Enjoyed the extra puzzles but I had the same problem with this dlc as I did the main game, the framework for the puzzles is so thin, with such little variance that after seeing all the pieces the puzzles have a samey feeling to them and overstay their welcome. Was hoping the dlc would have at least added some new toy or object to add some variety to the new puzzles but instead it's more of the same.
The tedium of using the terminal so often with its many distractions also brings this one down considerably. In the main game it is at least broken up with some words from Elohim but we don't even get that, making the experience more hollow as a result.
If you enjoyed the main game and wanted more you're better off downloading workshop maps and playing those.
The tedium of using the terminal so often with its many distractions also brings this one down considerably. In the main game it is at least broken up with some words from Elohim but we don't even get that, making the experience more hollow as a result.
If you enjoyed the main game and wanted more you're better off downloading workshop maps and playing those.
As far as The Talos Principle's puzzles go, this is the peak. The star world especially stands out as the best puzzles in the series. The story here is still compelling albeit not as conceptually interesting as the original or second game. The text based nature of it is interesting and well executed. Short, neat, challenging and fun.
não achei tão bom quanto o jogo base mas são puzzles que te fazem se sentir um gênio, embora eu tenha visto alguns na net porque pareciam simplesmente impossíveis, recomendo a DLC a qualquer um que goste de puzzles e do jogo original (e preferencialmente que seja mais inteligente que eu)
Road to Gehenna is an interesting expansion in that it doesn't add much totally new to the experience. You'll utilise the exact same mechanics as the base game, in environments ripped straight from the base game; without a new story, this could just be a map pack, with additional, more difficuly challenges following up from the end of the original.
However, there is a story here, and it's delivered differently from The Talos Principle. While you'll still access computers scattered across the world (in this case, one after each puzzle), they tend to be a lot more interactive. You play as Uriel, an emissary of Elohim, sent to shut down Gehenna, a world inhabited by many unique characters. I won't get into the weeds of the narrative, but it is rather compelling and philosophically challenging. The delivery is the highlight, as you access information via a social network. Each thread has posts from various people, and you're often able to add your own thoughts to the discussion boards. Sometimes these threads include attachments, such as art, literature or even the occasional text-based adventure game, similar to something like Zork. It's a brilliant framing device that builds certain individuals into unique characters, and oftentimes gets a laugh out of me due to the snappier, wittier writing.
All in all, this was a worthwile experience. While I found the puzzles dragged somewhat, with nothing brand new to shake up the fairly long playtime, the intermittent story beats more than made up for this, in many ways surpassing the storytelling of the base game. If you liked what The Talos Principle had to offer, you're bound to find something to enjoy here.
However, there is a story here, and it's delivered differently from The Talos Principle. While you'll still access computers scattered across the world (in this case, one after each puzzle), they tend to be a lot more interactive. You play as Uriel, an emissary of Elohim, sent to shut down Gehenna, a world inhabited by many unique characters. I won't get into the weeds of the narrative, but it is rather compelling and philosophically challenging. The delivery is the highlight, as you access information via a social network. Each thread has posts from various people, and you're often able to add your own thoughts to the discussion boards. Sometimes these threads include attachments, such as art, literature or even the occasional text-based adventure game, similar to something like Zork. It's a brilliant framing device that builds certain individuals into unique characters, and oftentimes gets a laugh out of me due to the snappier, wittier writing.
All in all, this was a worthwile experience. While I found the puzzles dragged somewhat, with nothing brand new to shake up the fairly long playtime, the intermittent story beats more than made up for this, in many ways surpassing the storytelling of the base game. If you liked what The Talos Principle had to offer, you're bound to find something to enjoy here.
Takes the base game and makes everything about it better. Computer interactions are now so much fun, the puzzles are actually challenging and the locations are stunning and varied with how they're structured compared to very flat first game. This is how dlc/expansions should be done and i'm really excited for the second game
Así se complementa una obra.
Repite la misma trama de la historia principal sobre el valor de la humanidad y su gente, pero cambiando a una narrativa menos simbólica y más inmersiva. Ahora el mundo es una especie de cárcel de desterrados que conecta a sus integrantes a través de la cultura, el texto y una terminal (muy COVID): literalmente un foro virtual en línea increíblemente escrito, porque lo aprovecha para desarrollar sus temas, contar historias, hacer humor e interactuar con el jugador de formas más directas, amenas, y hasta emocionales. Y es que el punto más fuerte de este foro es que los personajes ya no son solo metáforas o códigos QR en la pared, tienen conversaciones, escriben fanfics y comentan los acontecimientos según va avanzando la trama. Se siente real y, cuando al final comienzan las analogías del destino de Gehenna con el de la especie humana, narrado en la trama principal, se siente más potente, muchísimo más propio y emocional aquí. "Salvación no es inmortalidad".
