The Talos Principle 2 Review (PS5)

Croteam is best known for creating Serious Sam, but while the latest iterations of the B category action hero’s adventures were nothing to really celebrate, the puzzle game developed by the same team marches forward quite nicely. The second part of the Talos Principle does not settle for being just a remarkable puzzle game, it wants to create a new genre, or at the very least a sub-genre.

The Talos Principle 2 is defined as a philosophical puzzle game. It wants to be a deeply intellectual endeavor, raising questions about moral issues and trying to define what makes us human, way deeper than a biological level. In reality the game itself is more of a manifesto that tries to differentiate itself from the popular genres of the moment, justifying the nine years that have passed since the release of the first game.

The Talos Principle is generally viewed as one of the best puzzle games ever released, so the second part had some big shoes to fill. The developers wanted to build a bigger and a better game more in tune with the date in the calendar. They definitely managed to achieve their goal regarding the size, The Talos Principle 2 having an epic sized game world, with various different environments and bigger traversal areas. And of course, plenty of reminders of how much bigger the new game is compared to the first one, not so subtle hints presented as museum exhibits in New Jerusalem.

Exploring the new larger world is rewarded by stumbling at almost every pace at monumental buildings, like the Megastructure. Also, the environments and the entire world is much more detailed, and the graphics are up to date. The entire game looks very nice, but it lacks that “wow” factor. Visually The Talos Principle looks exactly as good as you would expect it, but there are no elements to surprise you. Overall, I can say the game is bigger and better looking than its predecessor. But what about the gameplay, is it better?

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Well, no. And don’t get me wrong, The Talos Principle is an excellent game, with puzzles as good as you get and manages to equal the first part, but it does not manage to surpass it. And this can be attributed to the exceptional quality of the first game, that you have to play if you didn’t do it until now. Around half of the original puzzle elements have been kept, and a lot of new ones have been added. As a result, just as in the first game, you will find very annoying mechanics, but also ones that you will really like.

The recipe follows the tradition, but the learning curve is much steeper. It is like the developers expect the players to be somewhat familiar with the first game and the out of the box thinking pattern it embodies. At first the puzzles seem like standalone challenges, but in Talos Principle 2 even in the tutorial phase you will start using objects in a different manner than their original purpose. For examples disruptors and fans will also serve as weights to activate pressure plates in the absence of boxes.

Soon the boundaries between the puzzles mazes and the traversal areas melt away, and thanks to the excellent level design the game becomes a harmonious unity that flows without any artificial limitations. But, to my greatest satisfaction, the puzzles are just one layer of the experience, the developers putting the same emphasis on the story, that does not serve just as scaffolding for the puzzles, but they go hand in hand.

The narrative of The Talos Principle 2 is like a curveball, that starts out easy and nice no more than pretentious philosophical want to be sophistry, but it ends up presenting real dilemmas about what it means to be human, where the AI ends and where real consciousness begins, and what are the crucial differences between living in a simulation and reality.

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Moreover, the story unfolds at a leisurely pace that allows not just to familiarize yourself with the larger frame of the events of the first game, the happenings between that and the new episode, but also with the importance of cats in both humans and AIs lives. Exploring New Jerusalem and chatting with every possible character, visiting the museums and memorials, solving some side puzzles is an endeavor that will take up more than two hours.

Playing as an android, maybe the last according to the premises of the story gives you the perfect premise to discover if there is even a fine line between autonomous thinking machines and humans. Also, players have plenty of opportunities to express their own views, by choosing from the multiple choices the game presents them with. There are no right or wrong answers, but it all adds up to the moral profile of the player. What is more important, one’s family or the survival of society?    

Of course, you are free to focus solely on the puzzles, but in that case, you would miss a big chunk of what makes The Talos Principle 2 such a great game. And of course, we cannot forget about your companions, maybe the greatest difference compared to the first game. Instead of being a loner trying to beat the system, now you have a small expedition at your side. And as an irony to today’s society your almost every step is documented, then streamed on a social network, so all the residents of new Jerusalem can comment, whether they have a clue or not about what you are doing.

The one critic that I have is the difficulty, that does grow as smoothly as in the first game, rather remains on the same level from beginning to end. At least when it comes to the mandatory puzzles needed to advance through the 12 areas of the game. The optional puzzles are fiendishly clever and will present a much bigger challenge, but after the first game this was to be expected.

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The Good

The Bad

Conclusion