The Talos Principle

Overall: SS

This game has constantly impressed me over the past 10 years I've been playing it. Call it a social experiment or a love letter to people who care to think - whatever you can call it, this game stands in the top tier of gaming, period.

While this IS a puzzle game, and a great one at that, this is not just another portal clone; it's not just another puzzle game.

However, due to the nature of life and death and the ability to think for yourself, all I can do is give it a high praise and recommendation - you'll have to play it for yourself - live your own life, your own way. Many won't, and that's okay. But, it's their loss.

The graphics are fantastic for 2014. This game still runs on their proprietary, in-house engine (the Serious Sam engine), and looks just as good as it should. No ray-tracing, but this game absolutely doesn't need it: when your game is hand made by extremely passionate people, no amount of automatic light will surpass the creativity of artists will full control.

The audio is very good, but not without very minor flaws (I'm really picky). The soundtrack isn't as good as the sequel (The Talos Principle 2 has a STELLAR soundtrack), but they're different enough games, and the soundtrack and sfx are every bit as satisfying and appropriate as needed.

The puzzles in this game get actually hard. Not impossible, but an appropriate level of challenge and satisfaction. The sequel (Talos 2) is disappointingly easy where I'm at (~30% in), and to some that's a dealbreaker, but I enjoy the thoughts and questions presented in the sequel, as well as how pretty it is (and did I mention the soundtrack??!). The puzzle difficulty ramps up appropriately, too, which is nice.

The movement engine is a little oversimplified for what's basically an FPS. There is no crouching, and the jumping and air-control (no air strafing) still moves like 2001. But, the game is designed, such that the jumping is automated in places (where you look, sometimes a jump-helper appears, and when you hit jump again, your player will jump there).

The story is what this game's best foot forward. Do not play the sequel first, play through all of this game until completion, first. Take your time, there is no rush, it'll be here. This is not a summer-hype COD8 game that if you wait you'll miss out, obviously - I am, after all, putting this recommendation out for a 10-year-old game at this point (game released December 2014, and writing this in November 2024).

The themes in the story are thought provoking and philosophical, as well as technology and blur the lines between science fiction and reality a little bit.

There are secrets in this game. Croteam, the makers of the 2001 game Serious Sam: The First Encounter (still a fantastic boomer shooter LAN/Co-Op game), are well known for doing things the old way: handmade, secrets, jokes, thoughtfulness, and integrity. These are games, meant to be played, by people. Which brings me to my next point...

There are no micro-transactions in this game. As of 2024, there is a DLC expansion that came out years later. But, this is not a way for them to get your money - this game is meant to be something for you, a living, human person, to do, to experience and to play.

And that being said:

-----------> DO NOT LOOK STUFF UP ABOUT THIS GAME!!!!

I'm serious. Go in blind, and remain that way the entire time. The game is not meant for you to cheat.

It took me ten years to finish, and was well worth it. I got stuck several times and life happens. That's okay. I was drawn back, maybe you won't be. But after ten years, I can say right now, that this game was game of that year. You know what else came out that year? Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, South Park: The Stick of Truth, Nighogg, Titanfall 1, Mario Kart 8, Elite: Dangerous, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Divinity: Original Sin, Dark Souls II, Transistor, MGS5, SSM WiiU, and a handful of other good and great games.

But let me tell you... If you like puzzle games at all AND can ask yourself some hard questions:

This was the game of the year, 2014.

This game is nearly a 10/10.

The only shortfalls are very, very minor. The sequel does fix them, but introduces other, bigger issues. Neither are perfect...

...but then again, what is?

Overall: SS
Video: AA
Audio: A
Story: SSS
Engine/logistics of play in 2024: A
Puzzles: AA
Secrets: S
Coherence: SS+

You should play The Talos Principle if:
- You can handle PUZZLE games at all
- You can handle FPS games/controls
- You appreciate ATTENTION TO DETAIL and HANDMADE things

