| The Talos Principle: Reawakened | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Release Date | Gameplay & Story | DLC & Pre-Order | Review |
The Talos Principle: Reawakened is the remaster to the 2014 3D puzzle masterpiece of the same name with new content, upgraded visuals, and improvements. Read our review to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth buying.
The Talos Principle: Reawakened Review Overview
What is The Talos Principle: Reawakened?
The Talos Principle: Reawakened is the definitive remaster of the classic 3D puzzle game 2014 title of the same name developed by indie studio Croteam and published by Devolver Digital. This modern overhaul introduces gameplay improvements, upgraded graphics rebuilt with Unreal Engine 5, and a whole new chapter to discover more of the game’s lore. The core concept of the game revolves around philosophy, challenging players to think deeply about the intricacies and profoundness of the human condition.
Players step into the shoes of an android who finds themselves in a strange world riddled with ancient ruins, advanced technology, and puzzles upon puzzles to solve. A voice from the heavens introduces himself as Elohim, and encourages the player to explore their environment, and to find the answers to these pressing questions: Who are you? What is your purpose?
The Talos Principle: Reawakened features:
⚫︎ Stunning Visuals
⚫︎ New Chapter With Challenging Puzzles
⚫︎ More Story Content
⚫︎ Quality of Life Improvements
⚫︎ A Puzzle Editor for the Creative
| Digital Storefronts | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Steam |
 PlayStation |
 Xbox |
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| $39.99 | |||||
The Talos Principle: Reawakened Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
 Enhanced Visuals Anti-Frustration Measures A New Chapter To Play Optional Developer Insights |
A Hefty Price To Pay—If You’ve Already Played It Before No Level Editor For Console Players Reportedly Unoptimized For PC |
The Talos Principle: Reawakened Overall Score - 92/100
The Talos Principle: Reawakened is the definitive edition of the original The Talos Principle, and wholly improves upon everything that the first game was already stellar at and even adds more content to go through, thus providing a complete experience all in one package. From the new story chapter to the enhanced visuals and QoL improvements, Reawakened provides a solid experience for both veteran fans and new players who have yet to step into the series. The $40 price tag is steep, but it is well worth it for the elevated gameplay experience.
The Talos Principle: Reawakened Story - 10/10
Its plot is profound and delves quite deeply into the depths of philosophy and its existential questions about the human condition. Bits and pieces of lore are found all over, from the informative computer terminals to the audio datalogs hidden away in places that need a little bit of exploring to find. The story is not given to you on a silver platter and summarized like a book report—it encourages you to put these pieces together to form your own understanding of the plot through dialectic storytelling. Much like the puzzles you have to solve, there is also the central question you need to answer; who are you? And what is your purpose?
The Talos Principle: Reawakened Gameplay - 10/10
Its 3D puzzle-solving mechanics utilizing various types of tools offer a solid challenge the moment you step into its world and only gets more complex the more you progress. With over a hundred puzzles to go through, these brainteasers encourage players to think outside the box, as most of its solutions require some sort of different perspective to finish. The remaster added two new QoL improvements in the gameplay aspect, namely the quick rewind and the pause function for the Recorder tool, which really make the solving experience less frustrating.
The Talos Principle: Reawakened Visuals - 10/10
The Talos Principle: Reawakened improved upon the original’s already stunning graphics and made it even better. The remaster featured enhanced textures, lighting, and more environmental design that makes its whole world feel more alive than ever before. There are even new assets and more density with the environments, giving it a much fuller look. The PlayStation 5 release was generally free of any stuttering or frame rate issues, and provided a smooth experience overall.
The Talos Principle: Reawakened Audio - 9/10
The audio fits in perfectly with the game—calm, tranquil, and almost ethereal. Given that it’s composed for a puzzle game, there’s less of those heavy, rhythmic beats and instead give you the perfect audio to focus on solving puzzles and thinking outside the box. The sound design and voice acting is stellar as well, despite having only a handful of characters being fully voiced.
