Main: https://howlongtobeat.com/game/129256
DLC: https://howlongtobeat.com/game/152105

Total: 40-55 h

Can only speak about the first game, but it depends on how completionist you want to be. You don't have to finish all the levels in a world to progress to the next one. Also, there are hidden secret stars, which usually take a bit of effort/fumbling around to find (without a guide), but are not mandatory.

If you go full completionist, it can drag on quite a bit.

Damn CroTeam, if you released this earlier on GoG, like you should, I would have gladly bought it. Now I already played it with one of my friends.

Do those stars actually bring anything to the story or open up additional levels?

Well, according to HLTB its about 22-42 hours for the first one plus DLC. I can't play it until my wrist heals, so I think I will delay buying the sequel till the winter sale. Thank you for answering in any case:)

When size doesn't contribute to the experience, absolutely, this isn't (or at least shouldn't be) a walking simulator nor an open world trying to simulate a whole, realistic world

It's just the wrong priority to have

I wasn't trying to write a review, man.

I made the thread visible in the forum, by telling people (maybe in something of a roundabout way) that I don't intend to buy this - giving my very personal reason as to why I don't intend to buy it (I didn't enjoy the first part that much).

Is there any problem with that?

If there is, then out with it!

Sadly, yes. Every world has one level that is accessible only with stars and IIRC, you need all of them for probably the most "revelation heavy" ending.

I have the first one, and have been meaning to play it for years now. I hear this second one is better in every way though. Do you need to play the first one before this one? Is there some story continuity?

Still making friends, I see. I wish I were you.

Her should probably have stayed on "The Talos Principle"-Team but whatever...

Oh, I completely agree, for our own sake!

But for his own sake, he jumped ship to go where he probably made more money. I can't say I wouldn't have done the same thing. I just wish that everything wasn't ALWAYS about the money. It's depressing.

I'd say it's different rather than better. There is some continuity but enough is explained that you can probably play it without the original. The second game is larger and more open but not always in a good way (spending minutes walking between puzzles to the point TTP2 now gives you an Oblivion / Skyrim style compass and quest marker just to find the puzzle entrances in a mostly empty world starts to wear a bit thin halfway through). There's more "social interaction" with peers but I'm not alone in finding it way overdone and out of balance. The original was a quiet reflective game with occasional musings of regret from a melancholic God that involved uncovering the plot yourself via audio logs and terminals that gave you time to reflect. The whole of the TTP2 outside the intro now involves one giant game-long escort quest completing each of the 4x worlds whilst babysitting 3-4 peers who just won't stop talking both over the radio and sending messages even in the middle of trying to solve puzzles. The "subtle" relaxing / philosophical / meditative feel of the first game is definitely gone and replaced with just being bombarded with over-stimulating chatter, and the in-game "social media messaging" definitely wasn't as cleverly done as the BBS system in Road to Gehenna.

Finally, they dumped their superbly well optimised Serious 4 engine in the original for stutter-fest Unreal 5, so expect a lot lower performance on same hardware (as in the same hardware that got +120fps On Ultra in TTP1 will get frame-rate drops down to 30-40fps even on Low in TTP2, it literally runs 5-8x slower) on top of the usual Unreal 4-5 annoyances (TAA bluriness and that God-awful 'Auto Exposure' / Eye Adaptation effect forced on in so many UE4-5 games with no way of disabling). Overall, TTP2 isn't a bad game but between the two I very definitely preferred the original by a very large margin.

First of all - relax, if you want to see it as a jab, consider it a friendly jab... I was kinda hoping my smiley at the end there would make it clear...

If anything I was trying to make a quirky ''Oh, here you are complaining about puzzle games again. ;P''

Second - you weren't ''attacked and ridiculed'' the only one who took on a rougher tone of discussion with you was Breja; everyone else agreed that many games have moon logic, many don't actually qualify as puzzle games, even Breja agreed with you in the first post: So... relax...

If you're still not satisfied, how about I give you this instead?
You made a thread about bad puzzle games.
If there are bad puzzle games, there must also be good puzzle games.

I asked if you have any good ones to suggest.
Dervond posted a link (actually 2) to a puzzle game site, t-eleos mentioned the sub-genre of Zachatronics games...

You did not list any good puzzle game! >:(

...

This may come across as petty and childish, but maybe this answer is what you were looking for? ;x

...

Again - I wasn't aiming for anything. I just remembered that you once made a thread about puzzle games and thought it would be interesting to bring that up.


We good?

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Semi-related:

I did actually get around to playing The Witness. By far and large it is a good game. The puzzles gradually build up, there is some variety to them, the story is ''Show, don't tell'', you have no idea who you are, where you are, what you're doing or why you're doing it but there's a sense that there's a reason behind all this madness - you just have to solve more puzzles and the story will reveal itself.

Unfortunately the graphics give me literal headaches. 2-3 puzzles is the most I can/could bear before I need a step outside.

Turns out the entire game is designed using a custom built engine.

Google Stadia it was just a fart no one was in need for, yet a huge amount of coins was involved, it did not help one bit.

On Roblox almost same story, perhaps the coins are rolling but it is a dirty place i would never dare to assist. The final conclusion is simply: Money does not always grant good benefit to the world, but at least toward many individuals.

"His name" is gone now... but having money was never about honor, rather about being the hero of ruling your stuff in countless ways... for good or bad.

Was afraid of that. I never found out all secrets in Serious Sam games, so I hope this won't be too hard. I also hope as a guy with philosophy degree that I will at least find the story interesting.