next »

[Peter]

Fun, but somewhat disappointing. It's too short and there's a definite lack of challenge towards the end. These issues were more forgivable in the first game because it was just a fun bonus for the Orange Box and because it was a novel concept. They played it a bit safe with Portal 2, it seems.

The Cave Johnson segment of the game is the best part, and I stand by my point that J.K. Simmons is grossly underused.

I can't believe everyone loves the ending. It was goofy, yes, but not in a good way. I think they really took it a bit too far with the portal on the moon.

[Josiah Tobin]

Ashkin: Hmm, that sort of makes sense. The first one wasn't obvious to me though, for whatever reason it looked more like a deliberate lunge.

The Carolyne thing -- when did that happen, though? Did GLaDOS just get that dormant part of her personality awakened by being reminded of her? Maybe I'm missing something obvious... that happens.

I'm playing it again with the commentary now and remembering how much of the game I immensely enjoyed vs. the parts I had issues with -- despite my previous comments (which I still mostly stand by), I think it's probably close to the best they could've done with a sequel to Portal. I guess I just personally would've liked it to be more this, or more that, but I suppose after something as small, self-contained, and concise as portal there are going to be complaints here and there with a successor.

~Josiah

EDIT: Peter: Too short? Hmm, interesting, I was actually surprised by its length, and I think it even could've been trimmed in a few places. That part of the ending was a little silly, but I think it fit in with the silliness of the rest of the game pretty well. I mean, it is all a bit wacky throughout -- I think the strangest part is how something with its bizarre humor can (supposedly) exist in the Half-Life universe.

[Mipe]

You know what would be awesome?

Procedurally generated Portal 2 levels.

[Peter]

EDIT: Peter: Too short? Hmm, interesting, I was actually surprised by its length, and I think it even could've been trimmed in a few places.

I guess there's just a certain amount of content I expect to get at a certain price point. And every time I play a Valve game, I remember how long both of the main Half-Life games were and am a bit disappointed. Making it longer probably wouldn't be a good solution, though, as Portal probably would feel weird if it were too long. For the amount of content we have here, a lower price point would've been more appropriate. Feels like a $30 game, despite the quality.

[Josiah Tobin]

Mipe: Speaking of which, I recall reading beforehand that the music in this game was mostly procedurally-generated -- can't recall where I read it, though -- but upon playing it again now with commentary, the music all seems the same as before. Does anyone know anything about that? Did it not make it into the final game?

That aside, though, the incorporation of short music loops when doing various things (flying through the air, interacting with gel etc) which mesh with the main background tune is fantastic.

Also, I really can't get over how expressive Wheatley is. Just makes him all the more likable, which really adds to my confusion/sadness that he becomes the villain.

Peter: Yeah, I suppose I can understand that. I'm actually playing my brother's copy so I can't say how I'd feel about the price of it vs. the content, really.

~Josiah

[Glaiel-Gamer]

I have slightly mixed feelings about the game as well (I just beat it so this is pretty immediate). Roughly the first half of the game totally had me, just everything I wanted and beyond, loved every minute of it. As soon as I realized the underground segment was just more test chambers, though, I got this weird twinge of disappointment... That second part was my favorite bit atmospherically, just brilliant stuff to me, but the fact that it was mostly a re-skinned test chamber formula didn't quite work for me. Also Wheatley becoming the villain really rubbed me the wrong way. They build him up as this bumbling but supremely lovable characters and then just pull the rug out from under you (in a bad way, that is).

I loved the second part of the game, it was the weakest part but still amazing. I liked how even though it was still "test chambers", they were old and broken so there were mini-puzzles between them due to the catwalks being out. Pure genius there. Wheatley becoming the villain, I thought that it had something to do with the body. GLaDOS seemed a lot nicer as a potato after all, so its possible the big control body thing was the "real" evil.

The majority of the third act lost a lot of my attention. More test chamber structure in... the old, familiar test chambers. Hmm.

Did you notice the first few were "stupid" because of wheatley's stupidity? I thought that was pure genius. As was all of wheatley's dialog about watching you solve them, it was really meta about puzzle game design right there. One of my favorite parts of the game.

Seems most of your complaints were about the game being "just a bunch of test chambers", but they really did a LOT to make each section varied and new with their test chambers and setting

[Dragonmaw]

The Carolyne thing -- when did that happen, though? Did GLaDOS just get that dormant part of her personality awakened by being reminded of her? Maybe I'm missing something obvious... that happens.

Glados is Caroline's brain transplanted into a robotic body, essentially. Cave Johnson mentions brain mapping and sentient AI near the end of the old Aperture areas, and in the next breath, says "If I don't live long enough to be put into a robot, I want Caroline to instead. She should be running this place." Glados deletes all aspects of the Caroline brain map (presumably) at the conclusion of the game because she can't deal with having a conscience. The best way to describe it is that Glados started as Caroline, became Glados, started to turn back into Caroline, didn't like it, deleted Caroline once returned to her old body.

It seems that the body that houses the core of Glados' processing power corrupts whatever is in it. Presumably, this is why Glados starts to revert back to being Caroline; without all the urges of doing science and being power mad and whatnot, she's just another personality core. The core for the brain-mapped Caroline.

