The Talos Principle 2
A first-person puzzle game exploring a robotic civilization.
The Talos Principle 2 is a puzzle-adventure video game developed by Croteam and published by Devolver Digital. Released in November 2023 for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S, it is the sequel to the 2014 game The Talos Principle. The game received generally positive reviews from critics.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Croteam
- Publisher
- Devolver Digital
- Director
- Davor Hunski
- Programmer
- Davor Tomičić
- Writer
- Jonas Kyratzes
- Verena Kyratzes
- Tom Jubert
- Composer
- Damjan Mravunac
- Platforms
- PlayStation 5
- Windows
- Xbox Series X/S
- Genre
- Puzzle, adventure
Facts from the source article.
Plot
The Talos Principle 2 occurs years after the first game, in which humanity was wiped out by a virus released from permafrost due to global warming. A group of humans created sapient artificial intelligence by solving puzzles in a virtual space, with successful androids inhabiting android bodies. The first android, Athena, manufactured the first twelve androids, who built New Jerusalem and collected resources for more androids. The game begins with the awakening of the one thousandth android, named 1k, who is welcomed to New Jerusalem as the completion of the Goal of one thousand androids set by Athena, who has since disappeared and become a religious figure to some.
During the celebration, a holographic figure of Prometheus warns of further challenges, and sensors detect a massive energy surge far from the city. As the newest android free from political disagreements, 1k joins an expedition to the location, discovering a pyramid-like megastructure and several outlying areas with puzzles similar to those in the virtual space. Solving puzzles activates colored lasers, allowing entry into parts of the central megastructure, where 1k encounters holograms of Prometheus, Pandora, and the Sphinx, who discuss the follies of humankind and the quest for knowledge.
Development
Croteam announced work on a sequel in May 2016. In September 2020, writer Jonas Kyratzes confirmed the sequel was still happening, noting that the story was challenging because the original's plot had wrapped up well. Development was slow due to Croteam's work on Serious Sam 4 and The Hand of Merlin, but The Talos Principle 2 became the company's next focus after Serious Sam 4's release. In May 2023, a PlayStation Showcase livestream announced the sequel would release by year's end.
The game builds on the first game's origin story by exploring the newly emerged robotic civilization. It was showcased at Gamescom 2023 and released on 2 November 2023. Powered by Unreal Engine 5, Croteam moved from their in-house engine after Serious Sam 4; development initially used Unreal Engine 4 but switched to Unreal Engine 5 for features like Nanite, Lumen, World Partition, Virtual Texturing, Virtual Shadow Maps, and Local Exposure. Epic Games advised the team, and Croteam was the first studio to develop on Unreal version 5.2. A three-chapter expansion, Road to Elysium, was released on June 14, 2024.
Reception
Critics were impressed by The Talos Principle 2. The PlayStation 5 version earned universal acclaim on Metacritic, while the PC and Xbox Series X versions received generally favorable reviews. IGN’s Will Borger highlighted the puzzle design, philosophical themes, and story, calling the game thoughtful, heartfelt, and deeply moving. PC Gamer’s Dominic Tarason compared the puzzles to Portal, noting how new mechanics are gradually introduced.
He praised the stronger narrative focus and described the dialogue as deeply compelling and fully worthwhile, concluding that the game is a thoughtful human narrative adventure wrapped in a satisfying, beautiful puzzle game. New Game Network named it Best Story and Best Puzzle Game for 2023. Between its November 2 release and November 19, the game sold 100,000 copies and achieved the highest concurrent player count on Steam among Devolver Digital’s 2023 releases.
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