The Talos Principle 2 is a work that excels as a video game, excels as art, and excels as a reflection, thus becoming one of the best titles of the entire year. In addition to being a substantial improvement over its predecessor, Croteam has managed to materialize a beautiful production that stands out for its entertainment but, even more, transcends for its ability to make us revalue the beauty of humanity, life and existence.
There wasn’t much to improve about the original, but Croteam has succeeded in creating an incredible sequel in The Talos Principle 2. The puzzles are better, the world is larger, and the narrative is even more thought-provoking. Top it off with a breathtaking environment and a moving soundtrack, and this just might be the puzzle game of the year.
The Talos Principle 2 builds on the genius puzzle design of the first game in innovative ways that makes it another masterpiece in the genre. Even with a more story-driven focus, there’s nothing else quite like experiencing every mystery its sublime world has to offer.
The Talos Principle 2 excels at giving players a suite of brain-busting puzzles built around strong eureka moments, even if it can feel as long-winded as a philosophy professor with its wandering existential monologues. Only the most determined genre experts may see the end of its super-sized story, but those who brave its gauntlet of mysterious islands are sure to walk away with newfound confidence in their ability to accomplish the impossible.
As close to flawless as any puzzle game can be, the Talos Principle 2 offers some of the deepest philosophy, most poignant moments, best written characters, and – of course – the smartest puzzles in gaming, all beautifully interwoven with each other to produce a masterful experience for contemplative gamers.
The Talos Principle 2 somehow managed to impress me even more than the surprise of the original game did, leaving me completely blown away not only by the sheer size of the game, its beautiful environments and interesting characters, but also the masterful integration of the puzzles into both the world and the storyline. It might seem artificial and contrived to be solving these puzzles, but in the same way that the Portal games managed to make them seem entirely natural, so too does The Talos Principle 2 ground them geographically and philosophically within its world. It might have been almost a decade since the first game, but The Talos Principle 2 was more than worth the wait.
Expanding and improving on the original in every way, The Talos Principle 2 is a brilliant puzzler that’s most compelling during conversations with its characters.
If one day we were facing extinction and I had to choose something to save, I would definitely save The Talos Principle 2, because it’s really worth it.
The Talos Principle 2 is a philosophical puzzle adventure game that’s also thought-provoking and has a deep narrative. It takes the foundation laid by the first game and expands on it in every way possible.
Though an occasional lack of polish and size for size’s sake approach doesn’t always prove beneficial, a brilliant assortment of puzzles nestled amidst a thought-provoking but compelling narrative still grants The Talos Principle II status as a sequel well worth the near-decade wait.
Despite crashes and some issues with its difficulty curve, The Talos Principle 2’s ability to explore both interesting puzzle design and deep philosophy simultaneously is incredibly impressive.
A funny and supremely inventive story-driven puzzle game, with a plot based on Greek philosophy that’s delivered with the lightest of touches and a goofy sense of humour.
With thought-provoking philosophy and sharply varied puzzles, The Talos Principle 2 is a sublime sequel that seeks the knowledge of the gods but maintains its humanity.
The Talos Principle II’s expertly designed puzzles are kept interesting and engaging throughout a lengthy thirty-hour runtime by the incremental introduction of consistently intriguing mechanics. Pairing well with pragmatic problem solving is a story that delves into ancient Greek philosophy and mythology that effectively asks unimaginably important questions that can’t possibly be answered. It’s common to find an experience that makes you feel, and equally common to find one that makes you think, but The Talos Principle II is a rare cross-section that allows you to do both simultaneously.
The Talos Principle 2 has almost everything I could ever want out of a puzzle game. It builds upon the foundations of the original, and is a perfect callback to classics such as Portal and Myst. There’s a brave new world out there for you to explore, numerous sentient robots to meet, and countless puzzles that will make you wrack your brain.
The Talos Principle II is a fun, but challenging, puzzle adventure. The narrative is intriguing, even if it is a little slow to get going. However, it is the puzzle solving gameplay that is the highlight of this title. The puzzles feel unique and very creative and will cause you to flex your problem solving muscles.
The Talos Principle 2 is the perfect combination of puzzle game and RPG phases. A philosophical story that starts from the game but reaches out to touch the player and the history of the human being. The Talos Principle 2 is one of the most complete gaming experiences of this year.
The Talos Principle 2 asks deep philosophical questions and gives you time to ponder them as you solve a plethora of complex puzzles at your own pace. It is a game about relaxing and exploring, and while it can feel a bit like climbing a mountain, there’s no timer telling you how quickly you need to reach the top. An enjoyable experience from start to finish, no matter how long it takes you to get there.
The Talos Principle 2 is something of a rarity in the gaming space. An extremely high-quality puzzle game that has a deeper meaning within its story, and interactions that make you think in more ways than one. This is on top of its breathtaking visuals, courtesy of the brand new iteration of the Unreal Engine. I cannot recommend it enough to any fans of puzzle games. The Talos Principle 2 is an absolute must-play.
