There is only you, and the spark of the podcast that is your mind.
Welcome back to NOCLIP! Today, we’re going to be looking at The Talos Principle 2, a first person puzzle game developed by Croteam. The game builds on, and stays pretty close to, the mechanics of the first game, using connecting lasers with various tools as the primary method of puzzle solving. Despite this, it does a good job of feeling familiar while also adding novelty with each new area. There are many new puzzle solving tools and they make you approach the puzzle rooms in different ways, with some of my personal favorites being the ones that allow the player to move around in different ways, which really changes your relationship with the space. Narratively, the game picks up where the previous left off, just very far in the future. The plot focuses on the society that has built up around the designs of the characters from the first game, but the philosophical focus has shifted from questions of personhood common in the first game to questions of humanity’s impact on environments and societal responsibility. This feels like a natural evolution and one that is more reactive to current social issues. We’re going to be talking about the pacing of the game and how it’s unusual difficulty curve is actually a boon, what makes the puzzles of this series as enjoyable as they are, and how we like colors and shapes, y’know, like newborn babies.
Thank you for listening to NOCLIP this week! This was a game we knew we wanted to play but took a while to find its spot. I’m glad we did get around to it, because it ended up being a really good time, but also because it provides a complete tonal contrast to the games surrounding it in the schedule. Were you a fan of the original game and waiting for the sequel? Let us know in the comments or over on our Discord. Next time, we’re going to be talking about Uma Musume: Pretty Derby, so we sort of hope you’ll join us then.