The Talos Principle 2 - November 2nd

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Victor Mildew
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PostRe: The Talos Principle 2 - November 2nd
by Victor Mildew » Fri Jan 12, 2024 9:55 am

Finished this last night with all puzzles, stars and gates.

A good 8/10 for me. I didn't care for the robot stuff which unfortunately makes up a big chunk of the game, but you can ignore it enough to get to the puzzles. I found nearly all the puzzles very easy though so if there's DLC, I hope it'd significantly more difficult. I want to be stuck on a puzzle for ages!

Hexx wrote:Ad7 is older and balder than I thought.
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Dowbocop
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PostRe: The Talos Principle 2 - November 2nd
by Dowbocop » Fri Jan 12, 2024 10:43 am

It does seem significantly easier to me thus far (about 75% through the main story). In the first one I'd be stumped on a room and have to go away and do another few puzzles before returning. This time I've just been going 1-8 like a machine. Perhaps the devs need time to really get to grips with the increased mechanics.

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Dowbocop
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PostRe: The Talos Principle 2 - November 2nd
by Dowbocop » Wed Jan 17, 2024 4:11 pm

I solved my first couple of Pandora puzzles yesterday. Took me far too long to realise she's holding a green laser port - I JUST DIDN'T LOOK UP FFS :lol: :fp:

I'll be honest that I find the sparks and flames a bit confusing as a mechanic, all a bit too fire trangley for me. As I understand it in each section there are:
- eight levels which give you the tetrominoes to access the tower
- an abandoned lab which gives you the overload to get to the next section
- a Pandora tower which is a green laser puzzle and gives you a spark
- a different tower which is a macro geographical puzzle across the whole level and gives you a spark
- a Prometheus tower which gives you a flame when you follow the sprite back to him
- a random flame in each level to collect
- an archaeological item
- a golden gate (which I haven't managed to open yet but I am lighting things on it so I assume they'll start to open as I continue through the story


If I'm wrong and there are random sparks I need to find strewn across the map with no clues then I'm not sure I'm up for that, I really have better things to do with my gaming time.

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Dowbocop
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PostRe: The Talos Principle 2 - November 2nd
by Dowbocop » Sat Jan 27, 2024 10:01 am

100% main puzzles now and just doing the sparks. I cracked the knack of doing the Prometheus puzzles (again, I felt very stupid when I worked it out) - I also think these sections might have the best music in the game. Currently stuck on the large laser puzzle on South 3 and I'm quite frustrated by it tbh!

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Dowbocop
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PostRe: The Talos Principle 2 - November 2nd
by Dowbocop » Mon Feb 05, 2024 12:06 am

Aaand finished!

Overall I loved it. I have some criticisms (see below), but this has been a thoroughly enjoyable forty hours of my gaming life.

Story opinions (spoilered)
I personally don't feel we don't get enough uptopian sci-fi, and this was very definitely in the category of pre-DS9 Star Trek or (niche reference) The City and the Stars by Arthur C Clarke. It also did a great job of carrying on from the self-contained story of the first game. If I have a criticism it's that nobody ended up unhappy. This may sound odd considering I'm extolling the virtues of utopian sci-fi, but not everyone needs to be happy! A lot of the characters were quite milquetoast in their convictions. Alcatraz and Byron are basically diametrically opposed but every character seems to be a Lib Dem on Sertraline so I never felt there was any real conflict amongst them. There's a seismic political shift happening in New Jerusalem but the incumbent mayor just seems to treat this with the urgency of an overdue library book and the HOLY GRAIL OF PHYSICS with the dispassionate curiosity of a minor royal opening a nursery. I also just didn't hear from that clandestine dissident faction after the second third of the game - can't even remember what they wanted but good luck to 'em! Would it not have been better to keep Miranda dead instead of reset buttoning her? I have big issues with any sci-fi that starts downplaying the significance of death. I'm sure it's lovely for the inhabitants of the world and all, but if there's no threat who cares?!

I'm assuming the DLC will be New Jerusalem/Miranda-based, and Talos 3 will be Talos in SPAAAAACE. And despite my criticism I'm here for it, I really am :wub:


Gameplay opinions
It's probably too easy. As I mentioned in an earlier post I rarely found myself stuck for more than thirty minutes on a puzzle - the only puzzle that long-term stumped me was the Pandora on South 3. But it is definitely fun and does give a steady stream of "ahhhh that's the solution!" feelings, and my criticism of the difficulty is probably just compared to the first game. I'm proud that I got 100% across the board in it - it might not be Dark Souls or whatever but it wasn't easy!

Aesthetic opinions
This game is just stunning throughout. I actually used the photo mode for this game, and I never bother with that normally. The best level for me was the Anthropic Hills, but it maintained a consistently high visual standard throughout. And now I'm safe from spoilers I'll be listening to the soundtrack posthaste.

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