The Talos Principle 2 may be approachable and forgiving without combat or fail states, but that doesn’t mean the puzzles are easy to run through. As the player makes their way through the gauntlet of challenges, the puzzles become increasingly more complex. From moving boxes to bending gravity, things can escalate quickly.
The Talos Principle 2 is Croteam’s largest and most realised project yet. It’s in every way a natural step from the first title, a beautifully written and challenging one. This game may very well be one of the best narrative puzzle titles I’ve played in quite a long time.
I enjoyed the first game very much but never finished it because I was distracted by some other shiny object. How much does 2 spoil the first game’s plot?
In the first moments of the game they give you a full summary of the plot of the first game. If you want to play the first game for the story I recommend you hold out on this one until afterwards.
This game rocks! The first game holds such a special place in my heart so understandably I was both excited and a little nervous to get my hands on the second. Thankfully we have a Portal 2 situation happening here. They took all of the best parts of the first game (mind-bending puzzles, thought provoking philosophical ideas, beautiful music) and expanded on it all without losing any of the core identity.
I rarely buy games upon release but gladly purchased this one to support these guys.
Dude, thanks so much for posting this! The first one and the VR version are some of my favorite games ever. I had some bare awareness they were working on this, but forgot and prob would haven’t noticed for a bit. I’ve been kinda burned out gaming-wise lately, TBH.
10 or so hours in and it’s such a perfect sequel. Art design is incredible, and everything from voices to character writing is really good. Great blend of puzzle concepts old and new. I’m enjoying the philosophical nature, like the first one, but find the ideas a little more accessible, at least on their face.
Yeah, I was rerunning the old game and now in the dlc part, almost done and still like all the more challenging puzzles.
Many of the terminal questions and interaction though is what make you stuck the longest. I know you can save scum if you want to see what other path from you choice, but you can also do that online by checking the wiki for example.
They don’t really have real consequences game wise, but make you still think about those questions when you lie on the bed.
my “review” of it so far after 15 hours: marked as spoilers, but it’s not really a spoiler in terms of the story. I guess just don’t read if you don’t want to already know the game’s structure and difficulty (from my experience).
spoiler
I’ve got 15 hours in it so far. I haven’t unlocked everything yet and maybe the story opens up more but it certainly seems like there’s less content. It’s just difficult to compare because there’s a bit more puzzle variety but also a bit more repetition. The game’s divided into chunks so that you experience a bit of puzzles then a bit of story, then you repeat it all, so it’s harder to parse for me how much of my content has been engaging with story vs how much of it was puzzles, whereas the first game was almost entirely divorced from the story.
The amount of new mechanics is staggering but as I near the last two worlds I’ve been disappointed with what feels like a developer obsession with lasers. I know the lasers were a huge part of the first game’s story but they weren’t the only feature… I know mines frustrated a lot of people in the first game but honestly? I miss those. And I miss the fizzler thingies that didn’t kill you but still acted like mines. However I think with most mechanics being segregated between the 12 worlds, that opens up a lot more options when you get stuck. For example I hated recording in the first game. Took me ages to work out how it worked and I hated every bit of it, so when I got sick of it it was harder to try other things because in C world and most of B world, most puzzles had recorders. If you don’t like the gravity (“gun”?) mechanic in this you can just go to the 11 other worlds where 99% of the puzzles don’t have it.
I don’t really know how to write what I think of it though because it’s so incredibly different from the first game. The story has also been vastly improved in my opinion, but I do think it would be nice to have a little less cutscenes.
In general though I think this is one of the better games I’ve played in a very long time. Some people online seem to be saying that it’s “easy” compared to the first game but honestly I’ve been struggling so much with the latter puzzles. Early in the game I was spending maybe 10 minutes tops on a few puzzles but now I’m spending upwards of 30 - 45 minutes (maybe even an hour) on just one puzzle.
I also am disappointed with the lack of easter eggs and unmarked secrets. (there’s no minimap but there’s a HUD with a compass that shows you were “?” locations are. I have yet to find more than a handful of interesting items that aren’t marked on the compass and aren’t part of collectible achievements). Maybe I’m just really bad at searching through them, but I remember loving how the first game was so full of secrets. You’d thought you found a way to break out of bounds but then there’s a star or a hidden QR code or pictures of cats… That’s also what made the first game so replayable. The developers didn’t bother with invisible walls or boundaries that pushed you out so you could break the puzzles in very ingenious ways. In this one I have yet to find a way to do that, sadly.
Fair criticism. It does feel more “on rails” to me, both story-wise and gameplay-wise, but at the same time the first one was a bit too broken (which made it very enjoyable but in a different way).
Dang! I am glad it is so good. I loved the original, but was worried the reviews would be, “not enough new innovation”. Very glad they didn’t fall in that trap.
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I enjoyed the first game very much but never finished it because I was distracted by some other shiny object. How much does 2 spoil the first game’s plot?
In the first moments of the game they give you a full summary of the plot of the first game. If you want to play the first game for the story I recommend you hold out on this one until afterwards.
