The Talos Principle Reviews
The Talos Principle plays like a marriage between Portal and a game from the 'walking simulator' genre, complete with an intriguing narrative and challenging puzzles.
An adept and satisfying puzzle game with a narrative that requires a bit of player investment to yield its biggest rewards.
The Talos Principle is a game of challenges and conundrums and philosophical wonderings, filled with logic puzzles and cerebral mysteries. Its chunky mechanical processes are underpinned by a compelling breadcrumb-trail narrative that tackles the intangible notion of humanity and consciousness. Consequently, despite playing a robot that interacts with computer terminals and takes instruction from a disembodied voice in the sky, it exudes personality and charm; its mechanical precision complementing its aesthetic qualities. For an experience bereft of human contact it boasts a very big heart indeed.
Much like Portal, The Talos Principle makes you feel smart just by playing it, as the bulk of the puzzles hit that sweet spot between too easy and near-impossible.
With its relaxing atmosphere, pretty environments and interesting theological dilemma, The Talos Principle is PS4's best puzzler to date.
If you love brainteasers and philosophy, then The Talos Principle is better than a night at the movies
It's a smart game that doesn't punish you for it, a puzzle game that allows a sense of creativity. And while it isn't the most upbeat thing out there, there's a vein of hope that runs through it — and ties it all together neatly at the end.
Excellent puzzles are only the tip of the iceberg for The Talos Principle, an existential journey about what it is to be human.
If you love and miss the Portal series, it's time to celebrate: The Talos Principle has all the first-person puzzles you've been craving, wrapped in an extremely thoughtful package. Don't be surprised if you feel legitimately smarter after reaching the end of its 100-plus puzzles.
The Talos Principle has some important things to say, but more thoughtfully, it wants the player to have important things to say as well. Even those who do not bother to think about the philosophical topics can find a smart, sometimes frustratingly difficult puzzler here. It really shines for those open to both.
I didn't expect a video game to have deep philosophical questions that I pondered long after each session, and I appreciate how it adds the kind of depth seldom seen in games. It's also very cool to play a non-combat game that keeps me interested for hours at a time. The Talos Principle: Deluxe Edition doesn't offer any new content to entice people who played the PC version, but I highly recommend it to everyone who hasn't.
Games that are this thought provoking and enjoyable are rare. Rarer still are those that imbue this level of pride and honor upon completion.
The Talos Principle: Deluxe Edition is a fantastic package of two great first-person puzzlers. It's basically identical to the PC version, so if you've got those already there's not much need to double-dip, but otherwise it's a must-own.
The Talos Principle surprised me in almost every way, and it's one of the best puzzle games in recent years.
Croteam, the creators of The Talos Principle, were previously known primarily for their silly (but fun) Serious Sam titles. The Talos Principle shows a remarkable maturity and depth of scope that's perhaps surprising, but in a very good way. It poses interesting questions, allows the player to progress at their own pace - mostly in a non-linear fashion - and is a hugely satisfying piece of game design. Utterly entrancing and highly recommended.
The Talos Principle builds a giant collection of 3D puzzles, puts you in the middle of it, and then gives you a philosophical puzzle to chew on that's even larger.
The Talos Principle may spend a bit too much time stroking its beard and showing off how deep it is, but the fact remains that it regularly deserves to posture. Not only is it a highly accomplished puzzle game, it's a genuinely fascinating collection of reflective notions.
The philosophical side of the game won't be for everyone, and you can largely leave it alone or skim the texts if you really don't get on with it. I really enjoyed digging into the archives so I'd recommend giving it a good go, but ultimately it shouldn't get in the way of enjoying the excellent puzzle side of things.
The Talos Principle is rarely capable of answering the questions for which it makes you want answers. But in leaving enough space to wonder, it lets players name the questions in their own terms, a freedom that only leads back into a cell, dependent on language from long-forgotten generations, like computer code we're no longer conscious of running but can't seem to escape.
The Talos Principle may be one of the best puzzle games of the year. Sure, it starts out pretty slowly, the first dozen or so of the game's 120+ puzzles are laughably easy, and the controls may be a little awkward, but these are minor flaws in the bigger scheme of things. There's an entertaining and thoughtful story about not just humanity, but what it means to be alive. If you want to flex your brain and start thinking about time in a Echoshift/Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time way, as well as wax philosophical with a computer terminal, The Talos Principle will keep you entertained for quite some time.