The Talos Principle

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Thu Jan 21, 2016 11:20 pm

Zaxxon wrote:Wow, cool on that spoiler.

Cool in concept. In practice it effectively limits completing the bonus content to a small subset of the audience - programmers only past this point!

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Thu Jan 21, 2016 11:22 pm

I agree. I happen to be the target audience, hence my approval. It does suck for completionists who are not CS-savvy.

FWIW, the Easter eggs and stars I've gotten so far have been pretty reasonable.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Thu Jan 21, 2016 11:33 pm

Zaxxon wrote:I agree. I happen to be the target audience, hence my approval. It does suck for completionists who are not CS-savvy.

I'm so not CS-savvy that I don't even know what CS stands for!

Lordnine · Post by **Lordnine** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 1:02 am

I definitely didn't go through the process of that spoiler and I found all the stars in the game...

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 9:05 am

I started playing this after picking it up during the Winter Sale and having great fun with it. It makes me a bit motion sick as well - I think due to the really high speed with which you can move around. However, these types of games are things I typically only play in short bursts anyway, so it's not a big problem.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 10:04 am

Lordnine wrote:I definitely didn't go through the process of that spoiler and I found all the stars in the game...

Spoiler:

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 10:05 am

YellowKing wrote:I started playing this after picking it up during the Winter Sale and having great fun with it. It makes me a bit motion sick as well - I think due to the really high speed with which you can move around. However, these types of games are things I typically only play in short bursts anyway, so it's not a big problem.

If you go into the Motion Sickness options, you can adjust player movement speed.

Moliere · Post by **Moliere** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 10:09 am

Lordnine wrote:
Moliere wrote:I can usually do 2 puzzles in a row before I need a break to recover from the motion sickness.
Have you tried adjusting the settings? The options menu lets you adjust pretty much everything. Remove head bob, increase FOV(it’s vertical FOV by the way, not horizontal) turn off motion blur and decrease the brightness and see if that fixes your problem.

Yes. I run it in the over the shoulder 3rd person to minimize the motion sickness.

Sepiche · Post by **Sepiche** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 11:22 am

Moliere wrote:
Lordnine wrote:
Moliere wrote:I can usually do 2 puzzles in a row before I need a break to recover from the motion sickness.
Have you tried adjusting the settings? The options menu lets you adjust pretty much everything. Remove head bob, increase FOV(it’s vertical FOV by the way, not horizontal) turn off motion blur and decrease the brightness and see if that fixes your problem.
Yes. I run it in the over the shoulder 3rd person to minimize the motion sickness.

My wife has the same issue. She's always a little more sensitive to motion sickness in games, but there's definitely something with Talos Principle that makes it worse than usual.

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 11:28 am

It doesn't usually bother me - I play shooters all the time - but on rare occasions something triggers it. I could never finish Amnesia because of it.

Thanks for the player speed tip, I'll try that tonight.

Lordnine · Post by **Lordnine** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 12:08 pm

Blackhawk wrote:
Lordnine wrote:I definitely didn't go through the process of that spoiler and I found all the stars in the game...

Spoiler:
There is a place, shortly after the tutorial, where there is a fountain, around which are 24 pillars numbered I through XXIV. Each has a button. Two of those buttons must be pressed in the correct order. Press them in the correct order and the water drains, after which a stairwell leading down to the star appears. The only hint is through the process in the spoiler.

Hah! I DO remember that puzzle. I guess I just brute forced my way through it. I vaguely remember a song cord played after every successful button press, so I just ran back and forth until I had memorized the sequence.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 7:56 pm

Finished the first two endings, and without any walkthrough peeking, I'm pleased to say. Now to collect all the stars... FWIW, it took me 28 hours.

Spoiler:

Fantastic game. Thanks again, Hawk.

Lordnine, did you enjoy Gehanna as much as the base game?

Lordnine · Post by **Lordnine** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 8:18 pm

Zaxxon wrote:
Lordnine, did you enjoy Gehanna as much as the base game?

