What Does It Mean To Be Human? | The Talos Principle Timeline So Far! 

What makes a person a person? How did this story make you feel? Captions added!

Humanity achieves transcendence through a Serious Sam Engine simulation. Now, THAT is an epic gamer moment

Can't describe the feelings I got from this game. Been waiting since it's release for a sequel and couldn't even believe that we'll get it this year! A work of art. Simply. Most underrated game of all time.

This game will forever have a special place in my heart.

I laughed when the realization hit me that Admin turned Gehenna into Reddit.

Nothing will beat the rush of completing this game for the first time. It was such a perfect presentational package. The visuals are still immaculate today. The puzzles were actually challenging, and the story and music slowly wakes something up inside of you like it does for your character. From a timid blank slate to a mind so grown it can stare god itself in the eye and say "No. I choose to exist." There's something so core to the nature of sapience within it. It's nearly been a decade and I still think about this game.

Honestly a 1h+ video on this game was so overdue I am actually surprised it took so long for someone to finally make one. Thank you so much for this I loved this video! I actually searched for one for long - please do some more vids

Finally seems like The Talos Principle is getting the attention it deserves🙏

Most of this lore went waaaay over my head but I still thoroughly enjoyed it as a puzzle game. Knowing it has such a cool story behind makes it even better

never thought id see talos principle content in 2023! thank you skyrionn

Thank you for making this video! The Talos Principle is one of my favorite game of all time that kind of changed how I view my life and my purpose. I can't wait for Talos 2 and your analysis of it!

i played this as one of my first vr games and it has made it so much more immersive for me. i streamed some of it and i remember being very affected by the "pets" message on the terminals

The way you used in game footage and no clip footage of Easter eggs from the first game in this video was genius. The world needs this video.

I would recommend you play Outer Wilds. It's a very different game from The Talos Principle but is also puzzle-oriented, with more emphasis on space exploration. It also has a great story that, similar to SOMA and The Talos Principle, will definitely stick with you. I would recommend going in as blind as possible though, since spoilers will definitely take away from a first-time experience (I would even go as far as to recommend not reading the Steam description for the game since that too spoils some early game stuff.)

I literally cannot comprehend how this game just seems cursed not to get too publicly known no matter what, it's literally my favorite Puzzle game alongside the Sequel, and in like my top 3 total. It deserves to be known so much more. Thank you for making this Video:3

Talos is in the top 5 games for me. Loved the atmosphere, story, mytsery and yes, those frustrating/annoying/head scratching/rage worthy tetris piece puzzles lol along with SO many secrets and Easter Eggs to discover. Music is amazing and does the job to help you think through the puzzles and keep calm when stuck. SO excited for Talos 2, really is the one game I've been waiting for for years. And btw, AMAZING video! So much love and effort, equal to any of the professional documentaries I've watched.

some things I didn't understand about the timeline. -Did Gehenna still exist for a time after the simulation ended? Or did Player's and Uriel's journey take place concurrently? -Were all the Gehenna children turned into independent robots in real life? Or were they all part of Player's consciousness in a single robot? Did any other iteration besides those make it to the real world? -What was the point of shutting down the simulation after a single success? Wouldn't it be better to keep it running? If something failed then they'd end up with nothing.

Recommended: Here's a big Talos Principle video made by that guy who did a cool SOMA video. There's a what? Comments: Sequel's coming out this year. There's a _what?_ EDIT: On the topic of similar games, The Turing Test is a neat puzzle game that explores similar themes. There's also Observation which is a puzzle game that is more a discount 2001: A Space Odyssey than a philosophical thinker, except you play as a space station AI with all the quirks that come with not having a meatsack human body.

This game was amazing! Been waiting for it to fade enough for a replay. Now with the sequel coming, I need to get around to so just that!

On my first playthrough, I did all puzzles normally. I listened to Elohim and didn't enter the tower. I had to focus on finishing the puzzles first. At the end he told me to enter the big door, but I didn't. Walking past the tower multiple times in the nexus, I just had to see what the tower was about before I entered the big white door that Elohim told me to. And in retrospect this was almost the best way to do it. At the last possible moment I stopped to question my leader and my purpose. I grew independent and curiosity got the best out of me.

