After nearly a decade, Croteam has released the follow-up to its award-winning adventure puzzle game The Talos Principle. A lot of people had been hoping for a sequel, eager to learn the impact of their choice at the end of the game and further immerse themselves in the intriguing world the developer had created. But because Talos 1 was a sharp departure from the studio’s staple Serious Sam adventures, not many expected to actually see a continuation of the story. So when The Talos Principle 2 was announced in 2016, there was a lot of excitement, though the game ended up taking another seven years to launch.
But the wait is over, and for a lot of gamers, it will have been worth it. In almost every way, The Talos Principle 2 is exactly what many fans of the first game were hoping for: more of the same engrossing and challenging puzzles, though spruced up, fine-tuned, and expanded upon. Even people who don’t typically play puzzle games will probably enjoy Talos 2 because the puzzles are well presented and mentally stimulating, yet still accessible for the most part. And, like the first game, it’s all wrapped up in a mystery that is enough to keep many players going even if the difficulty of a puzzle or two seems momentarily insurmountable.
However, that story, while certainly interesting, is not quite as riveting as the one in the first game. Few stories could compete with The Talos Principle's tale about the total extinction of humans, but Talos 2 does a fair job of drawing players in nevertheless. AI-driven robots, created to carry on the knowledge, history, and sentience of humankind, receive an unexpected invitation to an island filled with massive technological structures of unknown origin. This leads to an adventure that lasts around 20 to 40 hours, with approximately 132 puzzles of varying complexity to solve.
The first thing that Talos 1 players will notice is that the second game is no longer set in an elaborate simulation, but rather in the real world. The robots have set about building a civilization, and there are now a thousand of them in the city of New Jerusalem, each with unique personalities and ideas about what it means to be human. The player will engage in frequent dialogues, mostly of the existential, moral, and philosophical variety, which can take a bit of getting used to after wandering the Simulation as a loner throughout the first game. That said, it’s rather nice to have some company this time around, and some players may even become slightly attached to certain individuals.
On the other hand, the dialogues, texts, and audio logs will be a turnoff for some people. The story, while compelling, is couched in philosophical pondering that can really become tiresome and yawn-inducing. Luckily, much of it can be skipped through, but it still gets old. It’s also hard to believe that a city of robots, which is supposed to be a continuation of humanity, is filled with philosophers and people who solve every disagreement in a calm, reasoned, and well-spoken manner. Never once did any robot on the expedition wander off for a swim or to check out a fox den, which at least one person in a non-professional gathering of real humans would probably do.
As for the puzzles themselves, the developer has expanded on the mechanics used to solve them, bringing back gadgets from the previous game and introducing new, equally fun ones. There’s a gravity manipulation mechanic that requires navigating the world sideways or upside down, there’s teleportation, swapping bodies, and of course many, many lasers to play with in The Talos Principle 2. The puzzles are of varying difficulty, so some will be an in-and-out scenario, while others necessitate taking a break and coming back with fresh eyes. And completing some of the real stumpers will give players a good boost of confidence, while also making them eager to solve more.
The puzzles in The Talos Principle could be pretty tough at times, especially for those who don’t play a lot of puzzle games. The difficulty level could be downright frustrating, and there were plenty of forum threads filled with stumped and discouraged players.
Croteam eased up a little on the difficulty with Talos 2, and nearly all the puzzles can be solved with enough time and perseverance.
Very few will completely stop a player in their tracks, and for those that do, there are “keys” scattered around the game’s different zones that will unlock any puzzle and mark it complete.
Each location has eight main puzzles to solve, and along with the keys, there are two extra puzzles in case a main one proves too tough. So, though the number of keys is finite, there is a very minimal chance that a player will become so baffled that they can no longer progress. And it can be a relief, when the frustration starts to build, to just use a key and move on. On the other hand, some purists may hesitate to use a key and skip a puzzle. For those people, it would have been handy to also implement a hint system rather than simply mark a puzzle complete and send players on their way.
The game’s various locations are set within a range of environments, and some of the vistas will surely cause players to pause for a moment and just enjoy the view. Croteam has created a truly beautiful world for The Talos Principle 2, with towering monuments, snow-covered mountains, watery marshlands, and lush forests. Animals dart across the path and birds take flight as the player approaches, a marked change from the stark and empty world of the Simulation.
However, while there is a tram system to carry players from one zone to another, the robot protagonist has to hoof it to get around within each area, and some of the distances between locations require quite a trek. Though most of the puzzles in The Talos Principle 2 are nicely contained within designated areas, some are hidden outside in the game world, and figuring them out can require a lot of backtracking, trying various solutions, and failing multiple times. The ability to fast travel between discovered locations would’ve been very welcome.
There is also a problem with the save system at times. Specifically, actions done in the game world (i.e. outside the confines of the puzzles) aren’t saved. So, that work hiking back and forth trying to solve the world puzzles all goes poof if the player dies or exits the game. For the most part, this is just an inconvenience, but it becomes an irksome design choice at the end of the game specifically. There are eight more puzzles, four each in Dystopia and Utopia, that take a lot of backtracking and testing out possible solutions. But one misstep off a bridge, for example, and it’s game over, resetting all progress. It’s enough to make some people rage quit and also means that, once the endgame is started, there are no breaks, even if it takes an hour to figure out.
There’s little doubt that gamers who liked The Talos Principle will enjoy its sequel. It offers much the same experience in a more cohesive package. The puzzles are more accessible to the layman while still presenting a satisfying challenge, and very few will have to be skipped, even for someone who doesn’t consider themselves a puzzle person. And while the philosophical meanderings can be a bit long-winded, most of them can thankfully be ignored. Overall, any complaints pale in comparison to the fully engaging adventure puzzle experience that Croteam is offering with The Talos Principle 2.
The Talos Principle 2
The Talos Principle 2 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.
- Challenging but solvable puzzles
- Beautiful environments
- Engaging story
- Story becomes long-winded
- No fast travel system
- Missing a hint mechanic