The Talos Principle: Reawakened Value for Money - 7/10
It’s a solid deal for $40, with players gaining access to the new playable chapter plus the previously released DLC, an evident visual upgrade, and several QoL improvements. However, that’s really only if you’ve never played The Talos Principle before—if you have a copy of the original 2014 classic, $40 may be a steep price to pay for what is essentially just a beefed up remaster and a new chapter. Nevertheless, if you’re a big fan of the series or looking to jump into this renowned 3D puzzle game for the very first time, you can experience the whole story surrounding the first part with this definitive remaster.
The Talos Principle: Reawakened Review: A Stellar Remaster, A Definitive Edition
The Talos Principle is no new game—it’s been around for a decade at this point and is quite renowned for being one of the classic modern puzzle games out there, frequently being mentioned along with the likes of Portal. In fact, it’s even got a sequel released just over two years ago. However, the very first game is back, bigger and better than ever with its remaster, The Talos Principle: Reawakened. I’ve had some experience with the first title, and I was more than hyped to finally get to play its updated modern counterpart—which did not disappoint in any way.
Same Solid Gameplay, but Feels Better
Speaking from the viewpoint of someone who got to play the original game, Reawakened is literally just a better version of the first, visually and content-wise. It plays exactly the same, only with a few upgrades here and there. However, I’d like to get into the gameplay aspect for those who may not be familiar with the series.
The objective of each puzzle area is to acquire these tetromino sigils (or simply the Tetris-looking pieces), which are usually locked away behind a force field door or guarded by exploding bombs or automatic turrets. Players are tasked to find a way to get these pieces using the tools at their disposal, which differ depending on the area. These tetrominos are then used to unlock gated iron doors, which can only be unlocked by putting the pieces together in a perfect rectangle.
Despite being overhauled into a new engine, the controls are fluid and not janky at all, making for smooth gameplay and getting to put the tools exactly where you want to put them. This is especially important in a puzzle game where even the tiniest bit of an offshoot angle will make or break your solution. Gameplay mechanics are polished, and these puzzles, no matter how easy they look, offer a great challenge. As you progress through the story and clear the puzzle areas, you will also discover new tools and puzzle mechanics to keep things from getting stale. Your brain is literally working the entire time you’re playing this game, and it’s very enjoyable, to say the least.
Stunning Visual Upgrade
From the get go, players will be able to see the massive improvement of the visuals just from booting up the game. While the original game was very much stunning in its own right, the contrast between the classic version and the remaster is wholly evident—it elevates the experience as a whole, especially when taking a break from puzzle solving and just taking in the environment around you.
Reawakened does not only feature enhanced textures, but new assets in many different areas. The grass is literally greener, with more density and foliage to go around. Trees feel slightly larger with more leaves, the grass now has specks of red flowers that give it that lovely pop of color, and there are even new statues in the Egypt-themed location as opposed to just the bare and plain ol’ pillars. Its colors are more vibrant and objects, buildings, and backgrounds have more detail—heck, even the faraway islands you see while exploring look great. It’s polished and definitely a treat for the eyes.
New Anti-Frustration Measures
Have you ever tried to solve a puzzle in the original Talos Principle and just as you were about to finish solving it all, one of the bombs comes in a little too close for comfort and makes you explode to pieces, forcing you to restart the entire level from the beginning? Well, the Reawakened remaster has now got you covered. If you screw up a puzzle, you can now rewind the timeline a few steps behind to undo your fatal mistake, saving you from redoing everything. The game’s puzzles get more complex and take longer to solve the farther you go, so a rewind option like this will save you and your poor head from frustration and a headache. It’s saved my sorry hide more times than I could count, especially concerning puzzles with the exploding bombs or the turrets that take you out the moment you get into their radar.
Not only that, but there’s something even better—the godforsaken Recorder puzzle tool now has a pause button. While the overall mechanic of the Recorder puzzle is interesting, I’ll admit that I’ve had my fair share of frustrations with this thing. It does exactly what it says on the tin; it will record you doing a set of actions that can then be replayed to accomplish a certain area. The original game had somewhat of a time limit that couldn’t be controlled, sometimes forcing you to restart your recording all over again because your actions disappeared. Thankfully, in Reawakened, there is now a pause function that allows you to hold it on pause for as long as you want so that you can fine-tune how the action plays out to a T.