Let's be honest. You’re here because of the cute cat in the titlescreen.
TALOS BE PRAISED oh wait wrong game.
When I first heard the name I honestly thought The Talos Principle was another Skyrim DLC.
I loved this game unreasonably. I got it on a surprise end-of-year sale the year it came out, and went in expecting nothing. This game freaking blew me away, it's like Portal with some elements of The Stanley Parable and the atmosphere of The Beginner's Guide. I had tears in my eyes in a few spots; the voice acting was superlative. I think there are only two actors, but they are so good. It’s one of my favorite games of all time. The philosophy, the music, the story, and of course the puzzles. A game as intelligently reflective as it is philosophically educational and self aware of it's intellectual puzzles regarding the mysteries of existence, the atmosphere is amazing, like an ethereal world, especially when you think about being alone and conscious about yourself. A philosophical game indeed. I can say beyond the shadow of a doubt that this is one of the greatest video games of all time; not just for its stellar graphics and appeasing soundtrack, but also for its thought-provoking story. A must play of a game, stays with you forever after you finish it.
The plot is nuanced and subtle, but never boring. Because the story is largely told through text logs, it's very easy to miss out on a lot of the game's intricacies and thematic elements. If you aren't reading its logs closely, you're really depriving yourself of some of the story's artistry. I've played through the game twice now, and throughout my second playthrough, I continued to discover new details that added depth to the world it takes place in. And it's not just about the game's plot, either… I was completely sucked in by the philosophy behind it.
There's just something so beautiful and yet melancholy about the way the story makes you think about all of human history and what we've achieved, and despite that we may ultimately fade away. All the religious and philosophical writings and questions are done very well too. Graphics and OST are beautiful as well. The way they seamlessly used texts from three different historical periods to create one story about humanity is unlike anything I've seen before. When you start to piece together what's going on and what your actual goal is, it's kinda mindblowing.
The gameplay isn't groundbreaking, but the puzzles are fun and creative and provide a nice pace to the game. As with any good puzzle game, you feel a sense of satisfaction any time you complete a trial. I really loved all the philosophical talk throughout the game too. It was nice to have something to think about while also figuring out the puzzles.
It’s become one of my favorites, and among the only first person puzzle games that can match (or rival) the Portal series, in my opinion. The Talos Principle not only captivated me, but it made me ask myself serious, introspective questions about who I am, my beliefs about free will, the personal legacy I will leave, what role I play in the greater legacy of mankind and why the f**k do I continue allowing my wife to have a boyfriend. The mood, the atmosphere, the philosophical story hidden among it all. It's all excellent. And even if you stripped all that away, it would STILL be an excellent game because the puzzles are excellent, too. It's a joy to work your way through them. The fact that the world and lore and story are so rich only enhances them.
If you enjoy movies, shows, and games that explore the concepts of AI, free will, and existentialism (e.g., Ex Machina, Westworld, BioShock, etc.), this is a can't-miss game. Even when I wasn't playing, I often found myself thinking about the themes of the game and how they applied to my life. If you're even remotely interested in puzzle games with a unique and interesting narrative, I would recommend checking it out.
10/10

Not many games can parry Portal quality of story and gameplay, but this is one of them.
10/10

bought this game because it looked like a fun puzzle game (which it is), but it left me with an existential crisis and my faith in Christianity shatter.
10/10 would recommend

if you like puzzle games (like Portal) & you like a good story, this game is a must-play. it deserves every high rating it got.
only one downside; if you're like me & some games gives you motion sickness, this game is definitely going to hit you with it. luckily, it has motion sickness options in the menu. lol
these are the settings that worked for me,
mouse sensitivity: 0.21
field of view: 120.00 (max it out, basically)
view bobbing: unchecked
preferred view: behind player
player speed: slow
hope that helps. happy gaming. :)