I played this game a long time ago. There was so much I had forgotten since then, and so much I didn't pick up on on account of being so young. This was a fantastic, thoughtful and entertaining way for me to review the game in preparation for the sequel. Thank you for making this video!

It’s my favorite puzzle game ever, I actually no idea that’s a sequel was happening thanks for letting us know. Also, check out The Turning Test and the Q.U.B.E games other great puzzles games.

I haven't played Talos Principle before, thinking it's just some generic puzzle game, but after this video you really got me interested. Will try to buy the game this month and try it out for myself. Great video, all in all 🌟

Nice summary of the lore so far, and a good refresher for the sequel! It's been mentioned elsewhere in the comments, but if you're looking for more games with a similar impact to Soma and Talos Principle, play Outer Wilds. Soma and Talos are two of my three favorite games of the decade, and Outer Wilds (and its DLC Echoes of the Eye) more than meets that bar, for reasons that will become obvious if you play it. Just go in as blind as possible; I recommend not even reading the store page.

this game affected me uniquely - i've never engaged with something so deeply, and i cried many times at its sadness, its beauty, how fucking tasteful it is. it genuinely challenged me intellectually through its puzzles but also its dialogues on what it means to be human. a bonafide, rare, masterpiece

Thank you Skyrionn, for making a video about this masterpiece. The Talos Principle is one of my favorite games of all times, and I am pretty sad that it is too niche to enter the public space with the appropriate recognition it deserves. Thank you for explaining the incredible story of this game, and bringing it to a larger audience, so we may all enjoy it and it's sequel.

The storytelling and the effort put in this video is amazing, you earned a new subscriber! If you want a game that makes you think about philosophical universal questions like "What is human?" you should play Outer Wilds where the purpose of the game is the exploration to answer to universe questions like "Where do we came from? Who are we? Our ancestors? Who were them? Are there any other intelligent life forms?" And many other question you will formulate exploring the world's own solar system. Give it a try!

Avid fan of The Talos Principle here, I am hearing bits of story I actually do not recall at all! And I 100% the game too! Clearly, I *did* miss somethings.

Thank you so much for this very well written story overview / analyis! I am sure that it took quite some time to put together. This was a perfect memory refresher in order to be up to speed for the sequel. The hype is stronger than ever :D

I played this game in VR, and although its a flat to VR conversion it felt almost like it was made for VR. When I was tired standing for an extended period of time, I often would just find a nice spot to sit down and look at the landscape, even knowing its not real and knowing its not supposed to be even in universe, wondering if a sentient AI would do the same... because that would literally be their world and how they would experience it. At first the game makes you think that you are a human that somehow ended up in the simulation, with a crazy AI thinking of itself as god and the goal was to simply escape. When I pieced together from little things, like my version number increasing after every death, that I was an AI in an evolutionary simulation, I was aghast. They would literally kill 1000s or millions of possibly sentient beings for this. How would they possibly ethically justify that? That was also something I think was left out... the by far most likely outcome for any iteration would simply be death. The second most likely would be to run into basically a deadlock (an endless loop of thought, refusal or fear to progress), so elohim eventually would have to terminate the iteration as it would otherwise run forever, as can be found by multiple notes saying this or that child program ended here for whatever reason. All possible outcomes described in the video already are the most unlikely ones to begin with for any iteration. I never found in-game that it was supposed to be a virus, what was happening was kept very vague, but I did piece together that some kind of catastrophy was happening, and it would lead to the extinction of humanity with absolutely nothing that could be done. But also that the end would come slow, leaving time for humanity to ponder what to do with the remaining time. And that preserving there knowledge and trying to create a sentient AI that thinks and feels like a human was the way some group chose as the way to preserve humanity. So, I understood why it was done, but it leaves the question what is sentience, what makes us human and would something like that truly be worth it? I also very much enjoyed the back- and forth with MLA. It makes you question your logic and you morales and plucks apart any coherent system you might come up with, but in the end it also only turned out to be a being with existential dread.

This is so well presented. Thank you for making this. It was a great refresher after playing it so many years ago. Perfect to watch while downloading the sequel!