Developer Commentary
While not exactly a QoL update, this new piece of content may be interesting for those who like knowing more about what goes on behind the scenes in game development. The Talos Principle: Reawakened also now features Developer Commentary if the option is enabled, with floating red indicators scattered across the map. One can simply walk up to the levitating symbol and the audio will play automatically, even while you’re solving puzzles. The game’s audio is outstanding, that’s for sure, but those who like having radio and podcast-type of sounds playing in the background while doing any type of tasks, this pretty much is exactly that.
Getting to solve these brain-wracking challenges while having one of the developers talk your ear off is actually quite an experience—a learning one at that too. For example, while setting up my laser connectors in the right place, I discovered that one of the game’s puzzle designers, Devor Hunski, shared that he used his son’s Lego pieces to render his ideas in 3D. I also learned that writer Tom Jubert was brought into the team just 14 months before the original game’s slated release, with most of the game already done. Director Alen Ladavac was a fan of his work, and promptly pitched the idea to Jubert with a whopping 20 paragraph email about The Talos Principle. That’s some amazing work, and it goes to show just how much work is put into a game like this.
A Hefty Price Tag—If You Already Played The First
While thankfully not as expensive as a triple-A game, $40 is not chump change at all. It’s very much worth it for the upgraded content, sure, but in essence it’s also just a well-done remaster of the original title with added elements. Players who have played through the 2014 The Talos Principle may find it too much to buy a new copy just for the new chapter, or may not really care for the upgraded visuals, rewind or pause functions or the community level editor.
As of writing, there is no news as to whether or not the new prequel story chapter "In the Beginning" will be available as a separate purchase, like the previously released Road to Gehenna DLC.
No Level Editor or Creator for Console Players
Unfortunately, console players such as myself are missing out on one feature of the remaster—the Level Editor and Community-Created Levels. As the name suggests, it is where players can unleash their inner puzzle designer and create their own The Talos Principle-certified brain-teasers right in game, which can then be made public for other players to try and challenge themselves with.
Due to technical limitations and constraints, these features—yes, not even just getting to play these community-made levels—are unavailable for console players. Personally, not having the Level Editor is alright with me but it’s a bummer that I can’t at least play the levels made by the geniuses in the playerbase.
Reportedly Unoptimized for PC
I’d like to point this out as well even though I played it on the PlayStation 5 console, for the sake of all PC players out there. Several players have reported to struggle with the game’s performance on the PC port, despite owning powerful gaming rigs with the recommended system requirements or even higher. The heavy stuttering, frame drops, and even crashing made the game unplayable for some unlucky players.
If you own a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X|S, would not want to risk buying a game that may not be optimized for your computer, and are okay with missing out on the level editor and community level functions, you’re better off buying the console editions instead. I had little to no visible issues with running the game on the PS5, and it was smooth sailing all throughout.
Is The Talos Principle: Reawakened Worth It?
Worth It If You’re A Big Fan or A New Player
The Talos Principle: Reawakened literally "reawakens" the original game and pushes it to the best version of itself. It’s the definitive edition of the first part of the series, and delivers everything the classic title did and turns it up a notch—from the enhanced visuals that were remade and revamped from the ground up, QoL improvements especially in gameplay, and a whole new chapter to play through. However, while the $40 price tag is justified with all the work put into the remaster, veteran players who have finished the game may not find worth in buying a whole new copy of the exact game for the new DLC. Nevertheless, it provides a solid experience for fans of the game who’d like to see it in the best state possible, or new players who have yet to dip their toes into the series.
| Digital Storefronts | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steam |
PlayStation |
Xbox |
|||
| $39.99 | |||||
The Talos Principle: Reawakened FAQ
What is the difference between The Talos Principle and The Talos Principle: Reawakened?
The Talos Principle: Reawakened adds a new story chapter "In The Beginning," a puzzle editor and creator for the PC port, developer commentary, upgraded graphics on Unreal Engine 5, and QoL (Quality of Life) improvements regarding gameplay mechanics.
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The Talos Principle: Reawakened Product Information
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| Title | The Talos Principle: Reawakened |
|---|---|
| Release Date | April 10, 2025 |
| Developer | Croteam |
| Publisher | Devolver Digital |
| Supported Platforms | PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S |
| Genre | Puzzle, Adventure |
| Number of Players | 1 |
| ESRB Rating | T |
| Official Website | The Talos Principle: Reawakened Official Website |
