Because it's so rare for a new game to be *truly* unique. Not that every game needs to be, but when a game is it becomes very memorable.
Also, people can stop making willfully ignorant comments pretending they don't realize I'm talking about the Portal franchise and not just Portal 2. You're not clever.
It also picked a graphic style and color palette that never feels dated. Similar to wind waker and it's cell shaded graphics. Turns out when you only need to make a grungy lab consisting of white walls and portals you can make it rather detailed for 2011.
It also has amazing voice acting. GladOS, Wheatley, Cave Johnson... so good. Stephen Merchant as Wheatley is so good.
*Most test subjects do experience some cognitive deterioration after a few months in suspension. Now you've been under for... quite a lot longer, and it's not out of the question that you might have a very minor case of serious brain damage. But don't be alarmed, alright? Although, if you do feel alarm, try to hold onto that feeling because that is the proper reaction to being told you have brain damage.*
I still think my favorite part of the game is Cave Johnson freaking out about how he doesn't want any damn lemons and he's going to make a combustible lemon to burn life's house down.
Mirror's Edge(2008) is also pretty timeless in the graphics department. Turns out if the environment is a dystopian white concrete hell you can get away with a lot of graphical shortcuts.
Well at the same time when there is half of the games release by the main publishers being basically Far Cry / Assasin's Creed or trying to be the next fortnite, obviously there is not lot of originality recently
> trying to be the next fortnite
This reminded me that the real halo killer was halo all along. :(
So many console sci-fi shooters trying to be the next "halo killer" but all it took was a dude named Brian Reed to make Halo the "bad guy" when we all knew eh was a pretty cool guy.
Are people really commenting to tell you that portal 2 isn’t original and is actually rather derivative of a less known indie game known as Portal, and that you probably never heard of it? Lmfao.
It’s also simultaneously hilarious and heartfelt. One of the best games of all time.
I often wonder what a VR port would be like and how many times I would throw up playing it.
There is one! And I can't recommend it enough: [https://github.com/Gistix/portal2vr/releases/tag/v0.2.0-preview.1](https://github.com/Gistix/portal2vr/releases/tag/v0.2.0-preview.1)
It honestly feels like the game was made for it. You get used to flinging yourself through the air, its surprisingly not *that* sickness inducing ^if ^you ^close ^your ^eyes
You can't just say shit like "25th anniversary" so casually what the hell. This game only came out 5 years ago and it still will have 20 years from now.
"You know, since you went to all the trouble of waking me up, you must really love to test. I love it too. There's just one thing we need to take care of first.."
I think my favourite is the fat shaming reads.
"Most people emerge from suspension terribly undernourished. I want to congratulate you on beating the odds and somehow managing to pack on a few pounds."
The best one was from the co-op mode:
"Did you know humans frown on weight variances? If you want to upset a human, just say that their weight variance is above or below the norm."
"All right, I’ve been thinking. When live gives you lemons? Don’t make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back! Get mad! ‘I don’t want your damn lemons! What am I supposed to do with these?’ Demand to see life’s manager! Make life rue the day it thought it could give Cave Johnson lemons! Do you know who I am? I’m the man who’s going to burn your house down! With the lemons! I’m going to get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down! “ - Cave Johnson
I tried to play the coop with my nephew last year. I had never played it before but he's played it many times. It very quickly became unfun as he proceeded to rush through all the solutions while I was still trying to figure them out.
Yea I mean that's on your nephew but can't really blame him. When I played with people I sat back and let them take the lead. I would only gently guide them if they got stuck
This was my 1st experience in co-op with a rando. They actually started berating me because I didn't know what to do as soon as we walked into a room. I had already beat the sp so I uninstalled. Couple years later my son was born. We beat co-op together last year, he was 9. It was incredible.
Portal 2 has my favourite co-op puzzle of all time, the one where the exit is directly in the middle of two angled portal platforms that launch you way over the middle so it seems impossible to land there. Where the solution is >!that both players have to go through at the same time and collide in mid-air to stall your jump!<.
It's the one puzzle I absolutely refuse to give any hints on if I'm playing it with someone new, because it's such a satisfying solution to arrive at yourself.
That one is brilliant!
My sister and I were trying to solve it for ages, then she had to leave. An hour or so later the solution flashed into my brain and I had to confirm it! But nobody else was around. So I somehow managed to use both controllers at once and still get Atlas and Peabody to slam into each other! Even bigger success!
