I recently rediscovered my deep love for first person puzzle games and played through a bunch of them (partially again), like Superliminal, Viewfinder or Stanley Parable, before revisiting the one-and-only Portal 2. Last year I played Portal 1 and after replaying part two, part one feels like a toddler to me, especially in terms of complexity, content and puzzle variety. Expanding the repertoire of elements with the gels and transportation beams just exploded the set of possibilities and Valve used their potential.
But in my mind, what really sets Portal 2 apart and makes it feel so fun and outstanding, is it’s sense of verticality. You have to make use of your environment in every possible directions. And you know that feeling in your gut, when you lift off in a rollercoaster, just for a second or two? That’s the excitement you feel while jumping of a cliff in Lonely Mountains Downhill, that’s the rush you feel in Neon White and that’s the feeling that Portal 2 use as an attraction to keep going. And it is not just a gimmick, the full-dimensional traversal IS the mean guideline in level and puzzle design. It is a brilliant example of how few things a game needs to succeed, to be creative, and hit the sweet spot in-between guiding and experimenting by making use of the lateral thinking approach.
I noticed one small thing, while replaying: There is a lot of talking in Portal 2, as you are accompanied or supervised nearly through your entire journey. The writing is bursting with self-reflective irony and meta-jokes, yet it is simply A LOT. But that is the only real „flaw“ I could name and this is no sugarcoating.
Portal 2 is one of those rare, what I would call cinematic puzzlers, with lots of effects and drama and meta-humor, but yet feels so humble, simplistic and straight forward. It’s the perfect sandbox, where Valve only decided to pick the best parts and merged it to the iconic and timeless game, that even 13 years after it’s release, is unique and joyful.
But in my mind, what really sets Portal 2 apart and makes it feel so fun and outstanding, is it’s sense of verticality. You have to make use of your environment in every possible directions. And you know that feeling in your gut, when you lift off in a rollercoaster, just for a second or two? That’s the excitement you feel while jumping of a cliff in Lonely Mountains Downhill, that’s the rush you feel in Neon White and that’s the feeling that Portal 2 use as an attraction to keep going. And it is not just a gimmick, the full-dimensional traversal IS the mean guideline in level and puzzle design. It is a brilliant example of how few things a game needs to succeed, to be creative, and hit the sweet spot in-between guiding and experimenting by making use of the lateral thinking approach.
I noticed one small thing, while replaying: There is a lot of talking in Portal 2, as you are accompanied or supervised nearly through your entire journey. The writing is bursting with self-reflective irony and meta-jokes, yet it is simply A LOT. But that is the only real „flaw“ I could name and this is no sugarcoating.
Portal 2 is one of those rare, what I would call cinematic puzzlers, with lots of effects and drama and meta-humor, but yet feels so humble, simplistic and straight forward. It’s the perfect sandbox, where Valve only decided to pick the best parts and merged it to the iconic and timeless game, that even 13 years after it’s release, is unique and joyful.