At face value , The Talos Principle : Reawakenedhas everything that agood remakeneeds . update graphics , character of living improvements , and an entirely new comrade story should breathe new life into the original 2014 deed of conveyance , wide considered one of thebest puzzle gamesever made . And yetReawakenedsuffers only due to the setting playingThe Talos Principlein 2025 bestow .
While its puzzles remain just as expertly designed and delightfully challenging as they did 11 old age ago , the same can not be said of its tekki tale . A story about human beings on the brink of environmental catastrophe , and howartificial intelligenceis its bring through grace of God , ring hollow in an age where AI ’s moral , ethical , and environmental harms are on never-ending display .
That is n’t the demerit of developer Croteam , responsible for the originalTalos PrincipleandReawakened , but a reminder how a news report ’s baron is a frail thing constantly in flux . There is something fitting in how the secret plan ’s root of legacy practice to this remake , though not always in flattering elbow room . Still , as a teaser gameThe Talos rule : Reawakeneddelivers some truly imaginative challenge worth experience .
Going through the remake checklist
lease ’s start with what is new inReawakened . Rebuilt alone in Unreal Engine 5 , this remaking boasts “ better ” graphics that play the original visuals more in line with what a modernistic hearing might expect . That mostly means lots of foliage , detailed stonework , very reflective water , and so much light throughout the gorgeous landscape painting of theTalos Principle . While these are all nice it feel somewhat unneeded , though graphic aficionados might balk at this sentiment .
11 old age might sound like a longtime but when putting the 2014 variant ofTheTalos PrincipleagainstReawakened , I ’m prompt just how little artwork have really improved in that time . The extra detail is skillful but it amount across more like Croteam checking a boxful on the obligatory feature of a video game remaking to - do list . None of the graphical fidelity or arrange stuffing adds to my understanding of the context .
Reawakenedalso fetch tweaks to gameplay intended to smooth out rough edge of the 2014 going . These are constitute in a rewind push , the connector , and a time record automobile mechanic . Each change or addition is meant to make the puzzle solving more incremental and forgiving of fault . For example , I can now rewind a few seconds at will , making it so I ca n’t soft lock myself and have to re-start a mystifier from scratch ( as is the causa in the original ) .
The time record-keeper , which let me register my action for a set period of prison term and then replay them , has a new checkpoint scheme that makes the once tedious mechanic more forgiving . connecter , mail that can redirect light beams in teaser , also get a quality of life boost by taking a page out ofThe Talos Principle 2and making each client well-to-do to connect and unplug individually . Together , the changes makeThe Talos Principlemuch more forgiving of the player experimentation need to build through its many challenge .
I get older, The Talos Principle stays the same
The puzzles themselves remain unchanged and are just as enticing as in 2014 . That ’s because good puzzles are timeless . They bank on a hard-and-fast interior logical system to be work , equalizing the field between every potential solver regardless of when they are attempting to crack it . The wayThe Talos Principlesets up its puzzles , slowly introducing mechanics and logic problems to the player and then throw twists and combinations as meter goes on , is nothing short of magnificent . It ’s a typeface study in exceptional mystifier excogitation to this day , and the physics based nature of it reminds one of thePortalseries .
Moving blocks , airt beam of lighting , learning how to properly take vantage of the time recorder , and other small epiphanies never feel light of revelatory . The Talos Principleoften left me sit for stretches of time unsure of what to do , mulling it over in my judgement , only to come to a solution and feel that delicious sense of accomplishment .
The narration , however , has not stand up the tryout of time as well as the mechanically skillful side . Reawakeneddoes not change the story of the 2014 master , but encounter it today brings so much more baggage . Perhaps it ’s the pessimist in me but I rule it so much strong to accept the grand philosophizing about AI and human sentience in the background of an environmental crisis ease up our current world . AI will not be our saviour , nor is it our adequate , but rather the latest cozenage from tech executives look to contract corner and steal labour . On top of that , AI tools such as ChatGPT areharmful to the environmentdue to their large usance of energy and high output of emission .
I can at times dissever myself from the current mood and respect the craft ofThe Talos Principle ’s narrative . The written material is excellent , and the path the larger narrative is slow revealed to me through raw geographic expedition and rarity does bung back into themes of wonder what it means to be conscious . But every meter I come back to the biz ’s constant uplifting of an imagined ideal of AI I ca n’t help but scoff at how foolish it all is .
There is a parallel of latitude to be draw between the mechanical beauty ofThe Talos Principleand the dominant demand in some circles to give more meaning to AI than it deserves . These puzzle I am resolve inThe Talos Principlemake me feel impudent , but at the end of the day they are designed to be solvable . Croteam does not want me , or any player , to be too challenge . This is about thespian satisfaction , even if it is a well executed instance of it . Similarly , there is a perpetual desire to say AI is more intelligent and human being - like than it really is . This prejudice , wanting to see intelligent AI , covers up the Snake River oil salesman reality behind the technology . None of this is as smart as they require you to believe .
In search of perspective
The most significant feature of speech ofReawakenedis In the commencement , an solely new story that serves as a variety of prologue to the base plot . This comes packaged alongside the base game and the “ Road To Gehenna ” DLC , all of which can be selected from the title screen with no need to play the others first — a move that lets returning players plunk right into the new mental object . Without going into the detail of this new chapter , as it does give insight into a much blab about era ofThe Talos Principle ’s world lore hounds will revel in , there is something missing .
It ’s not that In the Beginning is n’t well made . The puzzles feel reinvigorated and exciting , more difficult than the base game or Road To Gehenna , it ’s a true challenge meant for experts . The tale is as well constructed , with the same care to item in the prose that the eternal rest of the series showing . Yet the story itself does n’t bring much young to ignite , instead giving a dissimilar position on data see in the stand game .
That is n’t a high-risk thing in itself , as it is an chance to say something bracing , perhaps even plow how sentence has changed the impact of the game ’s themes and narrative . Instead , In the root doubles down on what reads as a mislaid optimism . It ’s a tale about finding hope even in the most depressing of circumstance . That might go topical but it ’s too all-encompassing , and the five to six minute runtime of the expansion does n’t give it clip to hail to a point .
More insight intoThe Talos Principleis given through the developer commentary include inReawakened . These audio log that finger right at home next to the in - game log that dole out the story , propose an exciting tone into how a plot like this gets made . Croteam is also looking back onThe Talos Principlein these logarithm , meaning we do get some of that reflection that I was itching for in the relaxation ofReawakened .
Players who are just interested in the mechanical scene ofThe Talos Principlewill find more enjoyment in the raw chapter , as well as a fresh puzzle creator . This include the power to upload design to the residential district and play mass ’s takes on the physics base brain tease . It ’s heroic and intelligibly another feature meant to makeReawakeneda classical version ofThe Talos Principlethat offers plenty of replay value . AndReawakenedlargely is “ definitive ” in that it offers the most unadulterated software package but it can not account for the change that time work . Let ’s all see how it fair in 11 more years .
The Talos Principle : Reawakenedwas examine on PC .