OK, that’s what I had kind of feared. Thank you!
Not like it will be such a hardship to finally finish it - just have to resist the temptation to play Monster Hunter instead :)
This game rocks! The first game holds such a special place in my heart so understandably I was both excited and a little nervous to get my hands on the second. Thankfully we have a Portal 2 situation happening here. They took all of the best parts of the first game (mind-bending puzzles, thought provoking philosophical ideas, beautiful music) and expanded on it all without losing any of the core identity.
I rarely buy games upon release but gladly purchased this one to support these guys.
Dude, thanks so much for posting this! The first one and the VR version are some of my favorite games ever. I had some bare awareness they were working on this, but forgot and prob would haven’t noticed for a bit. I’ve been kinda burned out gaming-wise lately, TBH.
10 or so hours in and it’s such a perfect sequel. Art design is incredible, and everything from voices to character writing is really good. Great blend of puzzle concepts old and new. I’m enjoying the philosophical nature, like the first one, but find the ideas a little more accessible, at least on their face.
Certainly a monumental piece of art, all said.
Just came to the Iain Banks reference, damn these robots are my people!
Been waiting 9 years for this game and hyping myself up. Somehow I’m not disappointed, and I’m even impressed?
How the guys at Croteam manage to make such thought provoking games with some of the -if not the- best puzzle gameplay ever is beyond me.
And it’s only 28€!!! (even less if you have the original). They could’ve made it 60€, and I would’ve happily paid them.
Suck it AAA!Because they aren’t part of a huge corporation trying to make as much money as possible, as fast as possible, as cheap as possible.
Yeah, I was rerunning the old game and now in the dlc part, almost done and still like all the more challenging puzzles.
Many of the terminal questions and interaction though is what make you stuck the longest. I know you can save scum if you want to see what other path from you choice, but you can also do that online by checking the wiki for example.
They don’t really have real consequences game wise, but make you still think about those questions when you lie on the bed.
I’m 9 hours in now and loving the game. The environment is superbly designed and the puzzle are just on the right side of too difficult.
I would LOVE to see this game in VR. Walking around the megastructures would blow people’s minds.
Saying that, my performance isn’t great, but playable. Let’s hope for some optimisation patches.
my “review” of it so far after 15 hours: marked as spoilers, but it’s not really a spoiler in terms of the story. I guess just don’t read if you don’t want to already know the game’s structure and difficulty (from my experience).
spoiler
I’ve got 15 hours in it so far. I haven’t unlocked everything yet and maybe the story opens up more but it certainly seems like there’s less content. It’s just difficult to compare because there’s a bit more puzzle variety but also a bit more repetition. The game’s divided into chunks so that you experience a bit of puzzles then a bit of story, then you repeat it all, so it’s harder to parse for me how much of my content has been engaging with story vs how much of it was puzzles, whereas the first game was almost entirely divorced from the story.
The amount of new mechanics is staggering but as I near the last two worlds I’ve been disappointed with what feels like a developer obsession with lasers. I know the lasers were a huge part of the first game’s story but they weren’t the only feature… I know mines frustrated a lot of people in the first game but honestly? I miss those. And I miss the fizzler thingies that didn’t kill you but still acted like mines. However I think with most mechanics being segregated between the 12 worlds, that opens up a lot more options when you get stuck. For example I hated recording in the first game. Took me ages to work out how it worked and I hated every bit of it, so when I got sick of it it was harder to try other things because in C world and most of B world, most puzzles had recorders. If you don’t like the gravity (“gun”?) mechanic in this you can just go to the 11 other worlds where 99% of the puzzles don’t have it.
I don’t really know how to write what I think of it though because it’s so incredibly different from the first game. The story has also been vastly improved in my opinion, but I do think it would be nice to have a little less cutscenes.
In general though I think this is one of the better games I’ve played in a very long time. Some people online seem to be saying that it’s “easy” compared to the first game but honestly I’ve been struggling so much with the latter puzzles. Early in the game I was spending maybe 10 minutes tops on a few puzzles but now I’m spending upwards of 30 - 45 minutes (maybe even an hour) on just one puzzle.
I also am disappointed with the lack of easter eggs and unmarked secrets. (there’s no minimap but there’s a HUD with a compass that shows you were “?” locations are. I have yet to find more than a handful of interesting items that aren’t marked on the compass and aren’t part of collectible achievements). Maybe I’m just really bad at searching through them, but I remember loving how the first game was so full of secrets. You’d thought you found a way to break out of bounds but then there’s a star or a hidden QR code or pictures of cats… That’s also what made the first game so replayable. The developers didn’t bother with invisible walls or boundaries that pushed you out so you could break the puzzles in very ingenious ways. In this one I have yet to find a way to do that, sadly.
Fair criticism. It does feel more “on rails” to me, both story-wise and gameplay-wise, but at the same time the first one was a bit too broken (which made it very enjoyable but in a different way).
Dang! I am glad it is so good. I loved the original, but was worried the reviews would be, “not enough new innovation”. Very glad they didn’t fall in that trap.