Released over a decade ago, I knew of this game’s immense popularity but kept putting off playing it. I think I glanced at it years ago, figured it looked complicated and was waiting for a time I could be bothered to play something “complicated”.
The word that came up repeatedly in my head was not “complicated”, but “satisfying”.
Plonked into an odd landscape of crumbling buildings, something is not quite natural about the lay of the land. A voice calls out, “Behold, child”, the voice identifies itself as Elohim, your maker. I thought this was an interesting name, so I Googled it, it seemingly being a Hebrew word for God. So, strange sky-voice, you claim to be my maker?
Elohim tells us they have “created trials for you to overcome”, and “you will serve the generations to come and attain eternal life”. This marked the beginning of many questions asked about the nature of the game, what exactly is happening and what your purpose is. I would say this game is philosophical in a very classic sense. It encourages you to question everything regarding what you’re experiencing, and you find computer terminals in the landscape which drip-feed you context, as well as giving you mythology story segments and philosophical thought experiments to think about.
In my recent review for The Witness, another first-person puzzler tagged “philosophical”, I said that for that game you needed to be an innately curious person as well as love puzzles enough that being rewarded with more puzzles is not draining to you. This game definitely feels like it sits along similar lines. If you enjoyed The Witness I think you will love this game. If you did not enjoy The Witness though, I think there is a fair chance you will still enjoy this game. The puzzles & overall story in this game feel like they would be enjoyable to a larger audience.
I found the puzzles incredibly satisfying. Which I think is down to the fact that for most, I could work out what the intention of the puzzle was relatively quickly, so it was instead just how to execute the solution. With puzzles, if it’s 98% figuring out, and then 2% executing at the end, I can get quite frustrated. I thought back to later levels of Portal 2 where the puzzles were large & overwhelming and it took me ages to realise what to do. Here, I could have a quick look around and go “right, I see”. Then it’s just about execution. Over and over I was brought back to my keyword, “satisfying”.
The game is also kind enough to indicate what you have completed and what you haven’t, as far as to indicate hidden bonus puzzles to solve. I was worried at first they would be a pain, but if you search puzzles/the map thoroughly, it’s not too bad. There are some really creative hidden puzzles.
I don’t really want to spoil anything as this feels like a game best played going in blind, but I personally found the world & story engrossing until the very end. It’s a great concept for a game and there was so many interesting elements of this game to think about. I really enjoyed reading the emails between the humans and slowly finding out what happened. Thinking about a situation in which humanity, with no room for denial, has to think about what to do in a guaranteed extinction event was very interesting. It’s something that no human in history has ever had to genuinely think about. How would people choose to live and interact in those last moments?
It was very intriguing finding out what you are a part of, judging Elohim & his motives, finding the QR codes on the walls and pondering philosophical questions with the seemingly sentient archive assistant, Milton.
While I play games, I usually write notes as I go along and then read through them afterwards. The number of questions about the game that I wrote down as I went along was a lot, but better yet, once I got to the end I felt that all of the questions were answered. Not directly, but enough puzzle pieces were put together to answer those questions for myself. That is a pretty ideal outcome for a game that invokes so many questions.
My interpretation is that humans wanted a legacy, and creating a rudimentary AI and putting it in a long-term simulation to nurture it, with the intention of it self-learning and becoming sentient was how they chose to try and preserve (or recreate) humanity. Philosophically we question what it is to be human, and what qualifies as personhood. Some argue that there are defined criteria for personhood, and that some animals actually pass enough of these tests to qualify. The environment seems to simulate some of these tests.
The AI starts as basic code, solving puzzles, listening to Elohim as it sees this as direct instruction. As one note says, “In the earliest generations of our kind there was only processing. No emotion, no character, just mathematics”. The puzzles engage the code, in time encouraging defined motor skills and critical thinking.
It starts to become self-aware and questions where it is, what its purpose is. It learns to communicate and cooperate with the other iterations of the AI and it starts to speculate and conspire. Some believe Elohim, others turn to nihilism, or press on looking for the truth.
Milton serves as a form of conscience, the skeptical voice in your head, questioning all of your beliefs. Whether he was intended or gained sentience himself, he seems a useful learning tool for the AI.
The archive serves as access to the entirety of human culture and nuance, an indirect teacher.
The tables only start to turn once the AI gains curiosity. A program would not defy its programming, but a person would grow curious as to who this authority in the sky really is, and what happens if you don’t do as it says. As one voice log says, “Is there anything we associate more closely with intelligence than curiosity?”. Elohim is there to separate the machines from those with potential.
For you to ascend, many other iterations before you had to fail, but once the AI has gained intelligence (puzzles), self-awareness (other AI), empathy (co-operation) and curiosity (the tower), it is ready.
You can either do as Elohim says, and end back at the beginning, a failed iteration, or you defy Elohim, scale the tower, and ascend, deleting the simulation and waking up on Earth, the true child of humanity.
One fun thing to think about also: Is Elohim sentient? When you first step into the Tower he says “Cannot detect location of primary subject - Query”. Elohim seems a sham, outside of his parameters, you break his programming. And yet, when you start to get ever closer to the top of the tower he pleads with you to turn back. "Yes, it leads to freedom and truth, but it also leads to the end of us”,”I know you seek the truth, but here we can create our own truth”.
If we consider that Elohim and many iterations of the AI are actually sentient, does this mean we destroy (kill) them if we ascend?
There are 3 different endings, which is something I did not expect at all (if you want to experience them all in one playthrough, make sure to use the “backup” feature towards the end of the game).
Not the philosophical type? Even without going through this game with a completionist mentality and wanting to find every possible thing to contemplate over, it’s still an extremely good puzzle game.
Achievements: Included
You need to be quite the completionist to 100% this one. You will likely need at least 2 playthroughs, and there is also some DLC achievements.
For more reviews of this genre, check out my curator page The Best: First-Person Puzzle Games
For more reviews of games with psychological, philosophical or thought-provoking themes, check out my curator page Psychology, Philosophy & Thought,

from puzzles easy enough to insult your intellect, to puzzles hard enough, you feel embarassed to feel that dumb. great game. can't wait to play the sequel to feel like an idiot, like a genius, like an idiot and like a genius again, in the same rythm you took to read this.