Initially, I didn't enjoy my time with Portal Stories: Mel. The first hour was rough, there were tons of dialogue and a sense of directionlessness fairly early on already. At that point I didn't even reach a single puzzle, since the beginning is one of those notorious 'walking simulator' segments (in Portal terms). So while I was rather demotivated, I couldn't bring myself to drop the game just yet and continued playing. (I'm really glad I did!)
Narratively speaking, Portal Stories: Mel isn't exactly a masterpiece, but the plot is good enough to give a solid reason for the many different puzzles - which are quite fun and satisfying to solve! There are two different difficulty settings - Story Mode and Advanced Mode. Advanced Mode is the original difficulty of the mod, while Story Mode is a different take on the puzzles with less difficulty - like the name says, it's designed to experience the story. I played on Story Mode (since it's recommended by the devs) and found the experience to be just right overall, but I'll opt for an Advanced Mode run when I'm going to replay the game someday.
Virgil is a pretty neat companion - even if he's really talkative. Like I pointed out earlier, the dialogue isn't really this game's strong suit, but I still found him entertaining and unique enough. Coming back to the narrative in general, I'm glad this game has a proper ending (unlike another Portal fangame) and wraps up things nicely. Feels reminiscent of how Portal 2 ended.
Just like Portal: Revolution, Portal Stories: Mel is a good choice if you want more Portal content and great puzzles - it's not a fan favorite for no reason!
Narratively speaking, Portal Stories: Mel isn't exactly a masterpiece, but the plot is good enough to give a solid reason for the many different puzzles - which are quite fun and satisfying to solve! There are two different difficulty settings - Story Mode and Advanced Mode. Advanced Mode is the original difficulty of the mod, while Story Mode is a different take on the puzzles with less difficulty - like the name says, it's designed to experience the story. I played on Story Mode (since it's recommended by the devs) and found the experience to be just right overall, but I'll opt for an Advanced Mode run when I'm going to replay the game someday.
Virgil is a pretty neat companion - even if he's really talkative. Like I pointed out earlier, the dialogue isn't really this game's strong suit, but I still found him entertaining and unique enough. Coming back to the narrative in general, I'm glad this game has a proper ending (unlike another Portal fangame) and wraps up things nicely. Feels reminiscent of how Portal 2 ended.
Just like Portal: Revolution, Portal Stories: Mel is a good choice if you want more Portal content and great puzzles - it's not a fan favorite for no reason!