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Joystiq Weekly: New 3DS XL, The Talos Principle review, no more review scores and more
Welcome to Joystiq Weekly, a "too long; didn't read" of each week's biggest stories, reviews and original content. Each category's top story is introduced with a reactionary gif, because moving pictures aren't just for The Daily Prophet. This was a busy week, but our decision to drop numerical review scores is probably what will have the longest-lasting effect on Joystiq. While not everyone has expressed support of the decision, we immensely appreciate the effort and thought many have put into discussing the topic with us. We hope our transition into using "In Other Words" text summaries and the new Joystiq Excellence Award will be more effective at conveying our stances and better at helping you find games that you'd actually enjoy. Even if you're indifferent about the discussion of reviews though, plenty happened this week beyond our shift in examining games. The New 3DS XL will reach us next month, Xbox One consoles slipped back to their $350 holiday price, The Talos Principle surprised us with its depth, and 3D After Burner 2 transcended the fabled "arcade-perfect" status of arcade ports. All those stories and more are waiting for you after the break!
The Talos Principle review: God in the machine
Mac, PC, Linux Often, performing routine tasks can provide unexpected clarity: You think of the perfect ending for your short story while in the shower, or realize the best comeback while riding your bike down a familiar street – three hours after the actual argument. Or, you finally understand the true nature of consciousness while angling a laser beam into a portal beside a door. The Talos Principle takes advantage of this vague phenomenon, presenting a series of straightforward physics- and tetromino-based puzzles within a deeply introspective, proddingly philosophical narrative. It could have easily been a puzzle game and nothing else – and its intricate puzzles could sustain it on their own – but The Talos Principle offers an intelligent story packed with history and the quiet questions we ask ourselves just before falling asleep. It's mysterious and haunting, creative and beautiful – and loads of fun.
Best of the Rest: Jessica's picks of 2014
ATTENTION: The year 2014 has concluded its temporal self-destruct sequence. If you are among the escapees, please join us in salvaging and preserving the best games from the irradiated chrono-debris. Threes Threes is ingenious. Its simplistic presentation belies beautiful, thoughtful design and butter-smooth mechanics. Threes isn't a matter of "less is more," it's fully encapsulated and pushed to the limits of what it intends to do, providing hours upon hours of repeated gameplay on that four-by-four tiled screen. On top of the brain-teasing numbers game, writer Asher Vollmer, illustrator Greg Wohlwend and composer Jimmy Hinson infuse Threes with personality, giving the numbers voices and faces, and tipping Threes from "Fun" to "Absolutely adorable. And, of course, fun."
Joystiq Weekly: Awesome Games Done Quick, Kalimba review, DIY Mario and more
Welcome to Joystiq Weekly, a "too long; didn't read" of each week's biggest stories, reviews and original content. Each category's top story is introduced with a reactionary gif, because moving pictures aren't just for The Daily Prophet. It was a pretty quiet week thanks to the end-of-the-year holiday lull, but things should pick up soon! Like, today even – Awesome Games Done Quick has just kicked off a week-long marathon of high-skill and speedrun-oriented livestreams, with all donations benefiting the Prevent Cancer Foundation. If supporting a worthwhile cause isn't enough of an excuse to watch talented players blaze through games, what is? ... Yes, okay, other than free puppies. While you're waiting on something of interest that's buried in the event's schedule, catch up on what you might have missed while you were doing relaxing, vacation-y things. PlayStation Network users got good news regarding last week's service outage, Contributing Editor Danny Cowan's relationship survived his Kalimba review, and we explored the history of do-it-yourself Mario and the technical shift in Mortal Kombat X's gore.
