[UPDATE II]: I stood by my word and nominated The Talos Principle II for Game of the Year, as well as for the best narrative, the best soundtrack, the best visual asthetics and the most relaxing vibe:)

[UPDATE]: Finished half of the puzzles and had to stop due to unbalanced work/life style. Can't wait to finish all work reports and have a nice cozy December with the game.

Already know it is my personal Game of the Year, and yeah - this is the year when Baldur's Gate III was also released, so that should say the magnitude of impact CROTEAM managed to deliver!

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As a scientist studying natural disasters (volcano seismology) I was seriously thinking to move from geophysics to AI after finishing the first game back in 2015 when I had just started my PhD. The Talos Principle helped me in a dark time filled with uncertaintyof life choices. It meant so much to me - few other games ever achieved this level of personality. Now, 8 years later I more or less know my Purpose (joke or not a joke) and continue to do my small but fair bit of research ^_^

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3071156136

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But the world around became even more cruel place as I think we all aware. So much so that one may start to question an outlook on the world itself and fall victum to despair. In my case I just kept working as crazy and block most newsfeed to keep my sanity. And finally this month I feel the tide is changing! Yesterday The Talos Principle II release - I played about first 10% and it gives me so much hope in many ways! My personal vacation finally having meaning and content to fill, the future of gamedev looks bright with studios like CROTEAM, Larian Studio, Supergiant Games. And even, well, maybe the future of humanity where are more intelligent and compassionate people. Guess I just have to wait few hours for another big release of this month - Attack on Titan Final season Final part. Wait to figure if my naive hope for humanity will endure maximum emotional damage Hajime Isayama can deliver with the anime ending. Say what you will but somehow these two - The Talos Principle and Attack on Titan - these two masterpieces are filled with philosophy and strangelly feel linked to me. I'm after all a PhD, so it is natural that I am facinated by thier messages and admire their authors.

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P.S. Seriously thinking now to take a vacation for couple weeks to thoughtfully savior the game, starting to stream again and maybe even make a video on youtube about this awesome game series. Too bad the end of the year is when all reports on scientific grants had to be sent so this vacation is not this week or next...