I love a pure puzzle game even though it often fluctuates widely from elation of solving a puzzle to the frustration of your own stupidity to not being able to solve one. The Talos Principle is definitely a good pure puzzler. There's a sense of progression since you unlock more puzzle components as you go. You start off with a disruptor for shields and you get beam, boxes, fans, platforms and an ability to make a copy of yourself as you go. Although there can be a sense of tedium to some of the longer puzzles especially if it involves the copy ability, the puzzles are very well designed. Playing through all the game and the optional puzzles, I did get a little tired of setting up beams even if the quality of the puzzles doesn't drop. There are some real tricky secret stars to collect which are very clever but I'll admit I didn't find most of these without a guide. There is an interesting premise to the setup although exploring it almost exclusively through written messages on a terminal isn't the most exciting way to engage with it. It's a cool game and hearing that the sequel develops on it further certainly has me intrigued.

The Talos Principle is a first-person puzzle game much like the Portal games but at the same time not. The only thing the game has in common is two things: first person perspective and puzzle-solving.

The graphical design and gameplay of the game is great, it's the CroEngine which we all know and love from Serious Sam but here put in a different context which definitely works out. Sure, it's a bit clunky but I think that adds to it. You are a robot after all. The worlds look great too, although maybe somewhat repetetive and not too much variation in things. However the environment is not really the focus of the game so it can be excused.

The puzzles are everything from easy to frustratingly hard, but I don't think anything is unsolveable. As you progress in the game, you also unlock various new tools that helps you solve puzzles along the way through the different worlds. I think that's a nice touch and there is quite the variation among the puzzles, nothing feels the same.

The story... while there might not be much story that happens directly there is a backstory that you explore and get to know more about the further in the game you get. You also hear voices and talk with someone on the terminals, everything hidden in mysteries and for you to find out. Something to keep in mind is that there are multiple endings including some hidden easter eggs :)

I recommend this to all puzzle fans out there, especially if you want something similiar to Portal (but yet not!). It's a quite long game but since it's divided into various worlds and levels, it feels like you're making progress every time you play.