Y no me privo de mencionar los desafíos del último mundo, los del administrador, que tiene algunos de los puzzles más enrevesados que he tenido que resolver en un videojuegos, de esos que parecen completamente imposibles hasta que de algún pasas sobre ellos y, wow; aquí Croteam demuestra que nunca se deshizo de su rabia sana contra el jugador que demostraba en los primeros SS.
Repite la misma trama de la historia principal sobre el valor de la humanidad y su gente, pero cambiando a una narrativa menos simbólica y más inmersiva. Ahora el mundo es una especie de cárcel de desterrados que conecta a sus integrantes a través de la cultura, el texto y una terminal (muy COVID): literalmente un foro virtual en línea increíblemente escrito, porque lo aprovecha para desarrollar sus temas, contar historias, hacer humor e interactuar con el jugador de formas más directas, amenas, y hasta emocionales. Y es que el punto más fuerte de este foro es que los personajes ya no son solo metáforas o códigos QR en la pared, tienen conversaciones, escriben fanfics y comentan los acontecimientos según va avanzando la trama. Se siente real y, cuando al final comienzan las analogías del destino de Gehenna con el de la especie humana, narrado en la trama principal, se siente más potente, muchísimo más propio y emocional aquí. "Salvación no es inmortalidad".
Y no me privo de mencionar los desafíos del último mundo, los del administrador, que tiene algunos de los puzzles más enrevesados que he tenido que resolver en un videojuegos, de esos que parecen completamente imposibles hasta que de algún pasas sobre ellos y, wow; aquí Croteam demuestra que nunca se deshizo de su rabia sana contra el jugador que demostraba en los primeros SS.
Essentially “Master Levels for The Talos Principle”. While the amount of puzzles it offers up isn’t big, it cuts the fat from the first third of the base game and offers up some of the most rousing and difficult challenges that mechanics were only starting to mingle with, and these puzzles never felt too easy or hard. The tradeoff of the great lore and worldbuilding in the original is a more active plot that hearkens back to message boards in days of yore that will be a nostalgia bomb for anyone active on that stage of the internet. While there’s some great characterization, I wish it played into gameplay more instead of just being like “hey, you’re the dude I was talking to on the boards” after the child program blankly looks at you after freeing them and runs away.
I do wish there was more of a variety in settings of levels, as they are just basically bigger setpieces from the Greek, Egyptian, and medieval European landscapes from the first game. The closest we come is the hub area, which still doesn’t feel all that disconnected from the hub area in the base game.
Definitely a must-play for those thirsty for more after beating the base game.
I do wish there was more of a variety in settings of levels, as they are just basically bigger setpieces from the Greek, Egyptian, and medieval European landscapes from the first game. The closest we come is the hub area, which still doesn’t feel all that disconnected from the hub area in the base game.
Definitely a must-play for those thirsty for more after beating the base game.
This review contains spoilers
Spoilers only discussed at the very bottom of the review
What does it mean to be human? This is a question that has plagued man since the days of antiquity, pondered over by such thinkers as Aristotle, David Hume, and of course Nietzsche. It’s a hypothetical that will never get an adequate answer because no interpretation is universally accepted: is it our genetic make-up, our physiology, our sapience? Each of these seems sound till presented with a theoretical counter-example: the singularity, brain in a vat, personhood, etc….and while one may be able to devise an appropriate response, the reality is it doesn’t matter because there is no objective truth.
It was only natural that video games would tackle this subject matter, and though there have been a number of ventures over the decades, The Talos Principle always struck me as the best one. Centered on an unnamed android attempting to achieve transcendence in a virtual reality, the game’s philosophy came from numerous texts strewn across the world, the bulk of these on terminals operated by a sentient Turing Machine. They were engaging, thought-provoking, and more than made-up for the fact that the puzzles in-between had nothing to do with the ideological discourses going on.
Released about six months later, Road to Gehenna serves as an expansion pack to the original game, taking place directly after the Messenger successfully escaped Elohim’s Paradise. In light of the simulation collapsing, Elohim has a final task for a new messenger, codenamed Uriel; free the inhabitants of a secluded area called Gehenna before everything disappears. Why are they here and how do they feel about leaving? Well, that’s up to you to figure out should you embark on this journey.