Coming out of the love of the Serious Sam franchise. I was absolutely bewildered when this came out of Croteam. I didn't think I would end up loving (and being emotional about) such a thought-provoking idea of sentience, perception of art and materialism, and most importantly the absence of people and societal life after death. I need to look more into Jonas Kyratzes older works to see if I can find that same narrative feeling. Although I did not like what he did with Serious Sam 4, I am absolutely looking forward to whatever comes of Talos 2.

I needed to consult a walkthrough to free admin in Gehenna. Some of the stars and the star world levels were crazy hard. I managed to free all the regular guys without help, though.

This is incredible how detailed and thoroughly the game's story was analyzed in the video!

Thank you Skyrionn!

Ooh I think I suggested this! Thank you! This game is an absolute masterpiece! It's a truly mature game without spouting fbombs or showing graphic content. It plays you as much as you play it.

Thank you for this comprehensive overview of the Talos Principle lore, including the DLC! I hope you do one for the sequel as well :)

RU-vid automatically redirected me here after I finished hearing the time capsules from Alexandra Drennan, and this is one of the few times I'm grateful for it. Thanks for delving deep into one of my favourite games.

Thanks for this video. I absolutely love this game. Always amazed me that the same devs that made something as thought-provoking as The Talos Principle also made the Serious Sam games. Don't get me wrong...I love the Serious Sam games, too. But they're not what I would call thought-provoking.

Super excited for this video, the soundtrack is amazing too.

Fun fact, decimation doesnt mean anihilation of something, it means destroying 1/10 of something

Amazing analysis and recap. Filled many of the gap left from my first run I just ended. Now many of those "9", "9.5" and "10" I've always seen on the reviews of Talos make much more sense. Stunning narrative.

ur vids are always so engaging. good job man

What an amazing video! I love learning about the lore of these kinds of games I've never heard of, just like soma.

What a wonderful timeline of TTP1! Heartfelt and extensive, and I'm glad for the inclusion of the Road to Gehenna. I hope you could make something like that for TTP2 as well. The sequel is such a wonderful game, too! Thanks for posting this :)

Again, amazing work. Well done and thank you ❤

great video. thanks for making it. hopefully you can make one for Talos Principle 2 as well

I played The Talos Principle and Road to Gehena several years ago (best games I have ever played, hands down). I have just started with Talos 2, and this video was amazing as a refresher of the story. Thank you so much for making it, it was very well narrated and quite comprehensive. Cheers!

This is an incredible video that makes me regret I never played through this incredible story myself. Thanks for making this, and when the sequel comes out I'll make sure to play it myself. Thanks again for such high grade content. :)

Absolutely fantastic presentation of the storyline, mate! Good job!

Loved this breakdown, thoughtful and digestible

The Swapper (referenced as an Easter Egg) is essential for anyone who likes the philosophy behind the game. Same writer, too.

beautifully edited and presented. it's just what I needed to refresh my memory now that the second game is finally out. thanks!!!

I never ever heard of those games before, so this is a completely new experience in stark contrast to Half Life which I know and love since I played the first game back then on my fathers PC when it came out!

Exactly what I needed before starting the second, thank you! I thought I had pieced together a lot of the story but I missed a ton!!

its depressing how little views this video got compared to your other videos. TTP has every right to be famous but just isn’t, and even when a big youtuber talks about it it gets ignored. Still, thank you so much for this.

Love your channel keep making content it’s so good 👍

Thank you so much for this video! It was a great refresher as I start on Talos 2.

Oh I’ve played this game and I’m so glad you covered it! Great work once again man!

This game is fascinating, thank you for the video.

Phew I almost thought you were stopping to upload. Looking forward to this

I love your voice so much. I haven't played these games. I watched for Fable but now I know a lot of this lore too from your vids!

Great work!

Awesome video!!! Thankyou for this

S2g this is the brightest video of all time i usually listen to these in bed and this one is keeping me up lol

As someone ignorant to the gaming world, I as overwhelmed with the amount emotion, made me extremely sad, but adventures, curios and hope for all of us. I am in awe of the presentation. I am afraid to jump into that story as I might not never come out. The amount of detail was intriguing and makes me want to play .

I adore this game and I'm so happy you are covering it.

Wow loved this video ! I missed quite a bit of it because it felt like solving an ARG at times but loved the philosophical stuff. Made me even more hyped for the second game and this time I will read every text I can find !

