It’s a tall order to come back from a near-decade of absence with a follow-up. It’s an even taller order when that near-decade follow-up to The Talos Principle just so happens to be one of the more acclaimed puzzle games released across the entire genre. It’s an even more taller order when……you could in effect keep going as far as to how near-impossible a task Croteam have set themselves. The stakes larger, the themes broader, anticipation growing as years roll on. Some of it perpetuated by fans of the2014 original, some it can be argued created by developer Croteam themselves. Starting fresh with a standalone tale far removed from the events of the original, The Talos Principle II is a continuation of those former lofty, philosophical themes.
You’d be hard pressed to find a game whose intentions are seemingly walking the finest of lines between bold and foolish. In any other case, these expectations might seem too much for a team to merely return to, let alone surpass. Not least when the original brought with it not just an excellent understanding on puzzle design, but a knack for providing a narrative that was anything but afraid of tackling the heaviest of philosophical subject matter. Promising as the signs may have been on recent viewing – twice over in fact – a lot was riding on The Talos Principle II to get that balance right. Between delving into its themes appropriately, whilst acknowledging that for those simply here for the puzzles and the puzzles alone, that such philosophical divulging shouldn’t come as too overbearing, or worse, pretentious in its delivery.
As the saying goes, lightning doesn’t [often] strike twice. But more realistically: with an original outing as satisfying to figure out and intriguing to see unravel in more ways than one, how do you top that? Particularly, as noted, that the sequel aims to canonize what took place prior. Intrigued as one might’ve been for a sequel as both an evolution and continuation in equal part, to say some doubts as to whether these scurried treks from out one puzzle room and into the next could impress a second time over were creeping in would be an understatement. But I’m pleased to report, flying the flag of both original Talos fan and puzzle enthusiast alike, Croteam have aptly and – couple of minor drawbacks aside – pulled through with a terrific sequel. A sequel to add to this year’s growing pile, whose roughly 25-30 hour campaign while not flawless, demonstrates not just a great mix of gameplay and narrative intrigue, but best of all, a brilliantly mature one on top.
Not to downplay the variety of mechanics employed in its puzzle-solving, on top of everything else considered optional but rewarding to comb through and discover for one’s self. But it’s the writing of The Talos Principle II that immediately grabs your attention. A game that doesn’t talk down to its player, nor take one side over the other in professing the ideas it means to convey. From its assortment of characters you meet and frequently converse with on your travels – all with their own perspectives and socio-political views – to the way the sequel introduces multiple-choice dialogue conversations. Croteam cover a lot of ground and pack a fair few pondering questions into so small a time, but rarely if ever does this feel either unearned or amateurishly incorporated. That the sequel allows you to shape both the player-character 1K – and eventually the progression of events central to the plot – in as much the same way a Bethesda or Obsidian RPG would allow, should seem like a secondary and disposable element, but turns out to be something you quickly become ingrained in.
None of this would have that much of an impact, were it not for the setting and characters it introduces. This idea of an android-like collective finally achieving a sense of humanity and establishing a society and settlement. A settlement with a strict population limit that, alongside additional plot elements via the discovery of a mysterious island and key individuals going missing, becomes central to the dilemma The Talos Principle II asks its players to come to some sort of conclusion over. Players gradually uncovering more as to the nature and very history of the prime island setting, as well as those that may have been present prior to one’s arrival.
And in-between all this, popping up from time to time, responding to social media-styled conversations involving certain members of the population, if you so choose. It’s a small, perhaps insignificant part of the game, but one that at its best can make you chuckle at the sheer absurdity at just how true to life some of these absurd scenarios can be. One notable example revolving around whether it would be best to just lock a conversation thread because those involved are getting too hostile and out of hand. Again, that this is entirely optional world-building and one players can easily ignore is further credit to Croteam’s commitment to evolving their puzzle IP to that of an actual populated world – one with numerous tangents with which can choose to follow if said ideals match up to your own.
All of which is accompanied by an artistic direction that fittingly seems like a hybrid meshing of classical and postmodern aesthetics. A variety of biomes players will gradually hop to in the process of solving puzzles, unlocking devices and all the regular McGuffin-speak that’s par the course for these kinds of set-ups. While The Talos Principle II is evidently aiming to invoke a feeling of awe and perhaps insignificance in the face of such scale, admittedly the spaces one traverses can at times feel too expansive and grand for their liking. A decent amount of time spent sprinting down paths and snaking one’s way in-between landmarks, even for something as basic as just getting to the next required puzzle room. While Croteam do try and mitigate such a concern with optional puzzles to find and collectibles to hunt down, it’s hard not to conclude that these self-contained biomes may have been better served slightly lesser in scale.
The same can’t be said for the puzzles of The Talos Principle II. And while the premise for how these puzzles are approached and subsequently tackled hasn’t drastically changed compared to what was found in the original, the new mechanics and ideas Croteam bring into the fold are not only creative in their utilization, but best of all, add to the undercurrent of anxiety that becomes a key component of latter-region segments. That anxiety being that you know full well you’re close to solving something, but that one wrong move can throw you right back to the start of the process. As such, players having to employ a kind of leap of faith mentality or at the very least, not getting too complacent when it seems the finish line is in reach, becomes necessary. In that respect, puzzles can feel punishing at times, seemingly impossible as to what’s required and where. There are no work-arounds, nor a means to brute-force things. The most precise angles as to where one instrument or apparatus is placed, relative to another, all too common a requirement. Or in another more strenuous scenario: making sure not to disconnect one device from another, or else the whole daisy chain of lasers, gates and switches alike is completely ruined.
But thankfully, none of this feels in anyway unfair. Croteam not only getting the difficulty curve perfectly on-point, but amidst these singular biomes whereupon a new mechanic or rule is introduced, carve out puzzles that maximize the potential each one can bring. At points, going against the convention of simply tossing in all previously-introduced mechanics into the mix. Instead stripping puzzles down to their most deceptively minimal of set-ups in a way that asks players to prove they’ve thoroughly understood how these rule-sets can be used. Even when certain elements or new mechanics aren’t met with the most excited or at the very least positive of first impressions. In my case, the introduction of having to trade one item for another at designated pedestals, while initially drew a tepid “oh,” was something you quickly warm to. Croteam’s creativity and knack for making seemingly convoluted scenarios in actuality rather manageable and simple to execute in hindsight, once again shining through.
Not only that, but one of the overall best design choices – beyond even the inclusion of a third-person perspective, whose presence is admittedly a surprisingly helpful one when juggling numerous devices in such a tight, enclosed space – is the ability to skip puzzles. Or to be more precise, temporarily skip them with the option to come back and properly solve them. On paper, this idea might sound preposterous – a death-nail given its genre – but Talos II goes about this in a sensible way. For one, to skip puzzles, players must gather a required collectible hidden amid the biomes. Spending it on any puzzle doesn’t necessarily solve the puzzle, more that it immediately grants access to the McGuffin needed to activate the towering structures pivotal to the main objectives. Should players decide to come back and solve said puzzle, that token is then given back to the player to spend on any future puzzle they similarly are having trouble with. Less a case of skipping ahead and more a smart way to offer optional assistance without feeling like one is cheating.
With all that said though – as creative and well-implemented both gameplay and narrative fronts are – The Talos Principle II is not quite the flawless follow-up. For one, though Croteam’s artistic department puts in the work, the more technical side of the game can sadly throw up one or two issues that are not only hard to ignore, but hamper what impact the environments may want to garner. Be this a consequence of the game’s running on Unreal Engine 5, a combination of minor frustrations – getting caught in the more jagged geometry, for instance – inconsistent performance on frame-rate and at worst the game completely crashing just as a puzzle was about to be solved can sour the experience. Other more bizarre instances such as light flickering erratically depending on where one is stood in a given space suggest that for as much of a handle Croteam have on the premise, its technical application is not without one or two creases to iron out.
Closing Comments:
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. That Croteam can inject a surprising amount of smart designs into their puzzles, as much they can demonstrate a commendable level of maturity as to the writing and choices provided in their tale, proves that even after all these years, the team’s talents across an array of departments remains untainted. And in the sequel’s case, stronger than what came before. Mechanically and narratively stimulating throughout, The Talos Principle II is an accomplished follow-up that just might eclipse the 2014 original.