It’s been years since I beat The Talos Principle, but to the best of my recollection RtG isn’t too different in terms of its technical facets, which is not a bad thing. The vanilla game was a great creation from developer Croteam, providing them a chance to showcase the fourth iteration of their Serious Engine, and what you consequently get is a product visually indistinguishable from Unreal. Assets, from stone formations to vegetation, are heavy on realism; clouds on high burst god rays, and small physics animations like head bobs and air resistance have been implemented.
Unfortunately, these are partially offset by two major flaws: the first is a general fuzziness that envelops all surfaces upon closer inspection (fine at a distance, but not point blank); the second is more subjective, but it pertains to a lack of any stylizing by Croteam. What I mean is we’re supposed to be in a digital rendition of Shangri-la, yet the landscapes look rather ordinary -- there’s no artistic flair, no sense of spirituality, nothing. Nothing but generic fields, deserts, and fountains. I suppose, from a lore perspective, it technically makes sense due to the planes being constructed by an AGI who wouldn’t be channeling Picasso; however, this is one of those areas where poetic license should’ve been invoked as the environments are otherwise pretty forgettable.
In addition, I had some performance issues: draw distance, especially while running, would load literally like an ocean wave pushing outwards; the game crashed thrice on me; and even on the highest settings I noticed clipping from the confetti on fans. It should also be mentioned that RtG has a major motion sickness problem to the point where the devs actually implemented an in-game menu with options to alleviate it. My personal recommendation would be to turn-off the aforementioned head bobbing, decrease mouse sensitivity, and increase the field of view to around 110 (thank you Cassandre on Steam for the tips https://steamcommunity.com/app/257510/discussions/0/1640919103693884479/).
Sound-wise, RtG is good. The only voice acting are a few brief monologues from Elohim, who certainly sounds deific enough (even if he does come across like a 90s PnC narrator). Noise effects have been tuned for every tool you’ll utilize, and while I would’ve liked some variation as far as laser collision and terminal velocity impact, the reality is you won’t spend a considerable amount of time in each stage to warrant it being distracting. Lastly, the score by Damjan Mravunac is excellent, taking the stringed exploratory cues that dominated The Last of Us, replacing them with brass instruments, and expanding their melodies into atmospheric tracks whose loops never get tiresome to listen to - an admirable feat, considering you’ll be spending close to eight hours solving areas, which brings me to the gameplay.
Look, if you beat The Talos Principle, you’ll know what you’re getting into. The endgoal of each level is to activate a switch usually hidden behind a series of barriers opened via some combination of panels and platforms. It’s a simple framework used to conceive a multitude of puzzles, and the original game was fantastic in this department: progression was smooth, new mechanics easy to understand, and solutions mostly deducible (more on that shortly).
Road to Gehenna’s quandaries revolve around it failing to replicate those first and third bullet points. With the former, if you’ve taken a significant break from the main title (as I did), then expect to experience a bit of a learning curve as you readapt to systems previously introduced in a more layered manner. While that is understandable (most fans who beat the OG are likely to immediately move onto RtG), the latter criticism doesn’t get the same protections as I genuinely felt a good chunk of RtG’s puzzles rested on contrived workarounds. Let me put it this way- to the best of my knowledge, there were only three stages in The Talos Principle that I googled the answers to, and it turned out their resolutions involved you placing rods at very tight angles in order to successfully connect multiple lasers. RtG is, unfortunately, filled with a greater number of these remedies, and it’s disappointing because it’s like the game is asking you to cheese it -- those types of tight-knit placements are the kind of thing you’d see done on a Speed Run, NOT a conventional playthrough
Granted, it’s very much possible the learning curve qualms contributed to this hurdle (or that I’ve gotten worse at such video games in the years since beating Talos), but I like to think I’m objective enough to view RtG as its own product, and there were definitely plenty of times where I was reminded why I enjoyed the first game so much. It’s just those good moments were sadly infringed upon by the other instances of frustrating game design.
One aspect that RtG has unequivocally improved upon from its predecessor is the narratorial relation between the puzzle solving and gameplay. While your actions still don’t correspond to any philosophical colloquies (save the overarching label of “freedom”), they at least serve a tangible purpose wherein you’re emancipating these “inmates”. The terminal system also returns, albeit modified in a unique way: you’re now privy to discussion threads posted by the inhabitants of Gehenna. Whereas The Talos Principle (to my memory) had vague ruminations from prior Messengers, in Gehenna you’re now witnessing actual discourses that occurred, and continue to occur, between these AIs, and they are honestly a treat to read. From reflections on their exile, to musings on their state of being, to their artistic attempts at coping with what was effectively a prison, it was all fascinating to digest and genuinely got me invested in the world Uriel was “liberating”. These are not a bunch of faceless peers, but a full-fledged cognizant community that was genuinely thriving in some capacity of the term. I highly recommend browsing through EVERYTHING the terminals offer as the pieces are memorable. That said, I did have a few quandaries in the narrative department: one, the game doesn’t mark forums you’ve already viewed, two, there is no escape function should you accidentally click an old post, and three, the ending is pointlessly multilineared+.
In conclusion, though, I can neither recommend nor deter against playing Road to Gehenna. My aforementioned ravings about the plot are counterpoised by performance defects, as well deficiencies with a good chunk of the level layouts. Make your decision accordingly
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+It turns out there isn’t enough bandwidth for Uriel to leave with the rest of the Gehennians, forcing him to stay back whilst the others transcend. It’s cliche, dumb, and doesn’t serve any thematic purpose. Alternatively, if you actually collect every star, you unlock three other endings wherein the head administrator of the world or Uriel can sacrifice themselves to allow the other to depart with the flock (or you can both stay back as mutual destructees). First of all, if it was possible for an extra person to join in, why in the other finale is there conveniently not enough bandwidth for Uriel? Secondly, what bearing will any of this have on the sequel (I sincerely doubt The Talos Principle II will transfer over save files given the gap between releases), and would Uriel’s assimilation even make a substantial impact on the narrative? All these alternate premises are inherently silly and were clearly implemented just to give some minor reward to those players who opted to spend time finding each star.
What does it mean to be human? This is a question that has plagued man since the days of antiquity, pondered over by such thinkers as Aristotle, David Hume, and of course Nietzsche. It’s a hypothetical that will never get an adequate answer because no interpretation is universally accepted: is it our genetic make-up, our physiology, our sapience? Each of these seems sound till presented with a theoretical counter-example: the singularity, brain in a vat, personhood, etc….and while one may be able to devise an appropriate response, the reality is it doesn’t matter because there is no objective truth.
It was only natural that video games would tackle this subject matter, and though there have been a number of ventures over the decades, The Talos Principle always struck me as the best one. Centered on an unnamed android attempting to achieve transcendence in a virtual reality, the game’s philosophy came from numerous texts strewn across the world, the bulk of these on terminals operated by a sentient Turing Machine. They were engaging, thought-provoking, and more than made-up for the fact that the puzzles in-between had nothing to do with the ideological discourses going on.
Released about six months later, Road to Gehenna serves as an expansion pack to the original game, taking place directly after the Messenger successfully escaped Elohim’s Paradise. In light of the simulation collapsing, Elohim has a final task for a new messenger, codenamed Uriel; free the inhabitants of a secluded area called Gehenna before everything disappears. Why are they here and how do they feel about leaving? Well, that’s up to you to figure out should you embark on this journey.
It’s been years since I beat The Talos Principle, but to the best of my recollection RtG isn’t too different in terms of its technical facets, which is not a bad thing. The vanilla game was a great creation from developer Croteam, providing them a chance to showcase the fourth iteration of their Serious Engine, and what you consequently get is a product visually indistinguishable from Unreal. Assets, from stone formations to vegetation, are heavy on realism; clouds on high burst god rays, and small physics animations like head bobs and air resistance have been implemented.
Unfortunately, these are partially offset by two major flaws: the first is a general fuzziness that envelops all surfaces upon closer inspection (fine at a distance, but not point blank); the second is more subjective, but it pertains to a lack of any stylizing by Croteam. What I mean is we’re supposed to be in a digital rendition of Shangri-la, yet the landscapes look rather ordinary -- there’s no artistic flair, no sense of spirituality, nothing. Nothing but generic fields, deserts, and fountains. I suppose, from a lore perspective, it technically makes sense due to the planes being constructed by an AGI who wouldn’t be channeling Picasso; however, this is one of those areas where poetic license should’ve been invoked as the environments are otherwise pretty forgettable.
In addition, I had some performance issues: draw distance, especially while running, would load literally like an ocean wave pushing outwards; the game crashed thrice on me; and even on the highest settings I noticed clipping from the confetti on fans. It should also be mentioned that RtG has a major motion sickness problem to the point where the devs actually implemented an in-game menu with options to alleviate it. My personal recommendation would be to turn-off the aforementioned head bobbing, decrease mouse sensitivity, and increase the field of view to around 110 (thank you Cassandre on Steam for the tips https://steamcommunity.com/app/257510/discussions/0/1640919103693884479/).
