What stands out to me the most about Portal 2 is how much it manages to do with one main mechanic.
First of all, just using the Portal gun, momentum and the controls is fun and always feels "right", especially when enhanced by motion controls.
But the way new gameplay/puzzle elements are introduced makes the pacing perfect: You encounter novel ideas constantly throughout the game right up until the end and every single time, they get explored to their full potential and combined with other concepts to create puzzle box after puzzle box.
Portal 2 is heavier on story and lore as well and breaks up its pace every now and then with story sequences, a chase or bigger environments that leave a little room to explore and are more about finding your way than strictly solving a puzzle.
I found the contrast between the small, self-contained chambers and the huge, awe-inspiring caves to be very refreshing, even though the vastness sometimes made it a bit harder to orient myself.
The story has even more of the charm, humor and spectacle of the first installment, with some cool twists and turns and spectacular acting for every single character.
It was also interesting to find out more about this fictional world in a way that was never distracting, but usually aided the gameplay.
Having some more different settings that put the puzzles in different contexts helped to keep everything feeling fresh since this game is a good bit longer than its predecessor.
Even then, Portal 2 is once again designed so incredibly well that it's hard not to want more of this series that, even as a newcomer, holds up in every aspect.
First of all, just using the Portal gun, momentum and the controls is fun and always feels "right", especially when enhanced by motion controls.
But the way new gameplay/puzzle elements are introduced makes the pacing perfect: You encounter novel ideas constantly throughout the game right up until the end and every single time, they get explored to their full potential and combined with other concepts to create puzzle box after puzzle box.
Portal 2 is heavier on story and lore as well and breaks up its pace every now and then with story sequences, a chase or bigger environments that leave a little room to explore and are more about finding your way than strictly solving a puzzle.
I found the contrast between the small, self-contained chambers and the huge, awe-inspiring caves to be very refreshing, even though the vastness sometimes made it a bit harder to orient myself.
The story has even more of the charm, humor and spectacle of the first installment, with some cool twists and turns and spectacular acting for every single character.
It was also interesting to find out more about this fictional world in a way that was never distracting, but usually aided the gameplay.
Having some more different settings that put the puzzles in different contexts helped to keep everything feeling fresh since this game is a good bit longer than its predecessor.
Even then, Portal 2 is once again designed so incredibly well that it's hard not to want more of this series that, even as a newcomer, holds up in every aspect.