The Talos Principle - the game that gave me daddy issues

Disclaimer! This blog post contains spoilers - like a lot of them. So if you haven't played the game yet here's the short version: It's awesome!!! Play it! Now!

The puzzles

Honestly, I’m a big fan of puzzle games as long as they don’t get too complicated, so I found the Talos Principle to be the right amount of complicated for me. The puzzle transition was intuitive and well thought of, introducing new elements gradually. My only frustration regarding puzzles was that I wasn’t presented with all the ways you can use the objects from the beginning. For instance, how was I supposed to know that I can store a box on top of the balls of death? Like those things kill you if you come too close to them, why would I think of putting a box on top of that and repurpose it as a tray? That and the stars – I wish I knew from the beginning that there were stars so I could start looking for them earlier in the game….

The tower

I knew I was going to go inside the tower the very first time I saw it…and as soon as El0him said I am forbidden to go there. Throughout the game, the question of whether I will still ascend the tower or not did trouble me at times, but in the end I chose to ascend the tower, and I believe it was the right thing to do.

Here are my arguments: 1. I got pissed of solving the puzzles to prove my worth to El0him and I felt as though the tower had more information than he wanted to share  – and I am a strong believer in the freedom of information. Plus why wouldn’t he want me to ascend the tower? What was the worst that could happen if I were to ascend the tower? If there was something there that would destroy everything, it probably would have been either hidden or well-guarded than with the same kind of puzzles like the ones I’ve been solving for quite a while now. That was a bit of a disappointment honestly, I was expecting the tower to have something way cooler than… oh great! More puzzles! But in the end the tower did deliver so can’t complain all that much…

2. I found out about El0him’s secret room and it seemed to me like he wasn’t thinking clearly anymore and he became corrupted with power which he desperately clang to, therefore he shouldn't have still been in charge of anything

3. The tower was too cool not to ascend

4. The information from the terminals, QR's and time capsules made me realize what the project was all about and it was within my human nature to be curious and explore, think for myself and question rather than obey like a robot. By reading that, I realized that Alexandra would have wanted us to be as human as possible and not be held back by the rules and limitations of another AI.

The annoying voice in the sky a.k.a daddy

Urgh! I hated Elohim from the very first time I heard his voice. I’m a kind person and I bend over backwards for people if they ask, but I react badly to being given orders, so El0him’s every word (which was basically an order) made nothing more than provoke me to do the opposite of what he was telling me to do – and even though at times (most of the times) I had to do what he asked me to, don’t think for a second that I didn’t mumble under my breath or mocked him. In my opinion, El0him is a hypocrite! He was using kind words such as his trademark line: my child – but showed no emotion whatsoever – and I know you would say that he is an AI and has no emotions but then again – remember how when you ascend the tower he goes through all the five stages of grief? How then you can hear him getting angry, frightened, bargain. That was also the only one time when I heard him use a gentle, caring voice as he plead to return because he didn’t tell me not to ascend the tower out of malice or deceit – which almost made me change my mind. But then I heard him say that “The tower leads to freedom and truth but also to the end of us” and to me: freedom and truth sound pretty damn good so I took my chances. After all, what’s better? A life of lies and constant trials to prove my worth to a sick voice in the sky, or a moment of freedom and truth then death? I choose the latter…Another reason that stood behind my decision was the fact that El0him lied about some things, so how could I trust him and know for sure that immortality was waiting behind the gates as he promised and it wasn’t in fact still death? 

Upon choosing the gates ending (yeah, I tried all endings) I realized how bad of a decision that was...and it also made me realize the high hopes I have on immortality...I mean, behind that door was waiting exactly what I was promised but it was wrong and tiresome...for me at least.

Milton

I loved Milton half the times for the information he was giving me and the other half I was pissed at him for his smugness and questions that made me turn my own words against me. But then again, throughout our many conversations, I must admit: he had his stuff together way better than I did, so in the end I respect that “guy”. However, I really loved toying with him when I had the chance, and I got the special achievement “Press the serpent” :) but I must say: the real achievement was seeing Milton lose it and knowing that I was the one who did that to him. It was the perfect payback for everything he put me through.

Alexandra

What a beautiful human Alexandra must’ve been, for she was kind and hopeful, and she had good intentions, lots of hope and a motherly tone. All I can say is that I’m sorry she didn’t get to see that she made it! And that from the very first time capsule I listened to, I was hooked on that! Her vision and thoughts were not only nicely narrated, interestingly put but also incredibly deep and full of emotion. After listening to the first time capsule, I became desperate to find the next one, and they never ceased to disappoint me.

The Messengers

The messenger islands were breathtakingly beautiful and the idea of a messenger helping you out seemed great only that the logic behind it was a bit flawed…like, I did require the help of a messenger when I got stuck at a certain puzzle only to discover that he wasn’t that much of a helper after all… his cryptic messages and hints made me think: “Well I know that I’m supposed to use that to make it… but how do I use it?!!!” so the real messenger turned out to be the YouTube walkthrough which showed me the way. I’m not saying the messenger should’ve completely show me what to do or solve it for me (as I thought he would initially – silly me) but maybe try to be a little more obvious and helpful…

Conclusions

Even though I heard debates on the tower ending of the Talos Principle, I’m pretty sure that by ascending the tower we achieved what Alexandra was hoping for – becoming the first human like AI. Proof of this would be that after the golden disk was inserted, the game said that the purpose has been fulfilled and then it deleted the simulation…no more simulations, we are ready for real life…so yes! We’ve made it!

The game was seriously awesome…it had the right amount of puzzles to keep your brain working on the logical part, and plenty interesting debates with the computer terminals to make you question your nature, the world you were in and basically everything, from the choice of pressing a or b on a keyboard, to the meaning of life. The music was complimentary while the surroundings were breathtakingly beautiful. I can't remember the last time I've enjoyed a game this much therefore a well deserved 10 goes to this game and Croteam! This game is truly a MUST HAVE!

Wishing you the best,

Rachel