Sound-wise, RtG is good. The only voice acting are a few brief monologues from Elohim, who certainly sounds deific enough (even if he does come across like a 90s PnC narrator). Noise effects have been tuned for every tool you’ll utilize, and while I would’ve liked some variation as far as laser collision and terminal velocity impact, the reality is you won’t spend a considerable amount of time in each stage to warrant it being distracting. Lastly, the score by Damjan Mravunac is excellent, taking the stringed exploratory cues that dominated The Last of Us, replacing them with brass instruments, and expanding their melodies into atmospheric tracks whose loops never get tiresome to listen to - an admirable feat, considering you’ll be spending close to eight hours solving areas, which brings me to the gameplay.
Look, if you beat The Talos Principle, you’ll know what you’re getting into. The endgoal of each level is to activate a switch usually hidden behind a series of barriers opened via some combination of panels and platforms. It’s a simple framework used to conceive a multitude of puzzles, and the original game was fantastic in this department: progression was smooth, new mechanics easy to understand, and solutions mostly deducible (more on that shortly).
Road to Gehenna’s quandaries revolve around it failing to replicate those first and third bullet points. With the former, if you’ve taken a significant break from the main title (as I did), then expect to experience a bit of a learning curve as you readapt to systems previously introduced in a more layered manner. While that is understandable (most fans who beat the OG are likely to immediately move onto RtG), the latter criticism doesn’t get the same protections as I genuinely felt a good chunk of RtG’s puzzles rested on contrived workarounds. Let me put it this way- to the best of my knowledge, there were only three stages in The Talos Principle that I googled the answers to, and it turned out their resolutions involved you placing rods at very tight angles in order to successfully connect multiple lasers. RtG is, unfortunately, filled with a greater number of these remedies, and it’s disappointing because it’s like the game is asking you to cheese it -- those types of tight-knit placements are the kind of thing you’d see done on a Speed Run, NOT a conventional playthrough
Granted, it’s very much possible the learning curve qualms contributed to this hurdle (or that I’ve gotten worse at such video games in the years since beating Talos), but I like to think I’m objective enough to view RtG as its own product, and there were definitely plenty of times where I was reminded why I enjoyed the first game so much. It’s just those good moments were sadly infringed upon by the other instances of frustrating game design.
One aspect that RtG has unequivocally improved upon from its predecessor is the narratorial relation between the puzzle solving and gameplay. While your actions still don’t correspond to any philosophical colloquies (save the overarching label of “freedom”), they at least serve a tangible purpose wherein you’re emancipating these “inmates”. The terminal system also returns, albeit modified in a unique way: you’re now privy to discussion threads posted by the inhabitants of Gehenna. Whereas The Talos Principle (to my memory) had vague ruminations from prior Messengers, in Gehenna you’re now witnessing actual discourses that occurred, and continue to occur, between these AIs, and they are honestly a treat to read. From reflections on their exile, to musings on their state of being, to their artistic attempts at coping with what was effectively a prison, it was all fascinating to digest and genuinely got me invested in the world Uriel was “liberating”. These are not a bunch of faceless peers, but a full-fledged cognizant community that was genuinely thriving in some capacity of the term. I highly recommend browsing through EVERYTHING the terminals offer as the pieces are memorable. That said, I did have a few quandaries in the narrative department: one, the game doesn’t mark forums you’ve already viewed, two, there is no escape function should you accidentally click an old post, and three, the ending is pointlessly multilineared+.
In conclusion, though, I can neither recommend nor deter against playing Road to Gehenna. My aforementioned ravings about the plot are counterpoised by performance defects, as well deficiencies with a good chunk of the level layouts. Make your decision accordingly
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+It turns out there isn’t enough bandwidth for Uriel to leave with the rest of the Gehennians, forcing him to stay back whilst the others transcend. It’s cliche, dumb, and doesn’t serve any thematic purpose. Alternatively, if you actually collect every star, you unlock three other endings wherein the head administrator of the world or Uriel can sacrifice themselves to allow the other to depart with the flock (or you can both stay back as mutual destructees). First of all, if it was possible for an extra person to join in, why in the other finale is there conveniently not enough bandwidth for Uriel? Secondly, what bearing will any of this have on the sequel (I sincerely doubt The Talos Principle II will transfer over save files given the gap between releases), and would Uriel’s assimilation even make a substantial impact on the narrative? All these alternate premises are inherently silly and were clearly implemented just to give some minor reward to those players who opted to spend time finding each star.
Fantastic DLC, really gave me more of the challenge I was looking for in the base game, and the message board experience is very nostalgic for me.
LOVED the concept of a society that built itself up from nothing. Interacting with the different characters added so much personality to this DLC. Puzzles were about the same difficulty and provided a fresh experience
Veredito: Fantástico e desafiador... para quem jogou o original.
