Review: The Talos Principle (and "Cotillion")
So, for the last couple of weeks I've been pretty busy playing The Talos Principle.
It's a lot of fun, folks--though I'll admit to using a cheat sheet to get past some of the puzzles because I don't really feel like taking four days to figure something out. But the scenary is absolutely gorgeous, and the mechanics remind me of the Portal games, which I greatly enjoyed, but with an added meta game on top of the puzzle aspect. You get to make choices that have actual consequences for future gameplay, which is kind of rad. But mostly it's just a lovely virtual space to hang out it.
If I had to describe it in one sentence, it's like Portal and Soma got married and had a supermodel virtual baby. Or something along those lines. The only bits I don't like are the handful of puzzles that aren't actually puzzles, but rather a matter of reflexes, with explosive results if you twitch wrong even once. Just have one more of those left to somehow get through, and I'll be done the first cycle of the game, which is exciting.
Also, I stayed up way too late last night rereading Georgette Heyer's Cotillion. Guys, it's such a delightful story. If you're a fan of the "we have to pretend to be married for Reasons and now we're going to accidentally fall in love for real" trope, this is a lovely, light-handed example of it. Kitty's naive enough that you can understand why she'd propose it in the first place, and Freddy's amiable and responsible and just likes her. He's probably my favorite romantic 'hero', just because he's so ... reliable, without ever being smug or overbearing. He knows he's not clever, and isn't bothered by it--just works his way through things carefully until everything's managed.
He's a real dear. <3
It's a lot of fun, folks--though I'll admit to using a cheat sheet to get past some of the puzzles because I don't really feel like taking four days to figure something out. But the scenary is absolutely gorgeous, and the mechanics remind me of the Portal games, which I greatly enjoyed, but with an added meta game on top of the puzzle aspect. You get to make choices that have actual consequences for future gameplay, which is kind of rad. But mostly it's just a lovely virtual space to hang out it.
If I had to describe it in one sentence, it's like Portal and Soma got married and had a supermodel virtual baby. Or something along those lines. The only bits I don't like are the handful of puzzles that aren't actually puzzles, but rather a matter of reflexes, with explosive results if you twitch wrong even once. Just have one more of those left to somehow get through, and I'll be done the first cycle of the game, which is exciting.
Also, I stayed up way too late last night rereading Georgette Heyer's Cotillion. Guys, it's such a delightful story. If you're a fan of the "we have to pretend to be married for Reasons and now we're going to accidentally fall in love for real" trope, this is a lovely, light-handed example of it. Kitty's naive enough that you can understand why she'd propose it in the first place, and Freddy's amiable and responsible and just likes her. He's probably my favorite romantic 'hero', just because he's so ... reliable, without ever being smug or overbearing. He knows he's not clever, and isn't bothered by it--just works his way through things carefully until everything's managed.
He's a real dear. <3