The Talos Principle: a sleeper gem?

[Craig234]

Ran across this game, it sounds great and has strong user praise.

Described as 'the best puzzle game since Portal'.

 

[EDUSAN]

i hope its good

i like Croteam and always liked the serious sam games, played them all. Ill sure get this one as soon as it goes cheaper

 

[Elcs]

Serious Sam + Puzzle game = Does not compute...

I've not heard much about it but not hearing anything negative.

 

[BlueWeasel]

Just played the free demo. I'm impressed!

 

[cbrunny]

Just finished the demo. Some good potential but it's no portal. The benchmark built in to this I think is actually better than the game. Will wait for super cheap sale or portal 3.

 

[PrincessFrosty]

Just played the demo through for the first time after reading this thread. I managed to find all 6 stars and unlock/play the bonus level which was really cool, did anyone get this far? If you want help with the stars just ask, some are tricky.

The idea is very interesting, it has that indie feel of a drip fed and really interesting idea/story which you slowly piece together, already got me thinking of AI and robots and whatnot and what the possible story could be.

I dunno how you'd compare this to portal, portal 1 was an unexpected sleeper hit which through storytelling broke all expectations, but both portal 1 and 2 had unexpected flaws in my opinion. They looked absolutely awful in my opinion, it's nice to see the Serious Sam engine at work with full support for tessellation and a wide range of advanced effects which make the game look beautiful in Ultra, it runs super smooth as well, and the options are fantastic, all the extras you'd want from a PC game, FOV control, mouse smoothing on/off, character bob and even movement speed.

I'm considering getting this to play over christmas, a great find for sure.

 

[Whitestar127]

I will be getting this for sure. But first I need to get through my ever increasing backlog.

 

[cbrunny]

I think a comparison to portal is more than fair. Both franchises are first-person puzzle. Some shared mechanics. Graphics are obviously different, as is puzzle design (with Talos not having the portal gun, obviously) but the game play is very similar.

 

[PrincessFrosty]

I bought this shortly after trying the demo (see my post above on my experience) and I think I've put in something like 9 hours according to steam, I'm probably about 1/2 way through when it comes to total number of puzzles and that's starting on the easy puzzles and them getting harder, so the next 1/2 are all much more complicated.

Something you need to understand is that I'm quite adept at these kind of puzzles, I completed portal 1 in a hair over 2 hours on my first run, and similar speed on portal 2 which made them a complete and total rip off from my point of view paying a full £30.

So anyone worrying about value for money or puzzles possibly being too easy, don't worry...there's absolutely loads, plus tons of optional secrets. And the difficulty curve is great, it starts off very gentle and gets quite hard but very slowly so you can learn the mechanics.

Would recommend this, even at full price.

 

[Blanky]

Are some of the puzzles just stupid hard to figure out?

 

[Craig234]

I bought this shortly after trying the demo (see my post above on my experience) and I think I've put in something like 9 hours according to steam, I'm probably about 1/2 way through when it comes to total number of puzzles and that's starting on the easy puzzles and them getting harder, so the next 1/2 are all much more complicated.

Something you need to understand is that I'm quite adept at these kind of puzzles, I completed portal 1 in a hair over 2 hours on my first run, and similar speed on portal 2 which made them a complete and total rip off from my point of view paying a full £30.

So anyone worrying about value for money or puzzles possibly being too easy, don't worry...there's absolutely loads, plus tons of optional secrets. And the difficulty curve is great, it starts off very gentle and gets quite hard but very slowly so you can learn the mechanics.

Would recommend this, even at full price.

This is one of those cases where the reasons you recommend it worry me.

That's great how you did on Portal 1. It took me a lot longer and was not easy.

So I spent days or weeks finishing Portal 1. Actually, didn't quite finish the last boss.

For you, who did it in under 3 hours, to find this game a lot harder makes me worry.

I'm still interested though.

 

[PrincessFrosty]

Are some of the puzzles just stupid hard to figure out?

Some are serious mind fucks, I'm on the last 5-7 puzzles of something like 100 and several of them seem impossible at a glance. But these are the penultimate puzzles for the game it seems.

I've just had to take a break after about 6 hours of playing because I just can't seem to get them and my head is spinning, mainly due to playing so long. It's a very addictive game and the story bleeds through at just the right pace to keep you seriously hooked.