Talvez o melhor - e pior - tipo de pacote de expansão: praticamente um jogo à parte. Uma campanha própria, com fases e história próprias. Mesmo quem não jogou Talos pode pegar Gehenna e gostar. Mas o público-alvo é claramente os fãs do original.
Pra começar, apesar da história ser compreensível mesmo sem entender as referências, a grande graça dela tá no diálogo com o universo pré-estabelecido. Sem perceber esse diálogo, a história é só bacaninha. Percebendo, ela ganha outra profundidade.
Mas principalmente, Gehenna é DIFÍCIL PRA CARALHO. Lembra o quanto alguns puzzles opcionais da 2ª metade de Talos eram de arrancar os cabelos? Pois é, eles são brincadeira de criança perto dos obrigatórios da 1ª metade de Gehenna. Platinei Talos sem guia, então foi com essa cabeça que em Gehenna alguns poucos puzzles só precisei me esforçar um pouco, a maioria demorei quase 1h pensando, e acho que mais ou menos 1/8 dos puzzles fiquei dias batendo cabeça até conseguir. Às vezes semanas. Para. Cada. Puzzle.
Sério, nunca um jogo me fez me sentir um gênio a esse ponto. Depois de platinar Gehenna, a sensação é de ser um verdadeiro DEUS da observação e raciocínio espaciais. Como alguém que tem o original decorado de trás pra frente, a história da expansão também é incrível. Mas Gehenna é para poucos, e isso é um fato óbvio e ululante com neon vermelho piscando.
Talvez o melhor - e pior - tipo de pacote de expansão: praticamente um jogo à parte. Uma campanha própria, com fases e história próprias. Mesmo quem não jogou Talos pode pegar Gehenna e gostar. Mas o público-alvo é claramente os fãs do original.
Pra começar, apesar da história ser compreensível mesmo sem entender as referências, a grande graça dela tá no diálogo com o universo pré-estabelecido. Sem perceber esse diálogo, a história é só bacaninha. Percebendo, ela ganha outra profundidade.
Mas principalmente, Gehenna é DIFÍCIL PRA CARALHO. Lembra o quanto alguns puzzles opcionais da 2ª metade de Talos eram de arrancar os cabelos? Pois é, eles são brincadeira de criança perto dos obrigatórios da 1ª metade de Gehenna. Platinei Talos sem guia, então foi com essa cabeça que em Gehenna alguns poucos puzzles só precisei me esforçar um pouco, a maioria demorei quase 1h pensando, e acho que mais ou menos 1/8 dos puzzles fiquei dias batendo cabeça até conseguir. Às vezes semanas. Para. Cada. Puzzle.
Sério, nunca um jogo me fez me sentir um gênio a esse ponto. Depois de platinar Gehenna, a sensação é de ser um verdadeiro DEUS da observação e raciocínio espaciais. Como alguém que tem o original decorado de trás pra frente, a história da expansão também é incrível. Mas Gehenna é para poucos, e isso é um fato óbvio e ululante com neon vermelho piscando.
Cheated a lot, still fun
I really, really loved this. The puzzles are really tough, tougher than most found in the base game, but not in a bullshit way. Most puzzle games I've played, even the great ones, tend to ramp up difficulty by just adding more stuff. You start a puzzle, and there are so many moving parts that it feels as though the biggest challenge is just figuring out where to even start. But to my pleasant surprise, none of the ones present in Road to Gehenna were overwhelming like that. Most of them actually kept it pretty tame in terms of scale and the amount of tools you'd have at any given time. They just happened to be really well put together, exactly the kind of puzzle game I like.
I will say, and this is probably the one gripe I have with Road to Gehenna, that I wish they'd had a bit more variety. Like the base game, most all of the puzzles are about redirecting lasers and weighing down pressure plates. But where the base game managed to keep it pretty fresh throughout with some clever uses of other mechanics present in the game, I found that a lot of the puzzles in Road to Gehenna just felt samey (with some notable exceptions, of course). That said, they're still expertly crafted, I enjoyed solving all of them, and I could spend all day solving more. It's extremely satisfying to solve one and then just stroll through the area, admiring the web of lasers you've created and seeing how they all connect.
As far as the narrative goes, I think I enjoyed this as much as, if not more than the base game. This time around, instead of learning of the lives of people who lived in a previous civilization while having theological/existential discussions with one A.I., there are multiple A.I.'s to get to know. Each of them has a distinct personality, goals, hopes, and relationships with one another, as well as with you. As the game goes on, you learn more about them, have conversations with them, and see how they process the impact you're having on their world. The writers did a phenomenal job of fleshing each character out and making them feel real, and by the end of the game, I cared about and felt as though I personally knew each of them. And, like the base game, you can choose not to engage with the story at all if you prefer. On top of all of this, the amount content in this DLC is actually quite substantial. Not as long as the base game, but long enough that it could easily be a standalone title. If you enjoyed The Talos Principle, I'd say that it's basically essential that you play this.
