The Talos Principle 2: A Philosophical and Mind-Bending Puzzle Game Review

Humanity has already had its chance. Over thousands of years, it has acquired tremendous knowledge, came up with inventions that simplified and significantly improved the world, cured diseases, created amazing works of art. But it didn’t save him in the end. The planet still exists and seems to be thriving, but not a single human lives on it. Now is the time of the robots.

Platform: PC, PlayStation 5 (reviewed version), Xbox Series X/S
Date of publication: 2. 11. 2023
Developer: Croteam
Publisher: Return Digital
Genre: puzzle hra
Czech localization: Yes
Multiplayer: Yes
Data to download: 70,52 GB (PlayStation verze)
Game time: 30 hours
Cena: 699 crowns

Almost nine years have passed since the first part of The Talos Principle, and the game has changed significantly in its sequel, although the core has remained the same. It’s still a mind-bending mix of puzzles and philosophy, but it’s also bigger—literally, in terms of story, characters, and lore. It is probably a good idea to mention that it is definitely not necessary to play the previous part, because you will gradually remember everything in notes or interviews. But many spoilers cannot be avoided, because where the first The Talos Principle left off, its younger sibling begins.

1. Each puzzle is clearly labeled and delimited.

3. Memories of the past and Elohim?

5. Some locations in the game are truly breathtaking.

11. New in the second part: a token that helps you bypass a too difficult puzzle.

13. Everything revolves around the mysterious pyramid.

Your hero wakes up from the complicated simulation he had to go through in the last game. But waking up is pleasant, because he is greeted by robots like him. Their futuristic city of New Jerusalem is located in an unnamed place in the far future where there are no longer any humans, the surrounding nature has taken what was always rightfully hers, and the once domesticated dogs have become wolves. Due to the warming of the planet and the melting of the permafrost, a virus was released from the ancient ice, which humanity, despite all its progress, could not face, and thus gradually died out. But even before that, a group of scientists decided to put all the knowledge and culture we had managed to create into humanoid robots. In the form of simulated puzzles, they awakened consciousness in them and ensured that something would be left after “us”.

The result is a city that anxiously tries to avoid the mistakes of its predecessors and creators. It has a limited population, does not seek too much progress, does not want to explore other parts of the world. It has reached satisfaction, but also a certain stagnation, when its robot inhabitants do not need much else. At least that’s how some of them see it. Then there are rebels, soulful adventurers, for whom stopping the development of society is at the same time stunting the individual. You will join them as the thousandth and last inhabitant of the city when you go to the mysterious island where you have been invited by an unknown entity calling itself Prometheus.

The ancient myth of Prometheus and its various interpretations are the focus of the entire play. According to her, Prometheus created man and the goddess Athena breathed his soul into him. However, when he stole fire from the gods to give it to people, he received a severe punishment – he was chained to a rock, where an eagle pecked out his liver every day. People who gained knowledge and created art thanks to fire did not escape either. Pandora, sent by the gods, opened her box and released disease, evil or poverty into the world. At the bottom, only hope remained.

I understand that this explanation may seem very long-winded to some of you, but it is essential to the parallels in The Talos Principle 2. The title constantly refers to various philosophical works, from recent ones, including the German Hegel, to ancient Greek legends. After all, the game features beings who call themselves not only Prometheus, but also Pandora or the Sphinx, a winged monster that in Greek fables always posed one riddle to the unfortunate. Whoever didn’t guess her died. Fortunately, this will not happen to you in the game.

Thinking “differently”

The puzzle is truly blessed here. They are divided into twelve areas, one of which is a beautiful coniferous forest and the other is a snowy island surrounded by melted glaciers. In each area, there are eight “core” puzzles hidden in clearly delineated buildings and several bonus ones, and you don’t have to complete all of them to progress in the story, and you can adjust the order. In addition, he is helped by one novelty, a kind of Prometheus token. If you find it in the open world, you can “pay” with it to crack a puzzle that for God’s sake (hehe) you couldn’t figure out.

The second part is therefore more accessible than its predecessor in many respects: it has a fairly detailed story, you no longer travel the world alone, but with a group of four other (and very nice) robots, and it offers freer puzzle solutions. These vary in difficulty as each area uses a different system. And its specific complexity is individual for everyone. In one biome, for example, you split the light into a red, blue and green beam, in another you “reincarnate” into another robot or make portals. Other times you combine everything together… and you are constantly improving and evolving.

Do people have a right to information, or do they have to “earn” it?

You may have already wondered if The Talos Principle is similar to another well-known puzzle game, The Witness. Mixing puzzles and deeper ideas certainly does, although here the philosophy is used in more detail and permeates the entire game much more. But The Witness was also about puzzles that sometimes resembled math problems. They played with your ability to analyze or think logically. The Talos Principle 2 usually requires more of a willingness to experiment and think creatively and “differently”.

Ideas, personal development, gaining knowledge – all this is manifested both in solving puzzles and in the story. Several times you will debate with the robots about topics that a person usually does not bring up in a pub. Did Prometheus deserve punishment for imparting knowledge to humans? Do people have a right to information, or do they have to “earn” it? Or is the universal spread of knowledge even dangerous?

1. Some puzzles require a friend.

2. Other puzzles are about connecting light beams correctly.

5. The futuristic city of New Jerusalem.

6. A quartet of robot explorers will win you over right away.

7. Some take your survey records and comment on them.

8. What is your opinion of Prometheus?

11. The world of The Talos Principle 2 is really vast.

In addition to very successfully dubbed interviews, you will also come across various written messages or diary entries. Some contain excerpts from existing books, others completely new ideas for characters in the game. It is then up to each player which text appeals to him. For example, thinking about the extinction of a species. When humans cause the extinction of a dolphin, it is seen as a tragedy. But what if the bacteria causing a dangerous disease disappears because of his interventions? And why, if nature is entirely to blame for extinction, the very idea that a species no longer exists doesn’t seem so bad to us? Don’t we mind human responsibility and failure more than extinction?

Ani relax, ani stres

Much of these notes are scattered across the landscape, but they are so well written that they compel you to explore. However, it is sometimes unnecessarily long. As I already mentioned, the game is literally bigger. Thought of her map. There are quite long paths between individual puzzles, which do not always hide text or other secrets.

The intention of the developers is clear: The Talos Principle 2 is not a relaxing game, but it is not stressful either. There is no timed puzzle here, you can approach everything slowly. And so, after successfully solving the puzzle, you should go and enjoy the beautiful landscape. Which by the way was really successful and I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen such a beautiful puzzle game with a realistic environment. Sometimes the reflections in the water get annoying and the world isn’t very responsive, but that’s not too important in this genre. You didn’t come here to make footprints in a puddle, but to solve puzzles. And they at least make me want to find another one as soon as possible and break it too. Sometimes I found myself addicted to ignoring the monumental building next to the road and running blindly (and enthusiastically!) to the next puzzle. And so on and on, like Prometheus on the rock, whose liver grows back overnight and is plucked out again by an eagle during the day.

It is not surprising that the developers themselves from the Croatian studio Croteam (which is also behind the completely different Serious Sam series) describe the game as philosophical science fiction. It is a clever combination of logical tasks, familiar ideas and ideas about a possible future. Robots behave like people here – and they even refer to themselves as living people. Because what makes us human? Is it our pink, soft box? Or is it more self-awareness?

Review