Talos is yet another puzzle game that finds itself stuffed into the business suit of a tangentially related plot. The puzzles are strong on their own but are roughly mixed into a philosophical story of AI and self awareness which comes off as a bit high on its own farts at times.

So lets start with the best this game has to offer - the puzzles. Everything is centred around getting lasers from source A to receiver B, often redirecting around obstacles both static and active-ly trying to kill you. Your arsenal of tools are simple and grow as you unlock them but the game explores every nuance of how they interact thoroughly through it's large stock of levels. The only mechanics I really couldn't get on with was the shockingly tedious time-based ones introduced late into the game, but thankfully these were few and far between.

The puzzle design is straightforward and does a great job of introducing not only the tools and obstacles but their unique mechanics and interactions gradually. There were 2-3 puzzles that require you to explicitly understand these nuances in order to complete them and while I had to step away, I found I'd coined the mechanic from other puzzles by the time I came back. There wasn't a point where I felt like it was unfair. There are of course additional challenges beyond the core puzzles if you want to explore the easter eggs, endings, and bonus mechanics the game has to offer - though be prepared to do a lot of tetromino puzzles (the static puzzle game tetris is based on).

As for the plot while I won't spoil the specifics it is sadly another case of coming up with the mechanics first then filling in the gaps between them with the plot filler. You can at least ignore the plot if you want and focus on the puzzles part provided you aren't attached to achievements, and for those who are you'll annoyingly have to get the DLC to 100% the game (though I'd argue the DLC is stronger than the base game).

So why the low rating then? Well aside from the strong puzzle design, the game is just very empty. Levels are deconstructed and scattered around but not in any meaningful or interesting way. The world feels like it was built from asset packs and no matter how much the story insists it's verisimilitude it doesn't change the fact it has simple, repetitive, bland HD environments. There are no other characters aside from written messages, and the dialogue only comes from a voice in the sky or expositional audio logs. It's possible to do a lonely world well, Shadow of the Colossus nailed it, but that world was deep and explorable - here it comes off as limited in imagination.

I don't feel like the game even justifies being HD, like a lot of time and work was spent putting ray tracing into a sudoku game. That speaks to the larger feeling I have of a game that's trying to insist it's impressive and smart but without really justifying those claims. It wears its inspirations like Portal on its sleeve and thinks 'being smart' is talking about philosophy, but then pairs that with puzzles about connecting lasers without any attempt to relate the pair instead insisting they're analogous. The same way the rocks are rendered with such depth and detail, but not really used in any meaningful way.

In conclusion Talos is a very well designed game that has trouble meshing it's very serious and pretentious story with 'connect the dots' puzzling. If unlike me you do vibe with the story then there are a variety of endings and twists which you might enjoy. Regardless the mechanics themselves are interesting to explore and provide a fun variety of challenge making the game worth a play. I think you'll either love it or tolerate it.