This is one of those cases where the reasons you recommend it worry me.

That's great how you did on Portal 1. It took me a lot longer and was not easy.

So I spent days or weeks finishing Portal 1. Actually, didn't quite finish the last boss.

For you, who did it in under 3 hours, to find this game a lot harder makes me worry.

I'm still interested though.

It has a very gentle difficulty ramp, there's in the region of 100 main puzzle rooms ignoring the bonuses and they start off extremely easy and then introduce new mechanics slowly over time, you get to free roam between a lot of different puzzles and you unlock the next areas with access to more puzzles without having to complete all the previous areas, that means you can go back later and tackle hard puzzles from previous areas without getting stuck.

There's a mechanic where you wake these entombed robots who essentially can be used to give you a 1 shot tip for the levels you're stuck on, which means you can earn their help through a series of much easier puzzles, this gives you a much needed break on the harder puzzles which I think is great.

Ultimately you could look up the solutions for any you're stuck on. I think it's great that we have a puzzle game that's so hard that even pro's get stuck on the top 5% of the puzzles.

Ultimately it has a very gentle difficult ramp so if you're an intermediate puzzle solver then you're going to enjoy at least 75% of the game and maybe get completely stuck on the top 10%. I'd still recommend, unless you're a complete amateur at puzzles or you don't enjoy the challenge.

As a HUGE puzzle fan I'm not just in love with this game because of that, it has one of the most interesting "stories" i've seen in a LONG time. Told through snippets of emails, archived txt records and alike, you get pulled into questioning reality, what is real and what isn't, the nature of skeptism and doubt as methods to judge reality. It touches on what it means to be human, morality, ethical dilemmas. There's god/religion/heaven/hell themes with a much more down to earth discussion of AI, super computers, and the big questions regarding what makes people, people.

It really gets you thinking, if you take the time to read the notes and follow the story rather than blow through it. You need some patience though.

It's a really great game, I have to admit I'm hooked.

 

[Ferzerp]

The nice thing is that even when you're stuck, you want to figure it out instead of looking up the answer.

 

[PrincessFrosty]

Finished it, 21 hours on the clock.

I got about 1/2 the gold stars which seem like some kind of secret/bonus content so I'd probably add another 2 odd hours for completing the rest of those which I'll go back and do.

The end is really cool and pretty much what I expected after piecing the story together but it was damn satisfying none the less, and the end stage leading up to the finale is really well put together.

Did not regret the purchase at all, would recommend for all puzzle fans for sure.

 

[boozzer]

every review is giving it near perfect scores. most users are giving it very high scores. I will be buying it when I have time for games after the holiday rush is over with.

 

[Attic]

The Talos Principle is a very well realized game.

It does everything right.
*Gameplay is smart and intuitive
*It is challenging in a fun way
*The story is going to engage you and it is good enough to stick with you outside the game
* Great Graphics

If you're interested at all I'd just buy it. It's a really fun game to get into and you'll have a lot of "Wow!" moments.

It is very challenging, not to a fault, but you are going to have moments of "cmon, wtf is this". But it's a good enough game that you want to stay in and not hit the web to solve, I think that says a lot about the game. In a way you learn how to think about the puzzles, only advice i'd give is drop assumptions and then just play and give yourself time IMO a lot. Takes me a very long time to work through some stuff. It's also a game that is going to be rewarding if you want to just lose yourself in it for a 10-12hr block and it's good enough to hold you in and keep you engaged.


Important. Less you know about the game going in, the better it'll be. It's just a really good game, it's a puzzler and it has gorgeous graphics.

As a gamer this is what I really love seeing show up.

 

[Craig234]

OK, I got talked into this too. It's $28.80 on GMG using the 20% coupon.

 

[PrincessFrosty]

It is very challenging, not to a fault, but you are going to have moments of "cmon, wtf is this". But it's a good enough game that you want to stay in and not hit the web to solve, I think that says a lot about the game. In a way you learn how to think about the puzzles, only advice i'd give is drop assumptions and then just play and give yourself time IMO a lot. Takes me a very long time to work through some stuff.

I agree with this, if you get stuck then here's a few tips.