The puzzles in Gehenna are as good if not better. I did think the other elements were a slight step down though. It’s a less “human” story and more about the overall philosophy. I still think it’s worth a look though if you enjoyed the base game.

As for your finished game, did you get the

Spoiler:

I’ll also say that the third ending, while a cool concept, should not be pursued as the "best" or "true" ending just because it's the hardest to achieve.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 9:11 pm

Nope, didn't get that.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 5:01 pm

I got the first (obvious, easiest) ending, and am headed up the tower to challenge Elohim to an epic duel with flaming swords. At least I assume that's what I'll be doing when I get up there.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Sun Jan 24, 2016 1:04 am

Ok, I finished the first two endings. I was very happy with the second (tower) ending. It was a great ending to a really good story. I did like that you had to work for the story - if you just ran around and ignored all of the monitors, didn't put any thought into the implications of what was presented there, and just solved puzzles, you'd have no clue as to what was going on. It is the same thing that made Morrowind's story so good compared to Oblivion and Skyrim.

The only thing I used a guide for were a few of the tetromino puzzles (the sigil arranging.) I gave them a solid try each time, but if it started to get frustrating, I'd open the Steam guide. I didn't think they were a very good fit (too much random trial-and-error instead of the directed experimentation that the main puzzles relied on.)

I think I'm done, though. I don't think I'll spend the time for the rest of the stars, although I'm tempted.

This was a very good game. If you liked the gameplay of Portal, play this game.

Lordnine · Post by **Lordnine** » Sun Jan 24, 2016 12:35 pm

Now that people are finishing, I’m going to link this.

Heavy Spoiler Warning
Complete Collected Time Capsules of Alexandra Drennan

These were one of my favorite elements of the game and listening to them all, one after another, is quite moving. The voice actor did an amazing job. Definitely worth a listen even if you have no intention of playing the game and just want to know what it was all about as well.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Sun Jan 24, 2016 12:37 pm

Yes. I'm still missing a few so I haven't listened to the set in order yet, but they're very well done.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Tue Jan 26, 2016 3:44 pm

Got all the time capsules, all the stars in Worlds A and B, and the first two trifecta of gray tetrominos. I've used a guide liberally for the stars, as I don't think I'd have much fun re-combing every level on my own. I wound up with 8 stars on my own. Onward to the final 8 I'm missing in World C!

I have to say, some of the star solutions are pretty neat. While I'm using a guide, I don't feel that any of them (with maybe one exception) have been unfair. Another thing I just realized yesterday (not sure how it took me till then)...

Spoiler:

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Wed Jan 27, 2016 11:11 am

All stars and endings are mine! Now to try to hold out for a sale on the expansion...

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Wed Jan 27, 2016 12:11 pm

This game is kicking my ass.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Fri Feb 05, 2016 5:02 pm

75% off as part of the Lunar New Year sale. (Gehenna is 66% off, as well.)

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Tue Feb 16, 2016 7:28 pm

Zaxxon wrote:All stars and endings are mine! Now to try to hold out for a sale on the expansion...

Zaxxon wrote:75% off as part of the Lunar New Year sale. (Gehenna is 66% off, as well.)

That didn't take long.

Expansion complete (basic ending). Now to get the rest of the stars and get to the 'real' ones.

Jolor · Post by **Jolor** » Fri Mar 11, 2016 10:43 pm

Started playing this week and the puzzles and gameplay are exceeding my (already raised) expectations.

I got enough sigils to advance to world B but turned around in an attempt to finish everything on world A first. Not sure why ... completist syndrome? Some of the reds, though have me stumped, I'll admit. Also don't understand the grey sigil spaces yet, but I'm sure the nickel will drop at some point.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Fri Mar 11, 2016 11:02 pm

Glad you're enjoying it. You ain't seen nothing yet.

Jolor · Post by **Jolor** » Fri Mar 11, 2016 11:34 pm

Yay?