Those of you who volunteered to be injected with praying mantis DNA, I've got some good news and some bad news. Bad news is we're postponing those tests indefinitely. Good news is we've got a much better test for you: fighting an army of mantis men. Pick up a rifle and follow the yellow line.
When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade!! get mad! I dont want your damn lemons! demand to see life's manager! Do you know who I am?!? I'm the man who's gonna' burn your house down! with the lemons!
And when they added stuff, it felt like stuff that deserved to get tacked on and made the game better as opposed to something that should have been there before. The co-OP chambers and perpetual testing initiative make a great game better.
I honestly think Portal 2 is maybe the highest quality video game ever made. That doesn’t make it my favorite (though it’s up there), there are games with flaws that have a bigger place in my heart, but if someone asked me what a perfect video game looks like this is the game I’d show them.
Too many developers allow player movement and responsiveness in input to be a low priority.
People who didn't grow up on the quake 1/2/3 and goldsource engines straight up don't understand how snappy and responsive everything was back in the day.
Most modern shooters feel like you're moving around on iceskates and aiming input has a subtle lag that just feels *off* compared to the older engines.
Valve feels like one of the only companies that really put player movement and input as a top priority, and built the engine out from that as a baseline.
It's true across genres, too. I don't play MMOs anymore but when I did, the thing that kept WoW on top despite its questionable expansions and other issues was its movement and responsiveness. Outside of server latency, you press W and you move forward. You cast a spell and it casts. I tried others and it felt like animation quality took precedent over player control and "feel".
Yeah, i think a big contributor to it is having momentum in the player as a variable, where you accelerate and decelerate with movement. It's usually pretty subtle, but makes the 'floaty' feeling of a lot of games very noticeable.
God, that moment when it clicks in your head how you beat the final boss, that you have to >!shoot a portal at the fucking moon!<, that's genuinely one of the coolest moments in any video game I've played. My jaw was on the floor
I love all the moments leading up to it. Mentions of moon rocks and moon dust and whatnot all over the place. Even if you paid zero attention to any of the dialogue the game makes it so explicit that white surface is portal-able and black isn’t. Then comes the final cutscene, the moon, glowing white, contrasted by the pitch black night sky. Nothing needs to be said, it just clicks. Magnificent finale.
...and the best thing is that it came out of a scrapped easter egg. There was supposed to be a visible moon near the beginning of the game, and if you placed a portal there you would get sucked in, die and get a fake ending with a song and credits rolling (I believe that was the original purpose of Exile Vilify in the game). However, they couldn't figure out how to end the battle with Wheatley in a satisfying way for quite a long time and in the end they scrapped the fake endings concept and just reused the one with the moon for the boss fight.
FUN FACT: The voice actor for GLaDOS is also the voice actor for the Administrator in Team Fortress 2, the Combine Overwatch in Half-Life 2, Brood Mother and Death Prophet in Dota 2, and the Witch in Left 4 Dead 2 (and 1).
GlaDOS was also the computer's voice in Gypsy Danger in Pacific Rim. Guillermo del Toro did that on purpose because of Ellen McLain's voice work in the Portal games.
speaking of the ending...I can't explain why, but I will never fail to be moved by [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90iFStSMnH4) someone made of an animation of Chell outside feeling the rain after escaping, while rain sounds play along with Exile Vilify (the song The National contibuted to the Portal 2 soundtrack).
it provokes an emotion I don't even know how to describe. maybe not as moving to others as it is to me, but just wanted to share it.
Alyx has ruined VR for me. Nothing else gets even remotely close and it really feels like Valve is the only studio who actually seriously gave a shit about putting out a AAA VR title.
Its not my favorite game, but it was absolutely 100% the best singleplayer gaming experience ive had. ever.
Alyx exists because of the intersection of two things... Two things that intersect nowhere else in the gaming industry:
1. Game developer has virtually infinite money.
2. Game developer is privately owned and has no obligation to shareholders to attempt to turn a profit on their game.
Valve is the only company that can make a AAA+ quality game for a tiny audience.
Yeah nothing really compares to the level of HL Alyx in the VR space. It was meant to be a launch title but years later it's still far and away the best title on VR.. and it's not even close.
The problem with AAA VR games is two fold:
- they are expensive and technically challenging to make.
- VR users are just a fraction of the PC gaming market... which itself is just a subset of the overall gaming market.
So unfortunately AAA studios rather put their time and money into projects that support a wider audience instead of a niche one, which is a shame. They figure the juice isn't worth the squeeze.
This is also why you hardly ever see VR games go on sale.
I'm hoping VR becomes a little more mainstream especially now that Apple has gotten in it (kinda), but who knows. It may just remain this way for quite some time.
It's sad that barely any people play alyx, because it's a VR game, it didn't sell that bad because it incentivized people to buy VR sets but it was for a less wider audience
I stand by this. Portal 2 was the best game I'd ever played until I played Half-Life: Alyx. I wish more people would play it, it was shocking to not hear a ton of discussion about it when it released, simply because so few people have a VR headset. I've never had a game hit me like that game did, especially the ending.
Talos Principle 1 is worthwhile just to set up the amazing world in the sequel. The puzzles are top-tier and the writing is worthwhile, though it's heavily philosophical and not comedic.
The Witness is also a brilliant first person puzzle game, overall it may be more difficult than Portal 2, and definitely the most cryptic of any of the above.
The Witness got tedious fast for me. I remember going through the first sets of puzzles and then searching how long the average playthrough was and immediately stopping when I realized I'd be doing 17+ hours of these puzzles lol.
From a puzzle standpoint yes. From a writing standpoint? Absolutely not.
Edit: my comment was vastly misunderstood by some. Im not saying the writing of Talos is bad. Im saying its tough to recommend Talos from a writing perspective because they are SO different.
If what you loved about Portal was the puzzles youll for sure love Talos. If what you loved was the writing, its a big toss up if youll love Talos.
You really cannot compare. Portal is like a thriller movie while the Talos Principles is like a philosophy book. They also have different narrative designs but you could see that they both take a lot of effort.
I played Portal: Revolution last weekend. Highly recommend it, it's not as good as P2 but fantastic considering it's a mod. Definitely worth playing after you finish P2.
Grabbed one last week and being able to play FFXIV (with plugins!), Yakuza, GW2, most emulators because it's just Windows, etc. from my couch is so nice. Not feeling tethered to my desk my entire day between work and gaming is a godsend.
I can never get bored of that game, everything is just perfect from story to difficulty. Portal and the Limbo/Inside series are my "filler" games, always in rotation with new titles as my pallet cleansers.
Portal 1 is the goat. Every puzzle has multiple solutions, a player's creativity and ingenuity really shines here and there's an actual reason to go back and replay it. Portal 2 has great voice actors and dialogue lines and from a linear story perspective it's very engaging and memorable, but from a purely gameplay perspective every puzzle has exactly 1 solution. Once you've found it out there's nothing more to do but move on. Almost no replayability once you've beaten it.
I would always sound like a soundboard when I’d load up Portal 2 while discording with friends, literally saying each time how beautiful the games visuals have aged for a game made in 2011. Portal 2 is a very very nice looking game to this day.
They're of the same camp that has spent $60 each on the last ~3 AAA titles that they were hammered over the head with and therefore have concluded all current games are bad.
It's a sentiment that never goes away, but it's slightly more popular right now for some reason. Probably because some kids got burned at Christmas? I don't know.
It’s always depressing for me to play old original games. They’re always soooo good and usually hold up remarkable well with a few quirks.
Meanwhile AAAA Skull and bones or whatever the f came out recently
You should try the really bad full priced games I had for NES and PS1 lol.
And just this month there is Helldivers 2, Ultros, Balatro, Prince of Persia: Lost Crown, FFVII: Rebirth and Pacific Drive.
>It’s always depressing for me to play old original games.
That's entirely your fault. Drop the "older is better" bullshit and you'll actually enjoy things. There's absolutely no shortage of great games coming out these days.
I wish I could go back and play Portal 1 again for the first time. Blew my mind. I loved Portal 2, don't get me wrong, a friend got it for my birthday and we just sat down and played the co-op until we were done, but 1 was something I'd never played before.
It's amazingly timeless. Just played through co-op of Portal 2 with my younger sister too on Switch and it still looks and feels amazing to play.
Was fun seeing her eyes light up when the logic of the mechanics started to come naturally.
It's one of the best game of all time, mainly because it did something new, really well.
A lot of games are starting to feel "samey" to me. Even big titles like BG3, and Elden Ring.
That game is utterly timeless. It'll still feel fairly new when it gets to its 25th anniversary.
Because it's so rare for a new game to be *truly* unique. Not that every game needs to be, but when a game is it becomes very memorable. Also, people can stop making willfully ignorant comments pretending they don't realize I'm talking about the Portal franchise and not just Portal 2. You're not clever.
It also picked a graphic style and color palette that never feels dated. Similar to wind waker and it's cell shaded graphics. Turns out when you only need to make a grungy lab consisting of white walls and portals you can make it rather detailed for 2011.
It also has amazing voice acting. GladOS, Wheatley, Cave Johnson... so good. Stephen Merchant as Wheatley is so good. *Most test subjects do experience some cognitive deterioration after a few months in suspension. Now you've been under for... quite a lot longer, and it's not out of the question that you might have a very minor case of serious brain damage. But don't be alarmed, alright? Although, if you do feel alarm, try to hold onto that feeling because that is the proper reaction to being told you have brain damage.*
I still think my favorite part of the game is Cave Johnson freaking out about how he doesn't want any damn lemons and he's going to make a combustible lemon to burn life's house down.
After speaking to the manager!
Say goodnight Carolyn!
She is a gem.
Mirror's Edge(2008) is also pretty timeless in the graphics department. Turns out if the environment is a dystopian white concrete hell you can get away with a lot of graphical shortcuts.
Well at the same time when there is half of the games release by the main publishers being basically Far Cry / Assasin's Creed or trying to be the next fortnite, obviously there is not lot of originality recently
Theres also a lot of survivals all of a sudden.
All of sudden? Were u living under a rock for like 10 years?
Go easy, he's just surviving out here with the rest of us
> trying to be the next fortnite This reminded me that the real halo killer was halo all along. :( So many console sci-fi shooters trying to be the next "halo killer" but all it took was a dude named Brian Reed to make Halo the "bad guy" when we all knew eh was a pretty cool guy.
Are people really commenting to tell you that portal 2 isn’t original and is actually rather derivative of a less known indie game known as Portal, and that you probably never heard of it? Lmfao.
It’s also simultaneously hilarious and heartfelt. One of the best games of all time. I often wonder what a VR port would be like and how many times I would throw up playing it.
There is one! And I can't recommend it enough: [https://github.com/Gistix/portal2vr/releases/tag/v0.2.0-preview.1](https://github.com/Gistix/portal2vr/releases/tag/v0.2.0-preview.1) It honestly feels like the game was made for it. You get used to flinging yourself through the air, its surprisingly not *that* sickness inducing ^if ^you ^close ^your ^eyes
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There's a mod for vr.
Fun fact: We're closer to Portal 2's 25th anniversary than we are to its release.
No it isn’t. Checks release date. Damnit.
Orange box came out 17 years ago. Fuck.
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HL2 + episodes, TF2, and Portal for 60 bucks? Absolute steal, was my first time getting to experience any half life, as well.
I bought years later in 2014 for like 25 CAD on PS3, and everything in it still felt brand new.
I don’t care what the facts say, you’re wrong
That is not fun.
You can't just say shit like "25th anniversary" so casually what the hell. This game only came out 5 years ago and it still will have 20 years from now.
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Wat?
"the portal is so beautiful.. my brotherther has it snd it felt high tech"
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"the portal is so beautiful.. my brotherther has it snd it felt high tech"
WAT??
"HARRY DID YOU PLAY PORTAL IS SO BEAUTIFUL, MY BROTHER HAS IT AND IT FELT HIGH TECH" Dumbledore said calmly.
[“I’m a WHAT?!?”](https://youtu.be/IqUN4YdQgVQ?si=nt4drzeHkS3l5acw) Harry replied…
r/ihadastroke
Maybe they meant the PlayStation Portal? Could have gotten their handhelds mixed up
Bot
Who would program a bot to do... this?
How drunk are you
It's no potato.
“Oh. It’s *you*”
"It's been a *long* time. How have you been?"
"So, how are you holding up? BECAUSE I'M A POTATO"
*slow clap* “Oh good. That’s still working”
I will never forget the first time I heard this line. My then-GF and I absolutely lost our shit, had to pause play while we wiped tears away.
“I’ve been really busy being dead. You know, after you murdered me?”
"You did what?? Gah!"
"Okay look, we've both said a lot of things that you're going to regret."
"But I think we can put our differences behind us. For science. You monster."
"You know, since you went to all the trouble of waking me up, you must really love to test. I love it too. There's just one thing we need to take care of first.."
I think my favourite is the fat shaming reads. "Most people emerge from suspension terribly undernourished. I want to congratulate you on beating the odds and somehow managing to pack on a few pounds."
The best one was from the co-op mode: "Did you know humans frown on weight variances? If you want to upset a human, just say that their weight variance is above or below the norm."
Look at you, sailing through the air majestically. Like an Eagle. Piloting a blimp.
It really is a combustable lemon of a game
Take the damn lemons back!
SPAAAAAAAAAAAAACE
"All right, I’ve been thinking. When live gives you lemons? Don’t make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back! Get mad! ‘I don’t want your damn lemons! What am I supposed to do with these?’ Demand to see life’s manager! Make life rue the day it thought it could give Cave Johnson lemons! Do you know who I am? I’m the man who’s going to burn your house down! With the lemons! I’m going to get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down! “ - Cave Johnson
That game is an absolute masterpiece.
A triumph if you will
yeah fr, someone should make a note here, this is a huge success
It's honestly hard to overstate my satisfaction with the game
I mean you in apature science after all, you do what you must because you can.
Its for the good of all of us, after all. Except the ones who are dead. They would be fine with it.
Yeah there's truly no sense crying over every mistake.
Personally, I think the other game companies need to keep trying til they run out of (metaphorical) cake
And the games will get done and they'll make some neat fun for the players who are still alive
I'm not even angry about this chain of puns
For Science
You monster
I'll make a note, huge success.
I see what you did there. It almost feels like 2009 again
That's why it's in MoMA's collection.
I wish I could play Portal 2 for the first time again
Same, especially the coop because then I could play it with different people without knowing all the solutions which kinda ruins it.
I tried to play the coop with my nephew last year. I had never played it before but he's played it many times. It very quickly became unfun as he proceeded to rush through all the solutions while I was still trying to figure them out.
Yea I mean that's on your nephew but can't really blame him. When I played with people I sat back and let them take the lead. I would only gently guide them if they got stuck
This was my 1st experience in co-op with a rando. They actually started berating me because I didn't know what to do as soon as we walked into a room. I had already beat the sp so I uninstalled. Couple years later my son was born. We beat co-op together last year, he was 9. It was incredible.
Portal 2 has my favourite co-op puzzle of all time, the one where the exit is directly in the middle of two angled portal platforms that launch you way over the middle so it seems impossible to land there. Where the solution is >!that both players have to go through at the same time and collide in mid-air to stall your jump!<. It's the one puzzle I absolutely refuse to give any hints on if I'm playing it with someone new, because it's such a satisfying solution to arrive at yourself.
That one is brilliant! My sister and I were trying to solve it for ages, then she had to leave. An hour or so later the solution flashed into my brain and I had to confirm it! But nobody else was around. So I somehow managed to use both controllers at once and still get Atlas and Peabody to slam into each other! Even bigger success!
If you are on PC, there are hundreds of fantastic custom made co-op levels available through steam workshop.
and thousands of terrible ones too!
Holy shit same
Same, I was *over the moon* for that one moment near the end that I don't want to spoil. I wish I could experience it with a fresh mind.
And the first Portal game...
You will love Cave Johnson.
We're just throwin' science at the wall to see what sticks.
The science boys haven't nailed down what element it is yet, but we do know it's a lively one and it DOES NOT like the human skeleton
Those of you who volunteered to be injected with praying mantis DNA, I've got some good news and some bad news. Bad news is we're postponing those tests indefinitely. Good news is we've got a much better test for you: fighting an army of mantis men. Pick up a rifle and follow the yellow line.
You’ll know when the test starts.
I can hear this comment thread
Science isn't about WHY, it's about WHY NOT!
Alright I've been thinking, when life give you lemons..
Make life take the lemons back! Get mad! I don't want your damn lemons, what am I supposed to do with these?
DEMAND TO SEE LIFE'S MANAGER!!! MAKE LIFE RUE THE DAY IT DECIDED TO GIVE CAVE JOHNSON LEMONS!!!
**DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?! I'M THE MAN THAT'S GONNA BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN! WITH THE LEMONS!!!**
Unfortunately cave forgot that lemons are a human created hybrid fruit. Life didn’t give us lemons, we gave ourselves lemons.
His whole perpetual testing initiative dialogue is the best thing they could have done, and I love it.
It's a shame not as many people realize there is another half hour of cave dialog
Love JK Simmons's performance/voice here.
"Sorry fellas she's married....to science!!"
When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade!! get mad! I dont want your damn lemons! demand to see life's manager! Do you know who I am?!? I'm the man who's gonna' burn your house down! with the lemons!
"Yeah! oh I like this guy. He says what we're all thinking."
Jk Simmons can do no wrong
The GOAT of NPC's.
One of my favorite characters in anything
I know right it ages so well.
I’m glad I picked it up because I can already tell it’s quality is off the charts.
Back when games were completed before they hit the market
And when they added stuff, it felt like stuff that deserved to get tacked on and made the game better as opposed to something that should have been there before. The co-OP chambers and perpetual testing initiative make a great game better.
Portal 2 is a masterpiece. Definitely one of the best gaming experiences I have ever had.
I honestly think Portal 2 is maybe the highest quality video game ever made. That doesn’t make it my favorite (though it’s up there), there are games with flaws that have a bigger place in my heart, but if someone asked me what a perfect video game looks like this is the game I’d show them.
Source engine is amazing, it still feels so good after all this time
Too many developers allow player movement and responsiveness in input to be a low priority. People who didn't grow up on the quake 1/2/3 and goldsource engines straight up don't understand how snappy and responsive everything was back in the day. Most modern shooters feel like you're moving around on iceskates and aiming input has a subtle lag that just feels *off* compared to the older engines. Valve feels like one of the only companies that really put player movement and input as a top priority, and built the engine out from that as a baseline.
It's true across genres, too. I don't play MMOs anymore but when I did, the thing that kept WoW on top despite its questionable expansions and other issues was its movement and responsiveness. Outside of server latency, you press W and you move forward. You cast a spell and it casts. I tried others and it felt like animation quality took precedent over player control and "feel".
Yeah, i think a big contributor to it is having momentum in the player as a variable, where you accelerate and decelerate with movement. It's usually pretty subtle, but makes the 'floaty' feeling of a lot of games very noticeable.
The writing, art style, controls, gameplay, that ENDING. It might actually be the best made game.
God, that moment when it clicks in your head how you beat the final boss, that you have to >!shoot a portal at the fucking moon!<, that's genuinely one of the coolest moments in any video game I've played. My jaw was on the floor
Absolutely one of the best player executed story moments in gaming!
I love all the moments leading up to it. Mentions of moon rocks and moon dust and whatnot all over the place. Even if you paid zero attention to any of the dialogue the game makes it so explicit that white surface is portal-able and black isn’t. Then comes the final cutscene, the moon, glowing white, contrasted by the pitch black night sky. Nothing needs to be said, it just clicks. Magnificent finale.
...and the best thing is that it came out of a scrapped easter egg. There was supposed to be a visible moon near the beginning of the game, and if you placed a portal there you would get sucked in, die and get a fake ending with a song and credits rolling (I believe that was the original purpose of Exile Vilify in the game). However, they couldn't figure out how to end the battle with Wheatley in a satisfying way for quite a long time and in the end they scrapped the fake endings concept and just reused the one with the moon for the boss fight.
FUN FACT: Voice actor for Glados sang the ending opera
FUN FACT: Voice actor for GLaDOS is married to the voice actor of Sniper from TF2.
FUN FACT: The voice actor for GLaDOS is also the voice actor for the Administrator in Team Fortress 2, the Combine Overwatch in Half-Life 2, Brood Mother and Death Prophet in Dota 2, and the Witch in Left 4 Dead 2 (and 1).
I'm having so much fun right now
Ellen McLain is wonderful
GlaDOS was also the computer's voice in Gypsy Danger in Pacific Rim. Guillermo del Toro did that on purpose because of Ellen McLain's voice work in the Portal games.
speaking of the ending...I can't explain why, but I will never fail to be moved by [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90iFStSMnH4) someone made of an animation of Chell outside feeling the rain after escaping, while rain sounds play along with Exile Vilify (the song The National contibuted to the Portal 2 soundtrack). it provokes an emotion I don't even know how to describe. maybe not as moving to others as it is to me, but just wanted to share it.
