A delightful game, perhaps one of the greatest puzzle games ever made. A collection of lovely puzzles paired with a simple yet well executed story, a charming cast of characters, and great environmental story-telling.

The puzzle solving feels great in this game, even better than its predecessor. Gone are the annoying High Energy Pellets, which really dominated the last few stages of the original. In their place are a series of gimmicks which are less annoying and more consistent without sacrificing challenge. However, the stages where you have to work with all three gels are an exception; they are frustrating in their lack of direction and awkardness.

Something that stuck out to me a lot, coming right off the heels of the original Portal (which I beat right before this game) is that it is much more energetic. The characters are more lively, the music more prominent, the lights brighter, the environments more dense. This game is MORE Portal in every sense of MORE, it's just a bigger game. There are things lost by this approach but in my opinion the end result is a better game.

This game is beautiful. This is all crammed into an engine from 2004, and its BEAUTIFUL. The VALVe bastards took everything from Portal 1 and polished it to a mirror sheen. The soundtrack is better, the acting is better, the levels are better. The only thing I was sad with was the change in atmosphere. The first game was a clinical trial turned into an industrial escapade. The second is ironically more lively, given all the other subjects are now dead and the only living things are the plants and birds inhabiting the facility. Bit of a departure, but I appreciate it. This game means a lot to me, as it got me further into games as a kid.