I definitely get the Portal comparisons. Anyone else getting a Riven vibe?

Jolor · Post by **Jolor** » Wed Mar 23, 2016 4:47 pm

Took a complete session to figure out B4 Green self-help; felt like an idiot.
Took a day-and-a-half to figure out B5 star; felt like a genius*

*
JB - Jethro Bodine
BJ - Boy Jenius

PLW · Post by **PLW** » Tue Aug 23, 2016 11:54 am

$7.20 today on Gamersgate.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Tue Aug 23, 2016 11:57 am

Buy this game. That is all.

PLW · Post by **PLW** » Tue Aug 23, 2016 3:04 pm

Zaxxon wrote:Buy this game. That is all.

I did!

Chaz · Post by **Chaz** » Tue Aug 23, 2016 5:39 pm

I'll third that. This thing was great. I really should clear some room on my schedule to play the DLC I've owned forever now.

Sepiche · Post by **Sepiche** » Thu May 10, 2018 1:57 pm

In case anyone hasn't played this yet, it's 8.99 on Steam today.

It's an excellent puzzle game with a thought provoking backstory.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Thu May 10, 2018 2:02 pm

Zaxxon wrote: ↑Tue Aug 23, 2016 11:57 am Buy this game. That is all.

Lordnine · Post by **Lordnine** » Thu May 10, 2018 4:28 pm

Chaz wrote: ↑Tue Aug 23, 2016 5:39 pm I'll third that. This thing was great. I really should clear some room on my schedule to play the DLC I've owned forever now.

The DLC was good but didn't grab me quite the same way the base game did. The puzzles were great but the overall storytelling and atmosphere was a step down.

The base game is an absolute recommendation for anyone with even a passing interest in puzzle games.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Thu Dec 12, 2019 4:45 pm

Just discovered this game yesterday on xbox gamepass for PC (apparently it is on Switch now too). I've only played a couple hours, but it is a pretty awesome puzzle game. I wonder why nobody ever brought it up or had anything good to say about it...

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Thu Dec 12, 2019 4:52 pm

coopasonic wrote: ↑Thu Dec 12, 2019 4:45 pm Just discovered this game yesterday on xbox gamepass for PC (apparently it is on Switch now too). I've only played a couple hours, but it is a pretty awesome puzzle game. I wonder why nobody ever brought it up or had anything good to say about it...

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Sun Dec 15, 2019 10:34 am

...and finished. I did not go for all the stars. I got all of the sigils, apparently did not get all of the texts or time capsules. I failed to figure out one puzzle and the in-game hint did not help me. When I looked up the solution I was disappointed in myself. It was called Deception and it worked.

Lordnine · Post by **Lordnine** » Sun Dec 15, 2019 12:09 pm

coopasonic wrote: ↑Sun Dec 15, 2019 10:34 am ...and finished. I did not go for all the stars. I got all of the sigils, apparently did not get all of the texts or time capsules. I failed to figure out one puzzle and the in-game hint did not help me. When I looked up the solution I was disappointed in myself. It was called Deception and it worked.

I thought the writing and voice acting in the Time Capsules was excellent. If you have 17 minutes it's worth listening to here in order to hear the whole thing. Spoilers of course for anyone who has not played.

Sawyer · Post by **Sawyer** » Mon Dec 16, 2019 12:02 am

We had Portal, then we had Talos Principle... then we had crickets. Have I missed a game somewhere? How could we have gone so long without more great games of this ilk? Somebody is going to say The Witness, but no.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Mon Dec 16, 2019 1:07 am

Sawyer wrote: ↑Mon Dec 16, 2019 12:02 am We had Portal, then we had Talos Principle... then we had crickets. Have I missed a game somewhere? How could we have gone so long without more great games of this ilk? Somebody is going to say The Witness, but no.

Before this becomes answerable, I'd kinda want to know why The Witness didn't qualify.