It was great. I think the puzzle solving and physics are rightfully acclaimed, and the atmospheric storytelling really sells it. GLaDOS is hilarious and wonderfully acted, to the shock of no one. Yes, it’s some deadpan and dark humor and some is very 2007, but. It’s fun. I think getting hit with “you’re adopted” in the final boss because it’s just slinging any insult at you is really funny. I do feel like the game’s pacing can be a bit odd at times, as some chambers feel quite juxtaposed with others in their complexity and length, and not always progressively. And this is personal, but some of the reflexes the puzzles can demand of you can be tough to adjust with due to how the physics work and expect you to think up that solution on the fly, and it can be tough. It’s a motor skill thing and it’s not hard to be sensory overloaded by it. It’s minor, but there. Still, an excellent game. It didn’t hit for me as much as I’d have liked or expected it to, when so many people hype it as a “best of all time,” and that does hurt, but not the game, just me. I still really enjoyed it and I’m eager to play its sequel. Oh also I left this on my backlog for 16 months that’s my bad.

Reviewed on Oct 30, 2023


1 Comment


6 months ago

I have a huge bias towards Portal because it's probably the game I've replayed the most in my life. Sometimes I'll just finish it in like twenty minutes just for the hell of it.