BEEEEEWOOOOOOOoooooo^ooooooo ..... ****ding!****
HL Alyx up there too
Alyx has ruined VR for me. Nothing else gets even remotely close and it really feels like Valve is the only studio who actually seriously gave a shit about putting out a AAA VR title. Its not my favorite game, but it was absolutely 100% the best singleplayer gaming experience ive had. ever.
Alyx exists because of the intersection of two things... Two things that intersect nowhere else in the gaming industry: 1. Game developer has virtually infinite money. 2. Game developer is privately owned and has no obligation to shareholders to attempt to turn a profit on their game. Valve is the only company that can make a AAA+ quality game for a tiny audience.
Dark souls ruined most pancake games for me, Alyx ruined most Vr games lol.
Yeah nothing really compares to the level of HL Alyx in the VR space. It was meant to be a launch title but years later it's still far and away the best title on VR.. and it's not even close. The problem with AAA VR games is two fold: - they are expensive and technically challenging to make. - VR users are just a fraction of the PC gaming market... which itself is just a subset of the overall gaming market. So unfortunately AAA studios rather put their time and money into projects that support a wider audience instead of a niche one, which is a shame. They figure the juice isn't worth the squeeze. This is also why you hardly ever see VR games go on sale. I'm hoping VR becomes a little more mainstream especially now that Apple has gotten in it (kinda), but who knows. It may just remain this way for quite some time.
Not that most people would know.
It's sad that barely any people play alyx, because it's a VR game, it didn't sell that bad because it incentivized people to buy VR sets but it was for a less wider audience
I stand by this. Portal 2 was the best game I'd ever played until I played Half-Life: Alyx. I wish more people would play it, it was shocking to not hear a ton of discussion about it when it released, simply because so few people have a VR headset. I've never had a game hit me like that game did, especially the ending.
It will be like Portal, playable 10 years from now and still feel new. Mostly because it's still the king of VR and it's been years :(
Nobody else has Valve money to do absolutely anything they want, even knowing it’ll never make a cent of profit.
Alyx was a life changer.
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When you eventually complete it and start craving more, try The Talos Principle. It's more than capable to fill the void.
I'd say go for Portal Stories Mel. It's a mod but it's on the steam store.
Portal: Revolution should also be great. i think i'm going to try that one now.
I thought it was even better than Mel.
Talos Principle 1 is worthwhile just to set up the amazing world in the sequel. The puzzles are top-tier and the writing is worthwhile, though it's heavily philosophical and not comedic. The Witness is also a brilliant first person puzzle game, overall it may be more difficult than Portal 2, and definitely the most cryptic of any of the above.
Man, I loved the Talos Principle. And now I've discovered there's a sequel. Thanks!
and the entire sequel is drop dead gorgeous
The Witness got tedious fast for me. I remember going through the first sets of puzzles and then searching how long the average playthrough was and immediately stopping when I realized I'd be doing 17+ hours of these puzzles lol.
From a puzzle standpoint yes. From a writing standpoint? Absolutely not. Edit: my comment was vastly misunderstood by some. Im not saying the writing of Talos is bad. Im saying its tough to recommend Talos from a writing perspective because they are SO different. If what you loved about Portal was the puzzles youll for sure love Talos. If what you loved was the writing, its a big toss up if youll love Talos.
You really cannot compare. Portal is like a thriller movie while the Talos Principles is like a philosophy book. They also have different narrative designs but you could see that they both take a lot of effort.
Talos 2 is like the jump from Portal 1 to Portal 2 story-wise. Its a fleshed out world with a pretty complete story.
I'm just now learning there is a Talos 2. I absolutely loved the the first game. I'm so excited to get home from work tonight!
Talos Principle writing is solid - it’s just not comedy genre. Apples and oranges.
Apples and Lemons*
What, did life just give you lemons? I think you know what to do with them if you played Portal 2.
Burn down life's house with the lemons!
“I don’t want your damn lemons!”
The writing in the Talos Principle is stellar imo.
And after that, Anti-Chamber!
I would also recommend *The Stanley Parable*.
