I admit I didn’t realize the sequel even came out yet, but it has an 88/9.0 on Metacritic. Overlooked maybe, but underrated?
His metric of underrated seems to be comparing the artistic quality of a game with its sales numbers, and I guess Talos II was a poor seller.
Bought it when it came out! Great game. The antialiasing is really funky, though. There’s a lot of ghosting no matter what antialiasing option you use. I suspect it’s probably a software bug. It does kind of detract from the visual quality aspect of its marketing.
Regardless, I don’t think puzzles sell well in general - bit of a niche genre
That’s our hated TAA for you. It’s always on. And its especially bad in this title unfortunately. As talos1 was really great and I asked for talos2 to the devs for not forced TAA.
Rather have jaggies than being blurred out.
That’s “hidden gem” rather than “underrated.”
But I agree with others that are saying it’s just niche. It’s a pure puzzle game. There’s no exploration, crafting, combat, survival, etc. You have to really like puzzles to play a pure puzzle game.
I do, and I’ve still been struggling to make it all the way through. I’m just starting on the last of the first 12 sections, and some of them have kind of been a slog rather than a joy.
I can’t even give any particular complaint, though. Each puzzle really is different from the others, so they aren’t duplicated in any way that was obvious to me. It’s just a lot, I guess.
I honestly have no clue what it’s even about or what kind of game it is. I’ve seen it on steam regularly, but it never interested me to investigate.
Mechanically - both games are puzzle games in the same rough 3d-platform-puzzler vein as Portal. Instead of solving puzzles with teleportation however, you’ve got laser beams and force fields.
On a more metaphysical level, the first game is a philosophical investigation of what it means to be human - to be alive and an individual.
The sequel is a meditation on what makes societies succeed or die.
Both games are fun, the puzzles are just hard enough to be interesting with a sprinkling of well-hidden secrets. But the real reason to play The Talos Principle is if you’ve got an interest in philosophy - the storylines are deeply interested in asking some very big questions. … and they don’t provide answers either - the game poses questions and allows you to answer as you see fit.
The first was amazing as well, but I always figured its niche type of problem solving and philosophical subjects didn’t really appeal to a wide audience. When the second one was announced I immediately wanted to play it, but I think once again a small target audience is its crutch for mainstream success.
