11/10

I bought this game a year ago today, and I do not regret it at all. The puzzles are very well done on their own, and if it weren't for the following, it would still be a very good game, but not the true masterpiece it is. The combination of stunning visuals, a deep, emotional soundtrack, and very immersive story make it not only an amazing game, but a true work of art.

The visual aspect was so intriguing, I often forgot I was staring at a computer screen, especially in the first, Greco-Roman world. The soundtrack touches you right down to your soul. It brings out emotions I have often not felt before, and truly immerse you in the game, bringing out thoughts of philosophy. The story, oh the story. Not so much the 'common story element', but more so, what it is all about. It is metaphysically enchanting. It is playing this game that I experienced some of the deepest philosophical ideas I have ever had. The game makes you question what it is to be human, it makes you question the world, and everything around you, but in a truly spectacular way.

On the outside, the game appears to be a puzzle game with nice graphics by Croteam, but in reality, it is so much more. Hold on a minute, you just spent all that time reading that when you could have been buying the game??!? don't waste any more time! Buy it now! Unless it isn't on sale, then maybe wait for it to go on sale, since even though it is a truly amazing game, $44 is a bit much, the price is the only con. Then again, I'm pretty sure it was a lot cheaper a year ago, and if you have the money, and are willing, use it!

About three or four hours in, I found myself leaning back from my desk, gazing off at a virtual shoreline while absorbing a piano soundtrack, and trying to reconcile the enjoyable experience I'd been having playing this game with the overpowering melancholy that the most recent scenario had just inspired.

The Talos Principle's lasting impact is not in its mechanics , nor in its beautifully-sculpted visual and level design, nor in its hidden narrative. The game's power comes from combining these elements to intentionally challenge the player's perceptions: those of the simulation, of the real world around them, and ultimately, of themselves.

This is one of the greatest pieces of artwork that I have ever experienced, and while the replayability factor is fairly low, I am still quite glad for the experience.

Absolutely great game!
In the beginning its kinda easy but it gets harder later on to a point where you get really frustrated. There are a lot of puzzles to solve that involve various unique elements to play with. The puzzles and the mechanics alone are great but the story is also astonishing good for a team that developed the Serious Sam series :).
One thing needs to be mentioned for people that don't like to read a lot: You need to read a lot in this game to get the full experience of the game. I guess the puzzles alone are worth the money, but keep that in mind to understand all the praising reviews.
I needed ~25h to complete the main game with all extra puzzles (but used walkthroughs for some hard 'special puzzles').
The DLC is also completely worth its money. Same mechanics but some variation of the different elements and a great story.

I personally think that it's much better than portal & portal 2.

Everyone should've played this masterpiece! Get it!

This game just isn't my all-time favorite because Portal 2 still takes the cake (pun not intended), but man, it's such a close second place! The graphics are spetacular, the story is amazing, the music is awesome, the themes are great, and the puzzles... well, let's just say it's been a long time since I've last been so happy for being so challenged. I could not help myself but dissect each level to find all the stars and all the easter eggs and read all the files from hidden terminals and listen to all the voice journals and complete all the endings. I absolutely loved how well the story matched the texts and clues spread throughout. It kept me thinking and wondering all the time, without the frustration of it not having clear solutions (hard to figure out, sure, but never obscure), while simultaneously keeping me trying to decide what is true and what isn't in such an amazing, beautiful, complex and almost terrifying new world. Mythology, science fiction, philosophy AND puzzles combined, what else would you want?

I honestly don't want to write a long review about this game, because in all honesty, the more blindly you play it, the more you'll enjoy it.

The important things to know are that it is indeed a game with puzzles, philosophy, and choice. And that it tells a story, but in a way that could only be told by a video game. Croteam managed to use the medium to great effect.

I don't really want to give much more detail than that. Just play the game, experience it for yourself. I can honestly say this is a game that will be sticking with me for a very, very long time. It made me think, and it made me feel. Few games can really do both.

The Talos Principle borrows heavily from Portal for it's puzzles, despite not having a central innovative game mechanic. Story-wise, it goes into hardcore philosophy concepts in a surprisingly legit way for the developers of Serious Sam. So if you ever wanted to stop shooting things in a Serious Sam game and instead wander around admiring the architecture and the pretty skybox while listening to a deep voiced God actor reading lines written by a pretentious philosophy major, then The Talos Principle is definitely for you. Are there people in that category? The game would claim that you are asking the wrong question. The right question would be: are there such things as people at all?

The Talos Principle is one of my favorite games of all time. Never has a game's story been this intriguing.

Pros
-Fun puzzles
-Lots of puzzles
-Intriguing story
-Very long
-Good soundtrack/ambience
-Optional in-game hints for when you're stuck
-Extremely immersive
-Phenominal narrator

Cons
-Main puzzles were a bit too easy for my taste
-Optional puzzles could be flatout ridiculous (not very often though)

Before I get more in depth I want to say one thing. Many people compare this game to Portal, but it's very different. The only thing that's the same is that it's a first person puzzler. The way you solve puzzles is completely different. I don't understand the comparison to Portal.

There are three hubs full of puzzles in this game. Each hub has 7 areas that you can enter that contain anywhere from 3 to 6 puzzles in them. I figured out how to play the game pretty quick so I went pretty quickly through the first hub. The second hub gave more of a challenge to me but it wasn't too hard. When I got to the third hub I was expecting it to get a lot harder. That didn't really happen. The difficulty did increase, but not by a ton. Maybe it's because I was abnormally good at the game. I've seen that many people found the last hub to be very hard. I very rarely spent 15 minutes on a puzzle, I probably averaged 7-10 minutes. The difficulty not increasing a ton might be because the hidden stars were meant to be the biggest challenge.

The difficulty I had finding the hidden stars went from pretty easy to how am I supposed to figure this out. There is one star in particular that was pretty much impossible. When you entered one of the levels there was a QR code. Normally the game tells you what they say, but it didn't for this one. You had to manually figure it out. Then I believe there was another process you had to do. This let you figure out what numbers you had to press on the pillars surrounding the QR code. I'm not sure how I was supposed to figure out to do that. Another issue I had with the stars was it was very hard to figure out where the stars were when I came back to a level to find them. It tells you how many stars are in each level, but once you're in the level there's no hints. I ended up using a guide to find them since I didn't want to spend hours of my life looking for them.

I've been pretty negative so far in this review, but I really love this game. The story hooked me from the beginning, which rarely happens to me. Every puzzle was a lot of fun. There was never a dull moment. The final sequence of one of the endings is one of the most intense moments I've experienced in a game. I was constantly immersed in the game. I was so immersed that I usually played the game for over 4 hours straight.

Do yourself a favor and buy this game right now. It's definitely worth it.

Good gameplay, great setting, good graphics, good narrative (even more interesting if you have a little philosophical background knowledge)

10/10 one of the best games in this genre

by far one of the best games i have ever played. great storyline. Fun puzzels.

Amazing and deep story frames a magnificently clever puzzle game.
10/10 would wonder if I am human again.