- Sometimes you're thrown up against puzzles that look familiar but need a different way of being solved, don't hit your head on a brick wall trying to make an old method fit a new puzzle.
- Think outside the box, some of the "rules" in the game may not be as strict as they appear, solutions can sometimes take you outside of the puzzle area, or have some vertical component to it.
- Challenge your assumptions, think about your approach to the puzzle and any assumptions you've made as to why you're making that approach, you might have the wrong approach because of a faulty assumption.
- Always collect as much of the equipment as early as possible, your initial goals should be to map out what you have to work with, always make sure to hunt around for objects to help, if you miss something you wont complete the puzzle, there's never any spare equipment.
- Everything is there for a reason, there's little to no misdirection, you're never given equipment you don't need, the puzzles are very succinct, each corner, each window, each button is placed specifically for a reason, often these things are hints at how to solve the puzzle, windows in walls are one you ought to look out for a lot, same for duplicate equipment you don't think you need.
- Every solution is "neat", if you find yourself trying to trick the game by messing with the mechanics such as break the physics, messing about swapping things around quickly or abusing the timing of things, then you're doing it wrong. None of the puzzles require you to rush.
- Take a break, if you get really stuck then either switch puzzles or take a break and come back the next day, some puzzles I got lost in and I couldn't see the wood for the trees, after a break and coming back the next day I solved the same puzzles in mere minutes.

Oh and the stars, they're usually unique, require thinking outside of the normal puzzle parameters a lot of the times, sometimes you'll have to steal equipment out of the puzzle zones by sneaking it out of the area, or fire the beams out the entrance/exit doors from one puzzle area to another, the stars bend the rules and your expectations/assumptions the most.

 

[Craig234]

Finally playing this, and I like it well.

So far, I've gotten stuck on one 'star' and one puzzle (deadly road I think).

 

[CPA]

Have been playing this for the last week. One of the greatest games I've ever played. Easily in Top 5.

So much going on in this game - puzzles, puzzles in puzzles, puzzles needed for other puzzles, the QR codes (one of them is an easter egg) add flavor, the "story", everything. Oh, and the Easter Eggs. More Easter Eggs in this game than I can count. No other games comes close. Must be at least 50 or so. Some are pretty cool, some very well hidden and others pay tribute to other games.

Croteam is my favorite developer due to my love of Serious Sam, but they blew away my expectations with this game.

Oh, and I may be in the minority, but it's better than Portal.

 

[Craig234]

On sale on Steam this weekend 50% for $19.99.

 

[Subyman]

I picked it up on Steam during the sale. I'm getting through the last of the building C puzzles. Haven't looked anything up and don't plan to. The solutions to some of the puzzles are hilarious once you realize them. I agree that the ramp is nice. I like how the different mechanics compound each other as you get through the game and even stuff that you use at the very beginning ends up being used for weird stuff toward the end.

I get mad at that stupid AI computer twisting my words though!

I agree that it is better than Portal. You can tell they didn't have the resources that Valve has to make it perfectly polished, but the gameplay, puzzles, and feel are better.

 

[CPA]

I picked it up on Steam during the sale. I'm getting through the last of the building C puzzles. Haven't looked anything up and don't plan to. The solutions to some of the puzzles are hilarious once you realize them. I agree that the ramp is nice. I like how the different mechanics compound each other as you get through the game and even stuff that you use at the very beginning ends up being used for weird stuff toward the end.

I get mad at that stupid AI computer twisting my words though!

I agree that it is better than Portal. You can tell they didn't have the resources that Valve has to make it perfectly polished, but the gameplay, puzzles, and feel are better.

How many Easter Eggs have you found? Did you find the one tied to Pink Floyd?

 

[Subyman]

How many Easter Eggs have you found? Did you find the one tied to Pink Floyd?

Not many yet. I'm only a few hours in. I'm doing all the red block now and then I'll start looking for stars and easter eggs. Haven't run across many while doing the puzzles yet or may they went over my head lol.

 

[CPA]

Not many yet. I'm only a few hours in. I'm doing all the red block now and then I'll start looking for stars and easter eggs. Haven't run across many while doing the puzzles yet or may they went over my head lol.

Some of them are very difficult to find.

I'll give a hint on the Pink Floyd one:

Spoiler

It's on the stage that has the moon, and the moon is part of the easter egg.