I will say, and this is probably the one gripe I have with Road to Gehenna, that I wish they'd had a bit more variety. Like the base game, most all of the puzzles are about redirecting lasers and weighing down pressure plates. But where the base game managed to keep it pretty fresh throughout with some clever uses of other mechanics present in the game, I found that a lot of the puzzles in Road to Gehenna just felt samey (with some notable exceptions, of course). That said, they're still expertly crafted, I enjoyed solving all of them, and I could spend all day solving more. It's extremely satisfying to solve one and then just stroll through the area, admiring the web of lasers you've created and seeing how they all connect.
As far as the narrative goes, I think I enjoyed this as much as, if not more than the base game. This time around, instead of learning of the lives of people who lived in a previous civilization while having theological/existential discussions with one A.I., there are multiple A.I.'s to get to know. Each of them has a distinct personality, goals, hopes, and relationships with one another, as well as with you. As the game goes on, you learn more about them, have conversations with them, and see how they process the impact you're having on their world. The writers did a phenomenal job of fleshing each character out and making them feel real, and by the end of the game, I cared about and felt as though I personally knew each of them. And, like the base game, you can choose not to engage with the story at all if you prefer. On top of all of this, the amount content in this DLC is actually quite substantial. Not as long as the base game, but long enough that it could easily be a standalone title. If you enjoyed The Talos Principle, I'd say that it's basically essential that you play this.
While the base game of Talos is very bland, empty, and disconnected beyond the puzzles, it's surprising that the Gehenna DLC actually does so much more with so much less.
If you enjoyed the puzzling from the base game (or simply want the 100% achievements) the DLC is well worth a play as you're getting a heaping spoonful of extra puzzles, some of which explore the mechanical nuances in more detail. It doesn't introduce any new obstacles or tools and all the artwork is recycled from the first game but it's all used to a much greater effect.
Gehenna is essentially a prison and you play Uriel (an AI mentioned in the first game) who is challenged with breaking them out. Despite being imprisoned the characters have a rich presence in the message boards of Gehenna's terminals creating art, discussing philosophy, and creating games for each other. This small touch gives the puzzles more purpose as they now function as locks to prison cells. Even the level design is more interesting despite how much smaller the world is.
It's a shame they didn't reverse the roles and have this as the premise for the core game and leave the lonely testing to the DLC. It's amazing how just this touch of extra depth, having a mysterious premise, playing a named character, and having a cast of characters adds so much that was missing from the first game - or maybe it's a case of something is better than nothing. Either ways I'd recommend this over the base game but I don't know if it's worth $10 extra to make an okay game good.
If you enjoyed the puzzling from the base game (or simply want the 100% achievements) the DLC is well worth a play as you're getting a heaping spoonful of extra puzzles, some of which explore the mechanical nuances in more detail. It doesn't introduce any new obstacles or tools and all the artwork is recycled from the first game but it's all used to a much greater effect.
Gehenna is essentially a prison and you play Uriel (an AI mentioned in the first game) who is challenged with breaking them out. Despite being imprisoned the characters have a rich presence in the message boards of Gehenna's terminals creating art, discussing philosophy, and creating games for each other. This small touch gives the puzzles more purpose as they now function as locks to prison cells. Even the level design is more interesting despite how much smaller the world is.
It's a shame they didn't reverse the roles and have this as the premise for the core game and leave the lonely testing to the DLC. It's amazing how just this touch of extra depth, having a mysterious premise, playing a named character, and having a cast of characters adds so much that was missing from the first game - or maybe it's a case of something is better than nothing. Either ways I'd recommend this over the base game but I don't know if it's worth $10 extra to make an okay game good.
Something about this didn't hit as well as the main game, but it was still challenging and fun. Nothing really new, just more of the same, which I guess is exactly what you want out of a DLC. Shitposting being a core game mechanic was nice too.
I'm mad though because I was gonna go back to get all the stars I missed at the end but when I finished it hadn't saved since like 14 puzzles ago and I can absolutely not be bothered to do them again
I'm mad though because I was gonna go back to get all the stars I missed at the end but when I finished it hadn't saved since like 14 puzzles ago and I can absolutely not be bothered to do them again
(I played this on PS4, but that's not an option in Backloggd.)
