Not much is known about the accessibility of The Talos Principle 2 yet. Through DigitalTrends’ preview at Gamescom we’ve learned that there will be options to help colorblind players. As some of the puzzles seem even more color based than in the original, this consideration is good to hear. Additionally it seems the difficulty curve is less steep by design. The original game had a steep curve which could prevent players from keeping up with the complexity of the game.
Color-blind options
Whether the color-blind options take the form of filters or color customization is not clear yet. While filters are a popular choice, sadly these often completely miss the mark. Often they present more like a simulation of the specific type of color-blindness, rather than a solution. If players can customize the important colors, it could make sure every player can benefit from these options.
I’m specifically talking about options here and not the design itself. The colors in question apply to the laser beams central to certain puzzles. While marking start and end points with unique shapes can help, the trailer doesn’t show this. But players also need to be able to distinguish between the beams themselves. A new tool called the RGB Convertor, that combines two colors to make a third, makes this even more important.
A decent basis to build on
Looking back at the accessibility of The Talos Principle from 2014, there is a decent basis to build on. With options to mitigate motion sickness, separate volume sliders, a hint system, and support for Tobii eye tracking. There also were subtitles, and UI scaling that affects the size of subtitles and other text as well. There’s even a font size setting for the terminal screens players encounter throughout the game. There are even some general color options, but those seem more beneficial to photosensitive players.
With almost a decade separating the original and sequel, it has been a long wait for The Talos Principle 2. It remains to be seen how its accessibility turns out, with effective color-blind accessibility playing a crucial role. The Talos Principle 2 releases later this year.
