The highly-anticipated sequel The Talos Principle II brings many changes compared to the original in almost every aspect of the game, the details of which were shared for the first time during this year's Gamescom. Since its release in 2014, The Talos Principle has become critically acclaimed for its unique blend of puzzling and interwoven philosophical questions. Though the upcoming entry from Croteam, the developer behind the Serious Sam series, and publisher Devolver Digital has no set release date yet, a recent interview has made it clear there's a lot for fans to look forward to.
Screen Rant sat down with two Talos Principle II developers at this year's Gamescom, puzzle designer Mario Kotlar and writer Verena Kyratzes, to learn more about what the title has in store. The discussion touched on a myriad of topics including the overarching narrative of the game, new mechanics and tools, and the philosophical questions it aims to make players think about. One of the biggest pieces of new information to come out of the discussion was that The Talos Principle II will have a significantly larger amount of characters that the first game, which only had two.
Verena Kyratzes: This is the mayor, one of the many voiced characters of this game. The first Talos Principle had two characters - this has a lot more.
Kyratzes shared this information while giving an overview of the beginning of the game, wherein the player character is celebrating their birthday as the 1000th robot created within the game's futuristic society. Though the first Talos Principal manages to create an interesting narrative and raise thought-provoking questions with very few characters, there was still much about the world players have wondered about. The inclusion of more characters will give much greater opportunities to build up the lore of the world and give players the ability to learn through conversation as well as exploration.
The original mind-bending puzzle game centered on a simulation, so it made sense for the title to include few characters for players to interact with. However, it's clear from the discussion with developers that the sequel aims to expand upon the ideas of the first entry in almost every way, especially when it comes to the in-game world and its lore. By taking the game from a simulation into the real world, The Talos Principle II can tackle a whole new set of ideas.
Verena Kyratzes: And so the biggest question is, I said in the first game, you were inside the simulation, and you were solving puzzles to prove that you're a human being. Now in the second game, we're in the real world and somebody built puzzles out of steel and concrete that are clearly related somehow to the puzzles of the first game. So the big question is, who did this? Who created this echo of the infancy of human of robot civilization and why are they asking you to solve puzzles? I'm not going to tell you now but that's one of the questions that the game is going to answer.
It's clear that developers have gotten more ambitious since the first Talos Principle, aiming to take the way they challenge players' thinking to new heights not only in terms of puzzles but from a philosophical perspective as well. New mechanics like an RBG laser converter and teleporter will add new layers to how each level is solved, but there will be much more for fans to explore outside the game's main challenges. This interview made it clear that while The Talos Principle II keeps the core pillars of the original intact, it has much more to bring to the table.
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The Talos Principle 2 is planned for release some time in 2023 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC