LTTP: Portal 1 & 2 (Spoilers) - This Was A Triumph

[Blade Wolf]

I'm finally playing Portal 1 & 2 for the very first time after all these years. I'm like a decade late to the party.
Honestly I didn't know what to expect, I knew very little about the franchise other than it involves cool puzzles and a giant evil robot, and also something about the cake being a lie.

Fast forward 20 hours, and now I'm speechless.

I don't even know where to begin. I've experienced so much in such a short period of time, it really felt like a journey to me.
It's not just the puzzles, the story, the characters or even the humour....there's something unique about Portal that really stuck with you. (no it's not the weighted companion cube)

This is absolutely some the best writing & world building I've in seen gaming, not only was it well written, it was also incredibly well executed. Such as the subtle emotional tone shift between GLaDOS & Caroline well before the reveal in the finale. Both environmental and cinematic storytelling blends seamlessly and it really absorbs you into the world.

Going straight from 1 to 2 is crazy, it's mind-blowing just how much they add to the world with the sequel, that being said, it was also mind-blowing just how much Portal 1 was able to achieve without all the AAA set pieces and expensive world building. The most mind-blowing thing here for me, is how well both games hold up on 2019.

Personally I'd say Portal 2 is my favorite but I'd rate them both just as high, absolute masterpieces.




I guess that's it, that's all I have to say, sorry my writing sucks.
Honestly there's nothing to read here besides me really loving the games, but I can't stop smiling when I write this.

 

[CKOHLER]

Portal 2 is one of my Top 5 games of all time. A masterpiece from beginning to end. I wish I could play it new for the first time, again.

 

[Fanto]

Portal 2 is one the greatest games ever made tbh.

 

[TeenageFBI]

I tend to prefer Portal 1 for a few reasons:

Tighter story
A significant part of Portal 2 is about finding places where the portal gun will even work, rather than solving neat puzzles
GLaDOS is more fun in the first game

..but they're both amazing games and I just want Valve to make single-player games forever and ever and I just ordered an Index for HL: Alyx.

 

[CGriffiths86]

Now you need to play Portal 2 co-op. Its soooooooooooooooo good.

 

[Doomguy Fieri]

I prefer Portal 1 because of the newness and the storytelling is more passive/environmental, but both are absolute 10/10 banger masterpieces.

 

[Video Games Are Dumb]

I dunno. Portal 2 was funny and I enjoyed it well enough. It was light and pleasant.

But I didn't feel a rewarding sense of accomplishment. So I've always preferred the original. It just did everything right.

 

[Wreckord Collection]

Love Portal 1. It's a perfect game. There's no way to improve that experience.

Portal 2 was fun, great writing, and it features some enjoyable settings (esp. if you're a Valve/Halflife fan), but I didn't find it as sharp in the design department. The game loses something when it moves into the larger environments where you have to make these absurd jumps and really hunt for the only spot the gun works. Still a great game, just not as great as the first. That said, the best content that Portal 2 has to offer is in the co-op campaign. If OP really enjoyed himself with the single-player campaign, they will lose their mind in co-op levels. The unique story on that side is a lot of fun too!

 

[Brandino]

Wheatley is amazing. He's so dumb you love the idiot. Even the part where he kills you.

 

[GringoSuave89]

Portal 2 is a classic. Valve's best release.

 

[Zacmortar]

Still probably the best writing in the industry. Want You Gone absolutely fucks me up.

I tend to prefer Portal 1 for a few reasons:

Tighter story
A significant part of Portal 2 is about finding places where the portal gun will even work, rather than solving neat puzzles
GLaDOS is more fun in the first game

..but they're both amazing games and I just want Valve to make single-player games forever and ever and I just ordered an Index for HL: Alyx.

Click to shrink...

Portal 1 is fine but it doesnt actually develop Glados at all beyond "scary machine lady" and she's really the only character. Meanwhile in 2, she goes from villain, to reluctant partner, to a machine that remembers her daughter and lets her free.

The Caroline lore still hits so goddamn hard even all these years later.

 

[BAD]

I prefer Portal 1 because of the newness and the storytelling is more passive/environmental, but both are absolute 10/10 banger masterpieces.

Click to shrink...

Yeah same. Loved both, but 1 is far more subtle and interesting to me. GladOS and stuff like the companion cube were way more surprising and funny.

The British robot companion in Portal 2 was annoying and slapstick and just not a clever character. Really on the nose.

 

[HellforLeather]

Portal 2 is still one of the most solid packages in gaming. The controls are perfect, the humor is fantastic, the story just works and the gameplay is air tight. I've never played a game that gave such an overwhelming sense of 'EUREKA!' when you figure out the puzzle.

 

[Zacmortar]

Yeah same. Loved both, but 1 is far more subtle and interesting to me. GladOS and stuff like the companion cube were way more surprising and funny.

The British robot companion in Portal 2 was annoying and slapstick and just not a clever character. Really on the nose.

Click to shrink...

In the first 2 hours? sure.

After that? Lol? He's literally designed to be an annoying idiot to fuck over GLaDOS, and becomes a clever reversal and a great villain because he's intentionally stupid. The best comedy comes from him trying to be menacing and GLaDOS lampshading him and his failures.

 

[Pilgrimzero]

Played through 1-2 recently and they are so good. I need to watch a video but I hear GladOS in Lego Dimensions: Portal is also great. And the end song is about how she misses Chell. Give me Portal 3!... probably be VR though :(

 

[Maverick14]

I've only played 2 but it is genius level game creation...the characters are deeply realised and expertly performed....the puzzles clever and invigorating, the setting from being trapped in testing chambers to moving into its 'real ' world while Cave Johnson's ghostly black humour from the beyond reveals the lore and the game literally takes all the training wheels off immerses you in a truly profound way with expanded mechanics to freshen up the gameplay....and just when you think it can't do anymore to make you love it...it ends with faux menace and that awesome black humour song....and just to top it all off then the 2 player mode is actually the story's epilogue...it's the first time in a video game that I wanted to stand up and give an ovation....on another level ...

 

[Bradford]

Now play Portal Stories: Mel!

I can't wait for Portal 3. I really hope we get it in VR and it's as good as Alyx.

 

[GamerJM]

Portal 2 is probably my favorite AAA western release from the last decade. Which isn't saying a whole lot since I don't normally like those kinds of games but some of those puzzles are just brilliant and while I wasn't super captivated by the story I will admit that it has some of the strongest writing in gaming.

 

[sn00zer]

 

[Feep]

Portal 2 is a game that is so brilliant, so effortless, it makes almost every other game look wildly incompetent, even nine (?!?!?!?!) years later.

Top ten of all time, for me.

 

[DC5remy]

Would rather have more portal than half life.

 

[TheClaw7667]

Would rather have more portal than half life.

Click to shrink...

Valve could have announced a new game in Half-Life, Portal, or Left 4 Dead and I would have been ecstatic. They are one of the very few developers in the industry that have so many amazing games in differing genres.

They have made games in the linear FPS genre, first-person puzzle games, coop/competitive zombie game, a MOBA, a competitive FPS/hero shooter, a card game, a strategy game, and VR games. That's pretty damn impressive considering how well received most of those games were.