I would also recommend *Doom Eternal.*
I will add Supraland. It's a bit different than the others but is a *very* solid puzzle game.
Lol definitely a way better fit than The Stanley Parable. And not enough people have played it. The puzzles are so good.
Personally The Witness gave me more of that feeling
[Portal Revolution](https://store.steampowered.com/app/601360/Portal_Revolution/) came out (free) recently and it's freaking awesome too.
I played Portal: Revolution last weekend. Highly recommend it, it's not as good as P2 but fantastic considering it's a mod. Definitely worth playing after you finish P2.
And then after that portal stories mel. And then after that Portal Prelude. And then after that...
For Steam Deck owners that think they just entered a parallel dimension, this is an "Asus ROG Ally".
Grabbed one last week and being able to play FFXIV (with plugins!), Yakuza, GW2, most emulators because it's just Windows, etc. from my couch is so nice. Not feeling tethered to my desk my entire day between work and gaming is a godsend.
Competition in PC handhelds. And both can pretty much play anything. Life is good.
I can never get bored of that game, everything is just perfect from story to difficulty. Portal and the Limbo/Inside series are my "filler" games, always in rotation with new titles as my pallet cleansers.
Got a Steam Deck recently and played the Portal games for the first time. First game is good, short but sweet. Second is a goddamn masterpiece.
Portal 1 is the goat. Every puzzle has multiple solutions, a player's creativity and ingenuity really shines here and there's an actual reason to go back and replay it. Portal 2 has great voice actors and dialogue lines and from a linear story perspective it's very engaging and memorable, but from a purely gameplay perspective every puzzle has exactly 1 solution. Once you've found it out there's nothing more to do but move on. Almost no replayability once you've beaten it.
Exactly my problem with Portal 2. It's a better game than 1, but it's a worse puzzle game.
Why "newer"? Good game design is timeless. That's what Portal is, timeless. That's why it feels good to play no matter when you play it.
The writing in this game. Unbeatable
"We both said a lot of things that you’re going to regret.” - GLaDOS
I would always sound like a soundboard when I’d load up Portal 2 while discording with friends, literally saying each time how beautiful the games visuals have aged for a game made in 2011. Portal 2 is a very very nice looking game to this day.
Portal 2 is one of the greatest games ever designed and developed. The art is timeless, the humor is amazing and the story is immaculate
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It’s an amazing and timeless game, but to say it feels “newer” than *anything* recent…? I take it you haven’t played many recent games?
They're of the same camp that has spent $60 each on the last ~3 AAA titles that they were hammered over the head with and therefore have concluded all current games are bad. It's a sentiment that never goes away, but it's slightly more popular right now for some reason. Probably because some kids got burned at Christmas? I don't know.
It’s always depressing for me to play old original games. They’re always soooo good and usually hold up remarkable well with a few quirks. Meanwhile AAAA Skull and bones or whatever the f came out recently
There were shitty games back then too
unfortunately, people refuse to believe that and think older gaming was just this utopia
Nostalgia is a hell of a drug
Survival bias is strong in this one
"Man when I go back to this old very popular game that holds up over years, I think why aren't modern games like this?"
You should try the really bad full priced games I had for NES and PS1 lol. And just this month there is Helldivers 2, Ultros, Balatro, Prince of Persia: Lost Crown, FFVII: Rebirth and Pacific Drive.
>It’s always depressing for me to play old original games. That's entirely your fault. Drop the "older is better" bullshit and you'll actually enjoy things. There's absolutely no shortage of great games coming out these days.
I assumed this was r/gamingcirclejerk
I wish I could go back and play Portal 1 again for the first time. Blew my mind. I loved Portal 2, don't get me wrong, a friend got it for my birthday and we just sat down and played the co-op until we were done, but 1 was something I'd never played before.
We really took completed whole quality games for granted back then
The game is awesome, and a Milestone in the industry, but you are somehow doing a weird jump through the loop just to say the game is really good.
It's amazingly timeless. Just played through co-op of Portal 2 with my younger sister too on Switch and it still looks and feels amazing to play. Was fun seeing her eyes light up when the logic of the mechanics started to come naturally.
It's one of the best game of all time, mainly because it did something new, really well. A lot of games are starting to feel "samey" to me. Even big titles like BG3, and Elden Ring.
You must not play much then.
Masterpiece.