The Talos Principle: Gold Edition

I like the story in this, the music, the individual puzzles, the levels overal looks, the hidden eastereggs, the wierdness of the entire thing. The main problem is that they require you to get significantly more puzzle pieces to open each door in the tower; the tower being the main games actual progress. So what happens is at the beginning it is very engrossing and you keep going, learning more story and interacting with a variety of things which combind to make the story. Then once you get to building c it dawns on you at some point youve done the the exact same things over and over. You are going to have to spend another entire day sitting at your computer just to finish the basic puzzles left and you know there's hidden stars you need to get to achieve the 'real' ending of the game. But you are already bored; you don't have the patience to solve another puzzle, which has become an obvious filler with no real point just to stretch out the game. If the game had required half the number of puzzle pieces for the final red level, I might've actually finished it. As is I've given up on it with only 2/3'rds of that last red set of components collected. I watched the end on youtube.

This is an excellent game. Puzzle games don't often offer choice in my experience, but this one does. You can engage with the story if you like reading and philosophy, or mostly ignore it if you only want to solve the puzzles. I started off the latter way: there for the puzzles, and thinking that the reading was just going to be extra fluff. I said to myself "I'm not taking homework from a videogame", and just moved on. The team did such a great job putting this together, though, that the bits of the world that I experienced just moving through the puzzles drew me in to the content that I thought was just extra, and it was so, so worth it. Don't feel like you have to do it, though. It's your game. Play it how you want to. I don't want to share too much (for spoiler reasons), but I will say that if you want to get the stars, don't feel bad about looking up the solutions for some of them. A few are crazy. The game maximizes puzzle fun, ambience (music and scenery alike), and minimizes some of the more annoying traps that puzzle games can fall into (i.e. pixel-hunting type things, which always felt more like a brute force solution than a clever one to me). I got the game on sale, but it's probably worth full price. I say that without having even touched "Road to Gehenna" or "Prototype". Buy it and enjoy!

The Talos Principle has an unique premise: you are a robot walking among ruins to solve puzzles with high-technology items, all while discussing philosophy and following a well-crafted story. It's basically everything I like in a single game. The learning curve here is incredible smooth and well-crafted. Every possible strategy and mechanic is presented as a simple puzzle, which gives you all the tools necessary to solve the more complex ones. And there are plenty of them, don't worry, but I seldom got stuck and frustrated in one of the "normal" ones . On top of that, the game still looks good today. Archaeology buffs will recognize many real-world locations, and you may take your time to explore the worlds. Just be aware that there is very little to reward exploration in general, with very few exceptions. While the normal puzzles strike a great balance between difficulty and intuitiveness, the ones to get the stars are... well... a P.I,T.A. For stars you often have to use and connect devices from several different puzzles in a level. This sounds great on paper, but everytime you die, reset a puzzle, leave the level or simply quit the game, all puzzles in that level are reseted. So be ready for a LOT of backtracking and repetition if you wish to get all stars. By the last third of the game, I just skipped them entirely. All you lose without the stars is a few bonus levels and an alternative ending, which is fine, I don't see the point of different endings in puzzle games, since it's not exactly the most exciting games to play again. BTW, the final sequence of the ending I played (and that I think most people would try) it's also terrible. A long and TIMED puzzle that doesn't autosave. I was quite excited by the climax, but repeating it a couple of times tasted more as frustation than satisfaction by the end. Can't say anything about the DLCs, because the game gets a bit repetitive by the end. Perhaps another time. For now, best puzzle game I've ever played.

Talos Principle really tests your brain power Gameplay over visuals is the key; but at the sametime visuals and gameplay go hand-in-hand as you must observe your surroundings and really understand how each of the puzzles work. Just because you THINK you know the answer; doesn't mean the game troll'd you on your response and wants you to solve it; their way- which might annoy some players. It's totally okay to look up guides on this because some puzzles are definitely harder and more "huh" than most and/or some you encounter along the way. There is so much brain power fun to be had here; no matter which platform it's on. It's a must buy for the puzzle lover type of gamers

Very enjoyable, truly memorable and everything just fits together and forms something exceptional that you don't even need to be a puzzle fan to appreciate. Now, the puzzles are not that great overall. Sometimes you will accidentally solve them, other time's it's successfully going to trick you into thinking something is the solution which can feel a bit cheap. There is even one where you will find that the game doesn't provide you with all the pieces to solve the puzzle (sundial). So that is the bad out of the way. Most puzzles are still very fun to do and some have that special quality where you arrive at a solution that just feels perfect. And, everything about this game that is not a puzzle is really above and beyond. Starting with the story. There is a very skillfully told, and revealed, story that ties everything together. By the time you reach the end you will have experienced many interesting plot twist, gotten to know engaging characters and even crunched your brain a bit about life and its purpose. In a way the puzzles are just a bonus. Presentation of the game in terms of sound and visuals are also fantastic. Music just fits from the very start and the sound of a nearby mine will be enough to cause a slight panic. There is brilliant voice acting and many instances where sound plays an important part in discovering all the game has to offer. Graphics are beautiful and ran well on my old system. Expect gorgeous views, lush surrounding and impressive lighting effects. Gameplay is very well fleshed out. Controls feel precise and it's always easy to do what you want to do. There is always something to explore or to solve or somewhere to go and the game always rewards you for doing so. You will probably never get stuck on a puzzle, although some will have you scratching your head for a bit. And some of the star puzzles can take some time to find. There is DLC included that is of equal quality so, all in all, all I can do is 100% recommend this.