Kudos to the designers for finding more interesting puzzles with the same mechanics as the main game, but I think a DLC of this size justifies having genuinely new mechanics, and (like the original game) there are more puzzles here than necessary. By the end, I felt less clever, and more annoyed at the amount of fiddle necessary. I also had no interest in getting any of the stars, given how hard many of them are just to locate, and so I was annoyed that the game seems to lock the best ending behind them.
That being said, the story being told in Gehenna is genuinely more interesting, and the core mechanics are well-designed enough (and still unique 6 years after the fact) that I mostly had a good time.
Kudos to the designers for finding more interesting puzzles with the same mechanics as the main game, but I think a DLC of this size justifies having genuinely new mechanics, and (like the original game) there are more puzzles here than necessary. By the end, I felt less clever, and more annoyed at the amount of fiddle necessary. I also had no interest in getting any of the stars, given how hard many of them are just to locate, and so I was annoyed that the game seems to lock the best ending behind them.
That being said, the story being told in Gehenna is genuinely more interesting, and the core mechanics are well-designed enough (and still unique 6 years after the fact) that I mostly had a good time.
A worthy continuation to the original. Enjoyed it as much as the base game. The chat room style discussions between puzzles were really good and the ending was satisfying. Well worth every penny. (coming from someone who thought the base game was 10/10).
An expansion to the lore of The Talos Principle with more and harder puzzles, which felt tough but never frustrating (except the grey ones, those are downright BRUTAL but they're optional!). The story is presented in a forum-like format where characters talk to each other and discuss life and its worth, which feels more straightforward, yet immersive. Overall, a great challenge which broadens the mechanics of the game.
The hit game Transcendation, which has groups of players running all over towns across the world, is said to be based on a combination of Enochian magick, chaos magick and Heka, an ancient Egyptian religion.
something about solving these puzzles just makes me feel so smart. they're a great difficulty
the gehenna community was such a fun implementation and it felt genuine. i ended up being very invested with the characters and plot.
oh, and the puzzles are so much harder. they hurt
oh, and the puzzles are so much harder. they hurt
A practically perfect expansion to the Talos Principle, where the puzzle difficulty picks up from where the end of the base game left off and the environments/puzzle setpieces are more beautiful and elaborate. The story follows a different part of the universe where a society of AI that have studied and created art based on the humans before them now find their world on the brink of collapse; it takes a lot of class to pull off a serious story about the end of days where some of the characters are internet trolls and discord moderators.
An expansion, which also serves as a sequel to the original's events, taking place right before the true ending which also adds a lot of context to its events, while further exploring the nature of a learning AI which tries to understand human culture, history, and art.
Gameplay-wise, the puzzles can be brutally hard and fully expect you to be a master of the game's mechanics. Thankfully, the original's most undercooked elemt (record/play) is not used a lot, so your frustration will never be with the game's design, but with the smoothness of your own brain.
A near perfect expansion to a near perfect game.
Gameplay-wise, the puzzles can be brutally hard and fully expect you to be a master of the game's mechanics. Thankfully, the original's most undercooked elemt (record/play) is not used a lot, so your frustration will never be with the game's design, but with the smoothness of your own brain.
A near perfect expansion to a near perfect game.
The Talos Principle Road to Gehenna reminds me alot of classic map packs. There are no new characters to mess around with nor new gimmicks nor is it even a stopgap between the main game and a sequel. The game adds no new mechanics and simply reuses all of the base puzzle tools. There are also very few new assets with all the world themes being the same as the base game. The game therefore uses its toolkit to its fullest to craft puzzles even harder then that of the original game. Every puzzle here is harder then the hardest puzzles of the base game; where the base game feels like a tutorial for this DLC. With much of the bullshit waiting on recorders cut out. The stars are also much better integrated into the puzzles with only 10 or 16 being required for the best ending allowing the player to pick and choose. The Talos Principle and this DLC show that with a careful touch and proper design sense even the most worn out mechanics can be taken farther then other more comparatively high concept puzzle games.
The story is also told here more subtlety with the focus placed on life inside the simulation rather then the purpose of the simulation. There is faux message boards, ban happen mods, and mini text adventures.
The Talos Principle Road to Gehenna is what a dlc should be an improvement on an already great game.
The story is also told here more subtlety with the focus placed on life inside the simulation rather then the purpose of the simulation. There is faux message boards, ban happen mods, and mini text adventures.
The Talos Principle Road to Gehenna is what a dlc should be an improvement on an already great game.
Better puzzles than the base game and only two had recorder shit in them.
A perfect DLC to a perfect game. It does what every DLC should aim to do; it expands the universe, maintains and even exceeds the difficulty of the original game and introduces new ideas and characters.