same impression.
Now that's the most subjective, inner personal, (World revolves around me), take I think I've ever written. Like who am I to judge an entire game based off just because I'm older and was exhausted while I was playing this one. I do plan on returning to it potentially one day to try a different ending.
Some positives
I enjoyed was that the puzzles were an absolute high point here. leagues is better than Talos 1 and those puzzles had some highs as well.
The graphics were jaw dropping, and the environments were bigger than ever. Which of course feed into the narrative it was to tell (Which I wont get into because of spoilers), But I will also talk about this... "Bigness" in the negatives to.
I really enjoyed the story it had to tell. I will leave this here, because its at its best the less you know.
Negatives I had:
Its too too big. I have completionist brain. I have to get all the shiny tokens and coins and bits and bops. So having to wander around these GINOURMOUS maps for sometimes over and hour just for one level is not enjoyable. Especially when some puzzles are just "Find the switch hidden in this huge desert." Having beautiful vistas is wonderful, but after some time they become annoyances and background noise while you chase after the same Star for the collectible.
The lack of reason to explore these large Vistas.
They are OH SO PRETTY. Like easily in the top ten on the PS5. BUT like there is nothing... Any and all secrets of Talos principle 1 have been stripped and simplified to finding cardboard cutouts or purple rings with cute animations. Another thing is The City. I wish the City just had more to it.
The coolest part of the city is the museum where they have an entire section dedicated to Talos 1. Outside of that, there are some NPCs to talk to, 5 data logs to listen to, and 3 interactive adventure computers.
Side content that went nowhere.
Specifically, I want to criticize a side story in this game with Robot 666. There are light spoilers...
She asks you at the beginning of the game if you would like to enter into an underground discussion with members of the City who have great influence. You then answer a survey to find out which of the 4 influences you will match with. All representing different takes on different philosophical beliefs. Then you will go a Long long time without hearing from this group. Only to get one interaction with them. Only for them to never message again.
This feeds into my next complaint, the NPCs. They do talk... a lot. To go from Talos 1 with a very solitary world, you now have a party with you who can have some fun dialogue and moments. I found myself losing interest in them more and more as the game continued. None of them outside of the main two party members Byron and Alcatraz. The others I grew tired of ... and felt less and less likely to search for them in the large open world to get some dialogue and updates on their opinions on philosophy.
All in all, this is a GREAT puzzle game that's beautiful. And the story it tells is amazing. But there are small dings and bumps that make it a very taxing experience.