The Talos Principle 2's Road to Elysium DLC brings fresh puzzles and familiar faces

Players yearning for more of the mind-bending puzzles and stunning landscapes of The Talos Principle 2 will soon be able to satiate their craving with the sequel’s upcoming expansion, Road to Elysium. Composed of three standalone chapters, Road to Elysium offers new challenges to overcome while reuniting players with familiar faces and puzzle mechanics signature to the series.

Road to Elysium takes place following the events of the main storyline in The Talos Principle 2. I had the opportunity to delve into the expansion's Isle of the Blessed chapter, which consists of a series of color-coded puzzles strewn across a lush tropical island. It is an exhibition designed by an elusive character named Barzai, whom players may recognize from dialogue in the campaign. Since Road to Elysium features late-game puzzle elements and characters, players will want to have finished the main game to fully appreciate what the DLC has to offer.

Free your mind

Rather than returning as the sequel’s former protagonist 1k, this time players will take on the role of fellow expedition team member, Yaqut. Despite lacking a penchant for puzzle solving, Yaqut is willing to attempt the puzzles of a new exhibition for the sake of impressing a special someone.

The Isle of the Blessed begins with Yaqut and several family members as they arrive at the island via airship. White sandy beaches are woven between lowland puzzle exhibits across the island, with lush foliage bursting from the seams of its craggy cliffsides. The isle’s main focal point is the Hexahedron, a massive cube-shaped structure that is essentially a giant puzzle composed of Escher-esque twists and turns. It is the final challenge of the exhibition, as it requires solving all the main puzzles on the island to complete. 

The island is parsed into three distinct puzzle sections that are distinguished by red, green, and blue numbered puzzles as well as corresponding-colored towers. The Isle of the Blessed is a freeform puzzle-solving experience that allows players to tackle puzzles in any order. Although trekking across the island can lead to the discovery of lovely sights and hidden secrets, the convenient fast-travel mechanic built into the map in each area makes island traversal a cinch. For this preview, I was limited to the red puzzle section, which consists of eight puzzles and a tetromino bridge leading to a red tower. Alongside the usual laser beams, floor switches, and connectors, puzzles in this chapter require strategic use of tools like the Jammer, Driller, and Gravshifter.

The Isle of the Blessed is the perfect opportunity to reunite with various robotic companions while getting acquainted with several newcomers. The DLC ties up some narrative loose ends for those wanting to know what happened to certain characters following the main story finale. While puzzles may be the primary focus of the chapter, I felt compelled to track down NPCs so I could chat about what had happened since I last saw them, though this time from the perspective of Yaqut.

The puzzles offer a decent challenge without taking overly long to solve, and it was refreshing to wrestle with the game's unique puzzle mechanics once more. Based on my brief time in Isle of the Blessed, Road to Elysium is shaping up to be a satisfying expansion to a stellar sequel. Returning to solve puzzles as the one character who despises doing so the most is a charming twist and is just one of many reasons to look forward to exploring the Road to Elysium when it arrives for The Talos Principle 2 on June 14.

This preview is based on a Steam code provided by the publisher. The Talos Principle 2 Road to Elysium expansion will release on June 14 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.

Larryn Bell

Contributing Editor

Larryn is a freelance contributor who creates video game guides and reviews for Shacknews and has more than a decade of experience covering games across various outlets. When she's not gaming, Larryn can often be found watering houseplants, playing D&D, or teaching her cats new tricks.