The Talos Principle 2

This game is just not good. I didn't have a good overall opinion about the first game, too, but TP2 is just worse in every way. The problems: - Most of the new mechanics are lazy, not interesting, undercooked and never build on each other. It feels like most of them were added just for the sake of more content. Every time you go to a new area, you are introduced to a new mechanic, you solve tutorial level puzzles based on that mechanic, and you repeat it 12 times. The game is extremely repetitive, much more so than the first game, but in a different way. - Puzzle progression is non-existent, the puzzles themselves are way too easy and never get any more difficult. They feel like busywork instead of actual problem solving. I can count the puzzles that I found interesting on one hand, and ironically, they were vanilla, TP1-style puzzles where the new toys were completely absent. - The game likes to go against its own rules: one of the later puzzles could only be solved by jumping on a swapping station in such a way that the fence next to it blocked you from sliding off it. Solving this puzzle felt like I was abusing the game instead of using an intended mechanic because nothing else worked. - I remember one later puzzle that intentionally tried to misdirect you. Trying to distract the player from their thinking to make the puzzle more difficult is a huge no. - Despite all of the above, the biggest offender is the so called exploration. Every area is freaking huge, but for what purpose? Each island is completely empty, you spend more time walking to the puzzles than solving them. Half the play time is just walking. All you are rewarded for your exploration are boring notes and boring dialogues. The game feels like a bad walking simulator where you get to do some puzzles between all the walking. I wrote a negative review of the first game, but now that I distanced myself from it, and now that I finished TP2, it made me appreciate TP1 more, and consider it to be a good, albeit flawed, puzzle game. This game, on the other hand, took the first game, dragged it out with meaningless "content", and dumbed everything down (despite TP1 not being that difficult, either) to make it more appealing to the lowest common denominator. This game has no business being as long as it is.

Я засыпаю играя в игру. Нудятина философская, ещё и со софтлоками. В плане графики слабо и однообразно. Даже облака нормально не сделали, видно полигоны HDRI сферы. Сюжет и локации отвратные. В первой части разнообразней и сюжет с загадкой.

A large portion of the base game’s puzzles are either too easy or unnecessarily clunky. The game can be frustrating, as you’re forced to navigate overly convoluted areas laid out like Far Cry maps just to collect junk needed for achievement completion. Not to mention the achievements you earn for yapping to the stupid bots that give boring ass lectures on the philosophy of science. Despite all this, there’s still a fun game in there if you ignore all the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ and focus on solving the puzzles.

I might be able to understand those that feel after many years, this game feels different to the first. For me having played game 1 for the first time, and then the second immediately after, I loved it. The first game was amazing, great puzzles and philosophy, but the lore and philosophy felt sort of bolted on the side. Game 2 felt like they had the story and world in mind to start with. The world is a lot more fleshed out than the first, it's built around a proper interactive story with voiced characters, and as someone who was itching for more lore this really delivers. There is a story to be immersed in that reveals itself to you while you complete the puzzles, instead of just reading prompts on a computer terminal. Terminals still exist and there is plenty of lore and philosophy to find within them, but the main story is going on as you experience the world, and a small amount of it can be explored outside of the puzzles. I would agree that the puzzles are slightly easier than the first game, I had to resort to youtube on 1 or 2 puzzles in game 1, but got really close to doing the same in the second so not easier by much. Don't be disappointed though, there are still star puzzles (though not quite the same), and a whole set of harder gated puzzles that you can choose to do either before or after going for the ending. Even those only unlock after doing a small set of additional puzzles, so there's a fair bit to do. For me personally I was so happy to get a lot more engrossed in the world and story, and have a good amount of it. I think if you're willing to trade a very small amount of puzzle difficulty for a lot more story world and lore, you'll love it. Can't wait for the 3rd game. Performance: Cachy OS 6700xt 3440x1440 ultrawide: 60-70fps on high settings, no frame gen, quality xess

some of the worst writing and voice acting I have seen in a game in a long time. talos 2 plays with philosophy the same way a child might play with their parent's work uniforms; understanding it only as a costume they shouldn't be allowed to wear. i want to say the serious sam team should stick to their lane, but given recent attempts on that front perhaps it is more advisable they stay off the roads entirely.

在存储占用体量比前作大了十余倍的前提下，游玩上的体量却只多了不到五分之一，很难称之为高效。虽然本作确实引入了更多有趣的机制和关卡，十二个大关每一关都有独特的核心解谜玩法，但说实在就这点内容量很难称得上是量大管饱，感觉本作有40%以上的时间都在空旷过头的大地图里马拉松，这下知道多出来的空间占用是干嘛用的了。乍一看各类巨构建筑确实会让人眼前一亮，不过我觉得这种景色就让它待在背景里就好，真要在里面探索就算了吧，就算要探索也倒是多设计些激发人探索欲望的互动啊，地图的尺度跟可互动要素的密度完全不成比例，偌大一个地图里只有零星10个小关卡1个实验室1个黄金关卡和一堆无所吊谓的文字记录和遗址收集，再路边的开放世界清问号都比这有趣。哥们是来玩解谜的，不是cosplay机械公敌机器人来后启示录大美自然风光里散步的 同伴对话更是不知所谓，只会让叙事显得更加臃肿和累赘，无意义地拖长游玩时间，虽然一定程度上会显得没那么孤独，但这种孤独感正是前作不可或缺的心流体验的一环，也才让前作结局登上高塔出现其他机器人来帮忙显得更加令人振奋和感动，尽管他们一句台词也没有，但其陪伴感和信任感也要远胜于本作那些只会说些假大空辩经的路人同伴。主题的表达更是一下从前作的”自我意志“降级到小家子气的”爱“，虽然能理解剧作逻辑上确实会出现这样的趋势，当从拟境里苏醒的人格越来越多，形成机器人的社会，不可避免会讨论”社交“”情感“相关的思考话题，只不过让一群仅仅在涂装和语音包上略有不同的机器人表演人类的”爱情“，各方面看起来还是太诡异了些。最后结局走的未来线，感觉纯拿主角当工具人了啊，探索巨型建筑的时候是解谜工具人，到最后接手雅典娜的工作扼杀自我当脑机湿件调控巨型建筑发展社会，不管怎么说都塑造得理想过头了，凭什么雅典娜一家子能开开心心过日子，主角做了这么多以后只能被榨干最后的价值当巨型建筑的齿轮？如果说前作的结局是逃出牢笼，本作更像是为了某些“大义”而主动走进牢笼，莫名觉得很可悲

Very disappointing compared to the first game 1) Waaaaaay too much running around. Spending half the time holding the W key is not fun. Horrible design choice. Make the maps smaller. 2) ♥♥♥♥♥♥ filler non puzzle stuff like having to chase an orb around the map for 5 minutes to collect the stars… Are you ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ kidding me?? 3) The vast majority of the puzzles feel like tutorial puzzles for introducing a new mechanic. Only a handful of the puzzles had creative solutions. 4) Too much yapping