The Talos Precept: Reawakened Evaluate + Steam Deck Efficiency

The Talos Precept: Reawakened was supplied by Devolver Digital for assessment. Thanks!

In February and March, it felt like I used to be reviewing JRPG after JRPG, and this month, I’m feeling like puzzle video games are going to be my focus. I simply reviewed an unimaginable recreation referred to as Blue Prince, which I extremely advocate, so in fact, it means I’m able to go immediately into one other implausible puzzle recreation, The Talos Precept. Nevertheless, as an alternative of taking part in the unique model, I had the pleasure of going by means of The Talos Precept: Reawakened, the definitive model of one among my favourite puzzle video games I’ve ever performed, and it is undoubtedly a worthwhile motive to return to the digital world.

The Talos Precept was initially launched in 2014, and whereas it nonetheless holds up immediately, this new model of the sport improves upon it. The visuals have been fully up to date and rebuilt with Unreal Engine 5, a bit of quality-of-life updates, a brand new versatile puzzle editor, and model new content material, referred to as Within the Starting, that goes over the origins of the simulation, whereas nonetheless containing the unique and Street to Gehenna DLC content material. It is an incredible motive to dive again into the most effective puzzle video games on the market, and for these wanting into diving in for the primary time, this can be an expertise to recollect.

The Talos Precept actually stands out thanks to 2 key elements: its simple gameplay and its story. The puzzles within the recreation are all to the purpose of their ideas, and what makes them so pleasant is how it’s important to make the most of the instruments given to you. These can vary from jammers and laser benders to movement recorders and followers. There are not any particular gimmicks to the puzzles you encounter. All the things has a objective and motive for present; you simply have to determine the right way to use them.

The puzzles can vary from being extra on the simple facet, very a lot so at first, to fairly tough. I used to be capable of full most puzzles with out fear, however there have been some in a while and within the new content material that had been head-scratchers. Nevertheless, once I was capable of determine these puzzles out, it was so rewarding. Maneuvering jammers to carry down drive fields and bend particular coloured lasers to achieve their corresponding coloured locks to get the Tetris-like piece I wanted to unlock the subsequent door simply felt so good.

Whereas they’re on the tougher facet, the brand new puzzles added from Within the Starting are implausible. I had a good time making an attempt to determine the intricate options to those new issues, and even when I had hassle, it nonetheless felt so rewarding to finish.

Gameplay-wise, there is not a lot else occurring. Once you end puzzles, you get these Tetris-like items, that are used to unlock doorways by combining them into excellent squares or rectangles. It is one other little puzzle to finish, however that is what the complete recreation is about! Fortunately, the maps you can be working round to go to the puzzles in are simply beautiful, and even whereas the unique recreation’s visuals nonetheless look nice, these new belongings, textures, fashions, and lighting all look unimaginable.

The opposite key facet is the story. I will not go into element about this, since it is so vital, however I adore it. The entire concept concerning the digital world you’re in, and why, and the philosophical questions that revolve round what it means to be human, make it so nice. All through the unique recreation’s story, you can be directed by a mysterious god-like voice referred to as ELOHIM (which implies god in Hebrew) to finish puzzles and never go up the massive tower within the center.

The twist on the finish received me, and the philosophical undertones really feel impactful as we query the world round us and why we’re right here. The Street to Gehenna DLC rounds out the story properly as effectively, providing extra perception into the operations of the digital world and what else is happening inside. All through the sport, you can see QR codes as effectively, which provide extra insights from others who’ve been there earlier than you, making it really feel extra like a full of life place, and you’re retracing steps from these earlier than you.

I loved the brand new story launched with the Within the Starting DLC, which feels totally different from the remainder of the sport. This part takes place within the digital world that’s actively being labored on by different people, so there are totally different interactions than what’s in the primary recreation. As an alternative of QR codes, you can see bug reviews and voice notes from these engaged on this digital world, and whereas there are some actually heavy moments, all of it comes collectively and creates a worthwhile prequel to the primary marketing campaign.

The brand new degree editor can also be fairly implausible. It is simple and intuitive to place puzzles collectively, and I believe it’s going to solely be a matter of time earlier than the group grows with its personal custom-made puzzles. This can maintain the sport alive after the campaigns are finished. I attempted it out a bit, and the one grievance I can consider is there is not any gamepad help. That is intentional and is sensible attributable to how puzzles are constructed, however I hoped I’d be capable of simply make puzzles on my Steam Deck. In any other case, it is a implausible editor that streamlines the method of constructing group maps, and I adore it.

The Talos Precept: Reawakened – Steam Deck Efficiency

The Talos Precept’s 2014 launch is a pleasure to play on the Steam Deck, so I used to be hopeful that Reawakened can be as effectively. Whereas it is a little more performance-heavy because of the new know-how and improved graphics, it could nonetheless be performed on the Deck. And whereas it does have the Playable score, I used to be informed that the sport is not licensed for the Steam Deck. Nonetheless, I’d think about it a great time to play on the go.

Due to the upper system necessities it wants attributable to switching to Unreal Engine 5 and enhancing the visible high quality, I am unable to advocate taking part in this greater than 30 FPS. The default settings go to the decrease finish, and I’d say that is the place it ought to keep, for probably the most half. Nevertheless, there are a few modifications I like to recommend making.

I’d swap the upscaling methodology from FSR to XeSS on High quality. I discovered that XeSS appears to be like considerably higher in darker lighting, particularly with lasers, and has higher visible high quality general. It’s particularly apparent when working round or in wet climate that XeSS appears to be like monumentally higher. I’d additionally set the View Distance to Medium so there is not as a lot pop-in. We are going to want as a lot energy as attainable since there are some extra demanding areas. The battery drain nonetheless averages round 12W-14W, but it surely’s higher to be protected simply in case for later components of the sport.

With these settings, we are able to get a near-stable 30 FPS, with just some sections working quick by means of the map, going under the 25 FPS vary. There are some visible compromises to make when taking part in on the Deck, particularly on the subject of shadows and timber additional away, and watching them shortly get extra element as you get nearer might be jarring, but it surely’s nonetheless wanting nice and may be very playable this fashion:

Accessibility

There are some nice accessibility settings to vary when taking part in the sport! You may change your area of view, movement blur power, most popular view kind (first vs third particular person), view bobbing, the participant pace, gameplay rewind animation and time, subtitle measurement and thickness, toggling crosshair and altering its kind, and toggling enter and power hints.

The sport does help 16:10 resolutions, and has good controller and cloud save help. The Steam Deck OLED display does help HDR for this title, and you’ll allow it within the video settings.

Conclusion

The Talos Precept: Reawakened is the definitive version of the most effective puzzle video games round, and it nonetheless holds up immediately. The easy to study, arduous to grasp puzzle mechanics and philosophical story nonetheless really feel contemporary and hit simply as arduous as they did over 10 years in the past. A number of the puzzles in a while are a bit on the arduous facet, which may teeter on irritating, however with absolutely up to date visuals, nice new content material, and an exquisite puzzle editor, there is not any higher solution to expertise this traditional!

It might not be licensed for the Steam Deck, but it surely’s nice to play on the go. Even with the compromises right here and there, I’d nonetheless say that is the way in which to expertise The Talos Precept. Hopefully, the puzzle editor will get up to date so we are able to use it with a gamepad, however even nonetheless, I’m pleased with the outcomes.

Our assessment relies on the PC model of this recreation.

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