If you haven’t played The Talos Principle, I’d recommend it. Nick gave it a 4.5-star review, writing, “Few games have everything working in such synchronised harmony as The Talos Principle. The world, puzzles, narrative and music are all served to the player in small helpings, never overwhelming and allowing you to soak in and become one with the world.” That brings me to The Talos Principle II. The game has been shown off a couple times this year, at May’s PlayStation Showcase and June’s Devolver Direct. Devolver has delayed a bunch of games, pushing them back to 2024, but The Talos Principle isn’t one of them! In fact, it will be released in early November 2023.
The Talos Principle II expands on the original with more mind-bending puzzles, new puzzle mechanics, a richer storyline, more secrets, and a big, weird world. It is set in the distant future. Humankind has been extinct a long time, though our culture lives on through interminable robots made in our image. You find yourself swept up in a mind-bending adventure involving a mysterious megastructure hiding enormous powers. You’ll be confronted with questions about the nature of the cosmos, faith versus reason, and the fear of repeating humankind’s mistakes. Basically, the game is one big existential crisis waiting to happen.
The game features puzzles familiar to fans of The Talos Principle, but also has unique new gameplay including mind transference and gravity manipulation. The deep, character-driven story has stunning environments (more than a dozen new ones) to explore and multiple endings to find. You don’t have to play every puzzle to complete the game, but if you do, consider it complete mastery. Take breaks from the puzzles to discover long-forgotten secrets and strands of forgotten history.
Developed by Croteam and published by Devolver Digital, The Talos Principle II will be released for PC via Steam/Epic, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series on November 2.
