beautiful story about robots dealing emotionally with surrogate parents
like many of you im sure, ive played this game a couple hundred times. im logging it only now because there was a long stretch of time where i just didnt replay it until now, and wanted to see if my opinions still held up.
they did. for a sequel to Portal, one of the most critically acclaimed and iconic puzzle games of all time, there is a distinct lack of puzzles in this game. it could be classified more as a cinematic platformer visual novel than anything else. there is an absurd amount of time in this game spent walking around decrepit environments with the puzzle being what bit of wall to shoot a gun at in order to progress.
despite that taking up what feels like a majority of the playtime however, when it does decide to be a puzzle game it can stand toe to toe with its older brother, possibly even outmatch it at times. there were several puzzles that stumped me, and they all hold they same ideal the first game has that once a puzzle is solved it should take almost no time at all to go through with the solution - something that inherently feels immediately satisfying and something that makes the first game so easy to go back to. even when its not being a satisfying puzzle game - something it clearly can be, just isnt all the time for some reason - it does have its shining moments. particularly, the writing.
i once heard this game described as a competition between three writers to create the best character ever, and it ended in a tie. Wheatley, GladOS, and Cave Johnson are all so charming, cleverly written, and fantastically voice-acted that listening to them is a reward in itself. Wheatley as an antagonist is serviceable for what is demanded of him and Cave Johnson is only in a small portion, but its how they tie into GladOS that makes them special. Her sharing the main character role with Chell fills the gap of a silent protagonist which the first game didnt need to worry about like this does and lets the writing really glow when Wheatley or Cave Johnson speak to her indirectly and open up more about her character. i could just write "the cave johnson part" for this review but then i'd have to give it a perfect 5/5
it is a truly great game, for sure, and there are some glimpses of pure perfection, but there just is not enough game in this game for it to stand as one of the best of all time for me.
also, not a single slice of cake in this game. god bless valve. may they rest in peace.
like many of you im sure, ive played this game a couple hundred times. im logging it only now because there was a long stretch of time where i just didnt replay it until now, and wanted to see if my opinions still held up.
they did. for a sequel to Portal, one of the most critically acclaimed and iconic puzzle games of all time, there is a distinct lack of puzzles in this game. it could be classified more as a cinematic platformer visual novel than anything else. there is an absurd amount of time in this game spent walking around decrepit environments with the puzzle being what bit of wall to shoot a gun at in order to progress.
despite that taking up what feels like a majority of the playtime however, when it does decide to be a puzzle game it can stand toe to toe with its older brother, possibly even outmatch it at times. there were several puzzles that stumped me, and they all hold they same ideal the first game has that once a puzzle is solved it should take almost no time at all to go through with the solution - something that inherently feels immediately satisfying and something that makes the first game so easy to go back to. even when its not being a satisfying puzzle game - something it clearly can be, just isnt all the time for some reason - it does have its shining moments. particularly, the writing.
i once heard this game described as a competition between three writers to create the best character ever, and it ended in a tie. Wheatley, GladOS, and Cave Johnson are all so charming, cleverly written, and fantastically voice-acted that listening to them is a reward in itself. Wheatley as an antagonist is serviceable for what is demanded of him and Cave Johnson is only in a small portion, but its how they tie into GladOS that makes them special. Her sharing the main character role with Chell fills the gap of a silent protagonist which the first game didnt need to worry about like this does and lets the writing really glow when Wheatley or Cave Johnson speak to her indirectly and open up more about her character. i could just write "the cave johnson part" for this review but then i'd have to give it a perfect 5/5
it is a truly great game, for sure, and there are some glimpses of pure perfection, but there just is not enough game in this game for it to stand as one of the best of all time for me.
also, not a single slice of cake in this game. god bless valve. may they rest in peace.