The Talos Principle (2014)

I know about half of the Steam catalogue is on sale right now, but I wanted to highlight this FANTASTIC puzzler.

It's smart both in puzzle elements and in story and the rare "chamber puzzle" game in which gameplay and plot are actually interrelated. I cannot recommend it enough. Is my favourite of the genre right here with the Portal series.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/257510/The_Talos_Principle/

I'm no longer feeling motion sick when playing and I think I've finally settled into the rhythm of the game. I'm still ignoring most of the files stored on the computer, but am paying more attention to the voice over and terminal characters and it feels worthwhile.

(Bit of a spoiler ahead...) I'm pretty sure I'm not progressing up the tower as I should be, but I'm choosing to ignore it as I advance through the puzzles I've been asked to solve.

I played through another session of The Talos Principle and tried to just focus on the puzzles. I've switched my view to third person and hold Shift constantly to run, which allows me to complete the puzzles quickly and from almost a top-down perspective instead of an FPS perspective. It's hard to explain, but I really like the puzzles.

I'm not sure about the story. The emails, notes, and book fragments I run across seem like they'll be interesting in hindsight, but it feels like a distraction (unlike the occasional paintings in Portal, which added depth and richness to the story without making me feel like I was wasting time).

The game is quite a bit longer than I imagined (I forgot to check HLTB before starting), so I think it'll take me 3 or 4 more play sessions to get through it.

I'll come back for the puzzles and I'm just hoping the story pays off.

There's a Devolver Digital sale on Steam at the moment and it has some really good games, many of which only cost about $1. And they all have something in common:

• Enter the Gungeon: This game is great fun. I've spent countless hours playing it. But I'll never beat it cuz I suck.
• Downwell: This game is great fun. I've spent countless hours playing it. But I'll never beat it cuz I suck.
• Titan Souls: This game is great fun. I've spent countless hours playing it. But I'll never beat it cuz I suck.
• Dropsy: This game is great fun. I've spent countless hours playing it. But I'll never beat it cuz I suck. :(
• The Talos Principle: This game is great fun. I've spent countless hours playing it. But I'll never .. wait a moment. I DID beat this one! Hooray! The others though: not in a million years.

Also, I noticed Noct is on there. Someone on here recommended that to me recently, I might pick it up, it's only a couple bucks. Though I've heard the servers are completely dead and it's borderline impossible to play solo. :(

Although it's a completely different game, in my mind this feels like a true spiritual successor to Portal / Portal 2 (and that's a big big compliment).

Very happy that i made it all the way through. Very happy!! Although gutted that I didn't find the Half-Life crowbar and the secret chamber with the kitten and Portal references which led to "the kitten ending", although once you climb the tower the ending is pretty epic in its own right.

Is the DLC worth playing? (seems to get decent reviews).

This was on my backlog so I loaded this up on my Mac the other day as was forced to take a break from Bloodborne due to the fact that the mother-in-law was staying for longer than welcome and she sits in front of the TV like a huge lump.

Only had a chance to finish the first chamber. First impressions... bloody fantastic! Feels a lot like Portal and that's a really good thing