Some games are made for VR. And some games come to VR later and seem like they were always made for it. Talos Principle is one of those games.

Having not played The Talos Principle before, my stumbling around the game, flinging machinery about, might have given the impression that it is not a very enjoyable experience. Twice in the game’s most basic tutorial area, a soothing, godlike voice told me that it was okay if I was terrible, I could go do something else for awhile and come back. But persistence reaps great rewards, and I found that principle key to loving…well, The Talos Principle.

My first impression when I first slipped on the HTC Vive for a demo of the game in VR at E3 2017 was of a game a bit like Myst or The Witness. I was presented with a lush, natural environment, some technological puzzles strewn around, and very little guidance as to how to solve them. Trial and error are key, as there is no one around to tell you (not even the nice godlike voice) how the lasers connect with one another to open doors, or how to move machines through forcefields to disable ones further down the path. Your powers of observation must be keen, and it’s best that, upon entering a new area, you spend several minutes not touching anything to see what clues the initial setup can provide you.

It doesn’t hurt anything that The Talos Principle’s puzzles remain excellent regardless of platform, and require sharp observation, learning over time, and (at times) a lot of trial and error to solve. The gentle voice I heard loved to encourage me to move on if I struggled, but it’s hard to tear yourself away when you feel a solution is imminent. The elation of solving a particular difficult puzzle stays with you as you move to the next, spurring you to greater challenges.

Because Talos Principle is a game of simple interactions and complex thoughts, it fits into VR as if it were made for it. Perhaps this was the original intention, even! I’d believe it. The gorgeous world around the player and its soothing music is exactly the kind of environment I want to experience when I beat my brains out trying to figure out how to connect four different lasers together. Though I found movement to be slightly onerous at times, especially when trying to position myself for a puzzle, a generous teleport feature eases the burden somewhat by allowing you to warp a great distance in any direction and select your destination point.

Picking up items and placing them in VR is one thing, but the most enjoyable segment was using the HTC Vive controllers to position the tetrominos in boxes to solve certain puzzles and move forward. It was a simple matter to reach out, pick one up, rotate it freely, and set it down exactly where I wanted it. In spite of the gorgeous environment I was immersed in, this segment was the one that made me feel I was truly in the game, purely due to the responsiveness of these tiny puzzle pieces. Sometimes, subtlety is the best approach.

Though I did not get very far in The Talos Principle, the little I know about the game and what I experienced at E3 have convinced me that this game is exactly the kind of VR experience I’d want. VR’s limitations at the moment keep it from immersing you in exceedingly complex experiences, which means developers must find creative ways to use simple actions and systems to engineer complexity within a world. The Talos Principle already had that figured out. That leaves the player with the simple pleasure of walking around and taking in this strange, ancient, and mysterious world, and changing its shape simply by reaching out and touching it.

The Talos Principle will arrive on Steam VR at an as-of-yet-unannounced date. The game, sans VR, is currently out for PC, Android, and PS4.