Mipe: Speaking of which, I recall reading beforehand that the music in this game was mostly procedurally-generated -- can't recall where I read it, though -- but upon playing it again now with commentary, the music all seems the same as before. Does anyone know anything about that? Did it not make it into the final game?

That aside, though, the incorporation of short music loops when doing various things (flying through the air, interacting with gel etc) which mesh with the main background tune is fantastic.

Answered your own question mate. That is the procedurally generated music.

[Glaiel-Gamer]

also, the ending song seems to indicate that GLaDOS didn't really/completely delete caroline

these glow spoilers are annoying, we should just have a "Portal 2 for the people who beat the game" thread

[Glaiel-Gamer]

also, in regards to the ending song the new one is just as good as still alive, its just you were expecting it this time so it didn't feel as "fresh". Thats why the turret opera was there, that was a surprise and fresh and unexpected, much like "still alive" from the original.

anyway portal 2 left such a good aftertaste for me that I'm gonna bump it to my list of top 3 games of all time (the list is now Metroid Prime, Zelda OOT, Portal 2)

Maybe i'm being hasty here, but like all I can think of right now is "i cant wait for 2 years to pass so I can forget the puzzles and play portal 2 again" (and also "i feel like designing a lot of test chambers levels for closure RIGHT NOW")

[Josiah Tobin]

Oh, I got the Carolyne > GLaDOS thing, I thought that was fairly clear. I was just a little unsure of why GLaDOS seemed to suddenly regain the Carolyne part of her as the potato. Makes sense if it's the body that's "evil" (or rather, corrupt I suppose), though.

Glaiel: I suppose you're right -- "just test chambers" was a little harsh of me. They certainly did an amazing job with the variety of the environments this time around. Loved all the overgrown stuff in beginning, especially. I guess my main complaints stem from my expectations of the second chunk being a little different from the reality; I think I may have interpreted it as a larger turning point in the game than it actually was and for awhile there, expected more exploration/breakage from the test chamber format. Does that make sense? Like it at first gave me the impression that it might be the strongest part of the game and then let me down when that wasn't the case. (it is still my favorite part in terms of setting, though) I suppose I was hoping for much more of a deviation from the game's format than was realistic of me.

Also, I agree, the new song is every bit as good as Still Alive when taken as a song. My complaint was basically that it wasn't an unexpected idea anymore so it loses some of the impact of the original.

~Josiah

[Glaiel-Gamer]

Oh, I got the Carolyne > GLaDOS thing, I thought that was fairly clear. I was just a little unsure of why GLaDOS seemed to suddenly regain the Carolyne part of her as the potato. Makes sense if it's the body that's "evil" (or rather, corrupt I suppose), though.

Glaiel: I suppose you're right, though "just test chambers" was a little harsh of me. I guess my main complaints stem from my expectations of the second chunk being a little different from the reality; I think I may have interpreted it as a larger turning point in the game than it actually was and for awhile there, expected more exploration/breakage from the test chamber format. Does that make sense?

Also, I agree, the new song is every bit as good as Still Alive when taken as a song. My complaint was basically that it wasn't an unexpected idea anymore so it loses the impact of the original.

Ya that makes sense, but the whole game was about 50% test chambers 50% exploration/breakage just they were split up a lot more so it wasn't [huge block of test chambers][huge block of exploration/breakage]. And you have to admit the turret opera WAS unexpected and had a similar impact as still alive.


SPAAAAAACCCCCEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Josiah Tobin]

Yeah, I suppose that's true. Guess I just had unrealistic expectations for how Valve would surprise me when that second section hit. I guess I was also hoping for the test chamber parts to be broken up more than they were... but that seems to be a matter of personal taste more than anything. Although I have to admit that the turret opera didn't really do it for me. Made me smile, sure, but mostly just made me think "oh, well this is pretty weird." I wouldn't compare it to Still Alive, personally, but that's just me.

And yeah, the SPACE! sphere was one of my favorite bits, haha. When he's orbiting Wheatley in the end, I was laughing despite my sadness at the poor guy's fate.

Overall though, really, a truly fantastic game despite my niggles. I'm finding I appreciate it even more the second time through.

EDIT:

Answered your own question mate. That is the procedurally generated music.

Ah, I see. From what I read I thought that the actual music itself was procedurally generated.

[Sakar]

@Josiah

As the saying goes, "Absolute power corrupts absolutely". That explains why Wheatley became evil

[Josiah Tobin]

@Josiah

As the saying goes, "Absolute power corrupts absolutely". That explains why Wheatley became evil

Yeah, I suppose it does, though that doesn't really make me like it any more... I just like the Wheatley character so much, it really made me feel bad.

~Josiah

EDIT:
Forgot to address this:

The majority of the third act lost a lot of my attention. More test chamber structure in... the old, familiar test chambers. Hmm.

Did you notice the first few were "stupid" because of wheatley's stupidity? I thought that was pure genius. As was all of wheatley's dialog about watching you solve them, it was really meta about puzzle game design right there. One of my favorite parts of the game.

Yeah, I did think that was pretty funny. Didn't catch the meta puzzle game design thing, though, that is pretty damn clever! Huh.

[ham and brie]

What was with the singing turrets, and what was that larger one among them (not the "animal king" one)? That whole sequence was cute, but really out of place in my opinion. Just weird.

Did you know that Ellen McLain, the voice of GLaDOS, is an opera singer?