That's a great refresher just coming up to the sequel on the 2nd of November. Thanks for sharing this story!

Great video, I love this game, it was an absolute joy to play through the game and its DLC. This video was perfect for me as I wanted to revisit the story before Talos 2 comes out. I recommend playing the demo for Talos 2 if you haven't already. Really beautiful levels, fun puzzles and an interesting story so far

Excellent video!

awesome video!

So glad I watched this. Form the moment I picked up the game on my switch, I couldn’t put it down and now I’m a current replay of the game. I’ll admit, I always saw “The Talos Principle 2” search options when I would look up the game on Google, I was convinced it wasn’t real but then I saw the trailer and the stunning pictures… I’m so excited for the next instalment and I’m excited to see what new puzzles and story are coming in the squeal. Hopefully it comes out soon!

The video is crazy. I played the game myself, but i gotta admit there was a lot that I only understood through this video. Thank you for that!

Amazing summary. It's been a long time since I played the first game. With the second one now released I needed to remember the story. Loved this game too. Thanks!

This game gave hope when I needed it. I'll never forget how it made me feel. I've always wished to be able to have AI like this or even work with it. There's nothing more fascinating than teaching and watching something learn and play

This narrative needs to be experience by everyone in their formative years. Like, children can wrap their heads around so much and solve shit crazy easily. Sometimes it's scary. Humanity could grow a lot by simply reminding itself of itself.

Fantastic video for a fantastic game, thank you for giving it a video it deserves ❤

I remember i played this game during a crisis of faith (having fallen out of Christianity). And i had a week long existential crisis lol. I specifically remember the audio log of Alex describing how her friend was just utterly gone when they died. Oblivion. It really hung with me and I still think about how I felt as that audio log played. How poignant it was, almost dreadful and fearful. Ive since been able to grapple with it, if only barely. What a game.

Amazing summary of the first game! Will you make one about the second too?

Honestly, seeing that cats didn't go extinct or evolve away from being cats made me so happy that I teared up and told the cat sitting next to me on my computer tower "they have cats! You made it!"

Thanks for this!

I played this game because i saw it for free on Playstation +. Was expecting a subpar Portal puzzle game but it was so much more than that. I couldn't stop thinking about it when i wasn't playing . Great video and a deserved praise for that underated gem. Now Croteam will have my money when they released the second one.

Love you video, never understood the game has such a deep plot. I love the game and as you said it is a game that left you with some thoughts after you finished and thats weirds to get when you play games. Grettings from Colombia.

Thanks so much for the video, it was the perfect video before I start The Talos principle 2. I really hope you do another one after you finish 2. Enjoy!

It's crazy how nothing in this is original, but it still tells a new story :D

i love this game specially the vouce actor for alexandra drennan mad an xcellent splendid work to capture the emotions she felt soecially in the end when she talked boiut the bufs and her sadness towards the end made me wanna break into that world just to be able to comfort her to be with her in the end

Thank you SO MUCH for this video.

Love your content

I have played this now about 5x's and cannot get enough, completed all of the challenges and love it... Cannot wait for the sequel!!!

so no one is going to point out how Gehenna basically became Reddit

Thanks for this, this game was one the best games i've ever played, and this video help me a lot to figure out what I hadn't seen. Congratz for the video 😄

one detail that makes me feel so *weird* is when you do these camera pans across areas in the game... years ago I watched too many lets plays and speedruns on this game that I thought I had seen these areas way too many times, but it felt really unique and odd to see these areas from a floating panned perspective, in a good way, i don't know how often you'd get that kind of comment but yeah. great video too, wanted to re-remember the lore since I really forgot the road to gehenna story from when i played it :( hahaha

let the talos content hype us until the sequel comes.

Nice, a new story awesome!!!

man i LOVE the story of this game, the ending is just so fkn amazing, the story of the Talos Principles is on the top tens personally i hate the tetris puzzles tho, it feels like brute force, thats the only negative point i have about this game

my second favourite game of all time o my god I was NOT expecting this!

Ladies and gentelman gold has been delivered!

Coming after ending The Talos Principle 2, when is your next video on the sequel? Can't wait to see it, I subscribed to not miss it.

Fun fact! Great video!