Talos Principle 2, released in 2023, is the second installment of the Talos Principle series. It was made by Croteam, who is well known for its Serious Sam franchise and its Serious Engine. The original Talos Principle game was quite a departure from Serious Sam games. Instead of focusing on arcade action with hordes of enemies and gun-blazing massacres, the Talos Principle revolves around solving various puzzles and exploring philosophical themes. The Talos Principle 2 is similar to its predecessor in many ways but differentiates itself through better puzzle designs, more sophisticated storytelling, and superior graphics, thanks to Unreal Engine 5.

Pros:
-Well-designed puzzles that are both unique and fun to solve
-Great storytelling that helps players contemplate philosophical ideas
-Amazing graphics and stellar art design
-Multifaceted and likable characters
-Great soundtrack and sound effects
-Good scalability: the game works well on various machines, from Steam Deck to a high-end PC

Cons:
-Optional monument puzzles are quite cryptic; you will have a hard time solving them without help
-Lack of manual saves; only autosaves exist
-Fast travel is quite limited; you can only fast travel inside a transport capsule

Overall, the Talos Principle 2 is a stellar sequel that improves upon the original in many ways. A shift from Serious Engine to Unreal Engine 5 is also a great choice as the graphical fidelity has increased tremendously compared to the original. In my opinion, the Talos Principle 2 is one of the best puzzle adventure games since Portal 2 and a must-play for anyone interested in the puzzle genre.

What an intellectually, morally, and emotionally captivating story with a brilliant ending. It took me 87 hours to complete and I cherished every minute of it, frustration and all. Try it, your brain will thank you for it.

I really liked Talos Principle 1, so I was excited to hear the second was out. However, I was sorely disappointed with this entry.

Some games don't need to have massive scale and "open" world. If there was any way to interact with the world during the long runs between puzzles, maybe this would have been acceptable. Maybe if the puzzles were difficult enough to warrant a short break in between, I could've appreciated it. However, we are left with puzzles that are often a series of tasks rather than anything thought-provoking, and obnoxiously long periods of running in between.

The only thing to do outside of the main puzzles are the challenge statues, which are designed to waste your time more than anything else. The obvious one here is the blue spark, the only goal of which is to chase it around the area until it reaches the statue (because we hadn't run around enough already). Not even one of the Sphinx "find the location" challenges took more than a few seconds to understand, and yet requires you to again run around the entire area to press one or more buttons. The Pandora challenges can actually present a puzzle, but it requires you to search out particular areas to make connections (which again requires you to traverse the area, sometimes requiring multiple passes to find the correct spot).

The one saving grace might have been the puzzles. Even if the difficulty was low, there were some satisfying moments piecing things together to complete a puzzle. There were even some challenging ones among the golden gate puzzles. However, I finished this game last night after playing it throughout the week, and tonight I cannot think of a single memorable puzzle. In every puzzle game I've loved, there has been that one out-of-the-box, "how did they think of this??", incredibly creative puzzle that has stuck with me for even years after completing the game. While it was interesting to play with all the different mechanics in the different areas, the concepts were wasted as none of them were expanded upon aside from their basic usage. This results in bland, instantly forgettable puzzles.

Play Talos Principle 1, it's a great game. Miss this one.