The Talos Principle traps pirates in an elevator
Claustrophobic pirates, beware: Anyone who illegally downloads The Talos Principle will be trapped in an elevator early in the game, with no way to progress. Developer Croteam and publisher Devolver Digital tweeted links to a NeoGAF thread featuring a screencap of a post titled "Elevator doesn't work!" on The Talos Principle's Steam forum. The first response to the thread reads, "Congratulations you must be the first one to show to the internet world what Croteam did this time to punish pirates :) You should be proud of yourself, it will be all over the internet in about 30 minutes I'd say." Well played, @Croteam. Well played. http://t.co/jHO3BiQoPN pic.twitter.com/UYfYXPlbrH - Devolver Digital (@devolverdigital) December 28, 2014 Croteam previously deterred pirates from fully enjoying Serious Sam 3: BFE with an immortal, speedy, rifle-wielding, giant scorpion. The elevator trick, while more subtle, appears to be similarly effective. We discussed The Talos Principle's surprisingly emotive philosophy on episode 126 of the Super Joystiq Podcast. [Image: Devolver Digital]
Test your machine's, brain's aptitude at The Talos Principle
The Talos Principle, next month's cryptic puzzler from Serious Sam series creator Croteam, can now be sampled on PC, Mac and Linux via Steam. The sort-of beta includes "four increasingly difficult complete puzzle levels" as well as a benchmarking bot to test your build's capability of running the game. We suppose that in a way, the puzzles are also a benchmarking tool to see whether your brain can run The Talos Principle, or if its attempt will simply result in a melted, confused pile of goop. An additional taste of The Talos Principle can be had by downloading Sigils of Elohim on iOS, Android, or on PC, Mac or Linux through Steam. Sigils of Elohim offers sets of one puzzle type that's found throughout The Talos Principle, which tests organizational skills that were likely earned by any Tetris player. Senior Reporter Jess Conditt conquered a few of The Talos Principle's obstacles on video during her tour of publisher Devolver Digital's booth at Gamescom 2014. Those punishing bosses in Titan Souls though ... not so much. [Image: Devolver Digital]
Philosophy, puzzles and Tetris in The Talos Principle next month
First-person puzzler The Talos Principle is coming to Steam on December 11 for PC, Mac and Linux, with PS4 and Android versions scheduled for the first quarter of next year. You'll likely recognize Serious Sam makers Croteam as the developer, but compared to its previous fare the studio's latest effort is an altogether different beast. Self-proclaimed as a "philosophical" game, The Talos Principle explores the greenery and stone of a ruined castle that's curiously interlocked with futuristic technology. So one minute you're strolling down an idyllic woodland path, the next you're moving laser projectors around a courtyard to get past a barrier of light. All the while, as Joystiq's Jessica Conditt put it in her Gamescom write-up, the narrative "approaches death, religion and other deeply introspective topics" as you seek to decipher the underlying mystery. You can watch Jess taking The Talos Principle for a spin at Gamescom by exploring beyond the break. Point the video to the 3:21 mark to skip to the game, or just watch her dying aplenty in two of Devolver Digital's other upcoming offerings, Not a Hero and Titan Souls.
Sigils of Elohim is The Talos Principle's free, puzzling prelude
Sigils of Elohim is an early, free taste of one puzzle type you'll find in The Talos Principle, but it's also prime practice for those looking to brush up on organizational skills. Each timed stage asks players to arrange Tetris-esque shapes inside a grid that allows exactly enough room for its set. iOS and Android users can find Sigils of Elohim in their respective stores, while PC, Mac and Linux users can grab it on Steam. A related press release notes that as players conquer stages, they'll unlock "helpful items and relics" to be used in The Talos Principle. Sigils of Elohim's first set of puzzles is available as soon as the game is installed on your device of choice, but two additional sets will arrive before The Talos Principle launches on PC, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android and PS4 later this year. To get a glimpse of The Talos Principle in action (as well as Titan Souls and Not a Hero), check out Senior Reporter Jess Conditt's tour of Devolver Digital's booth from Gamescom 2014. [Image: Croteam]
See the pretty pixels sprouting in Devolver's indie garden
Devolver Digital's indie garden at Gamescom features a lineup of games that the publisher has curated over a few years for mass-market consumption, including three that we're particularly excited about: Not a Hero, Titan Souls and The Talos Principle. Each one is wildly different, but they all carry a similar theme. Not to bring the mood down or anything, but that theme is death. Not a Hero stars a bearded dude with no special powers, but he does have a gun. The problem is, everyone else has a gun, too. It's a twist on the classic pixelated platformer in that the environments have depth, allowing players to sink behind outcroppings in the walls to hide from flying bullets. It's lighthearted, fast-paced action featuring a humanoid blue bunny gang lord. Not a Hero comes from OlliOlli studio Roll7, and it's due out on PC in early 2015, with PS4 and Vita versions in the summer. Titan Souls has been a favorite of ours since E3, when it was awarded one of the coveted Joystiq E3 Selection stickers. It's all about one – you have one arrow, one life and you fight one giant, punishing enemy at a time. The only thing more than one in this game is the number of times you'll die. Titan Souls is by Claw and it's due out on PC, Mac, Linux, PS4 and Vita in Q1 2015. The Talos Principle is a slower burn than its companions, offering a serene, 3D puzzle experience similar to Portal or what we've seen of The Witness. Between the shape and light-manipulation puzzles, it approaches death, religion and other deeply introspective topics from a philosophical angle, offering a mix of narrative and riddle. The Talos Principle is in development at The Swapper studio, Croteam, for PC, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS and PS4.
