“It is easier to imagine an end to the world than an end to capitalism,” philosophers Fredric Jameson and Slavoj Žižek once said in reference to how much our socioeconomic system has mutated over the decades, constantly reinventing itself and permeating every way we can think about our future as individuals and as a society.
This perspective isn’t only found in debates and discourses about politics and economics. It has breached our own perception about art, and the stories we tend to experience. While science fiction has displayed a dystopian view from its earliest beginnings, it feels like this element has become an unavoidable trend in recent years. Our world is doomed, and no matter what we do in the future, we can’t save it.
The Talos Principle 2 feels refreshing and necessary in contrast. It still presents a story about a turning point in society, one composed of robots that behave like humans who may soon face a critical conflict in the near future. However, the way in which the game portrays its urgency doesn’t feel like anything I’ve experienced in the medium.
“It’s a reflection of our current society,” explains Jonas Kyratzes, one of two main writers on the game alongside his wife Verena. “We can see all these problems but we have this inability to imagine that we can actually solve them. The moment you suggest something, ‘Oh, that’s idealistic, it’s utopian.’ It just creates this incredible failure of systemic imagination, basically, for all of us as a species.”
Verena goes further into this sentiment about how stories have shaped our possibility of thinking something brighter awaits on the horizon: “Even if you think that we are doing something good, one hundred years down the line it will end in disaster. That seems to be the only story that people seem to be interested in telling. And we don’t like that.”
The Talos Principle 2 avoids this downward spiral with its eloquent use of humor. Its predecessor wasn’t shy about including jokes here and there, but because it was more of an individual experience focused on discovery, with few characters around you, it didn’t stand out.
In the sequel, however, you’re quickly introduced to characters that will attempt to make you laugh with jokes that break the fourth wall and cheesy but insightful commentary about everything that’s going on in this world.
“I think almost every story you can tell benefits from humor,” explains Verena. “I always like to add a contrast. If you want to tell something really dark, then you need to have some lightness to make the darkness appear properly dark. If you’re just unrelentingly dystopian, depressive, and negative, it kind of numbs the audience. Like they are not capable of absorbing the emotion that the story is trying to convey to them because it becomes this relentless assault on all their senses.”
Hours into the game, I don’t believe this use of humor is distracting or detrimental. It’s not like your typical Marvel movie, where the joke lands as a way of preventing any trace of anguish or discomfort as soon as a dramatic scene reaches its climax. Every scene and every line of dialogue lets you fully experience the feeling and sentiment the team is aiming for.
Well-executed humor can help a variety of stories, regardless of genre or tone. It also reflects on how we deal with our own thoughts. As Jonas puts it, “Human beings are not always having profound philosophical conversations. Sometimes they disguise their philosophical ideas in humor, jokes.”
This way of thinking and designing aspects of humor and optimism is accompanied by the intention of portraying different perspectives. As you meet new characters and make progress through the core mystery, you get the feeling that they are contradictory (or complementary?) notions about society.
“In short, we want to make people think, ask,” says Verena. “Like in the first game, we want to present some theories and ask some questions, then ask for answers. Then if the player gets an answer, ask them if they are really sure about that.”
you may see this in the way the game presents arguments and differences in philosophy, with evidence of worldview bubbling up in the dialogue with our party of adventurers and the different recordings and commentary on the in-game social media forums we participate in. “I personally believe that whenever I argue with someone in real life or in a game, if I talk down to them, the person will immediately shut down,” explains Verena. “Nobody in the whole world reacts well to being talked down to. So we have to take every opinion seriously and just treat it as a fully-fleshed opinion and not just say, ‘Sorry, that’s nonsense, I can’t argue with you.’ It was really important to us to treat every opinion portrayed in the game as valid and as equally worthwhile. Otherwise, I think people would shut down and stop listening.”
I’m yet to reach the end of The Talos Principle 2, but so far its themes and how it presents its world have proven compelling. While it has its moments of anxiety and existential dread, its brighter moments left me in awe. According to Jonas, this was the plan.
“Assume intent. Assume this is something that people made to create something beautiful and interesting."
Next:Matthew Lillard And Bill Rehor On Making A D&D Show Where Everyone Dies At The End
