Author Topic: Portal 2  (Read 11051 times)

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Hope they'll continue to supply DLC's for free, but it's possible they'll start charging money for it all at one point. We'll see, I suppose.
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"Do you begin to see, then, what kind of world we are creating? It is the exact opposite of the stupid hedonistic Utopias that the old reformers imagined. A world of fear and treachery and torment, a world of trampling and being trampled upon, a world which will grow not less but more merciless as it refines itself. Progress in our world will be progress to more pain."
- George Orwell

 

Offline Sushi

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Hope they'll continue to supply DLC's for free, but it's possible they'll start charging money for it all at one point. We'll see, I suppose.

Maybe, but I doubt it. It's a road Valve has not yet taken.

Even if they do, as long as they release the SDK for free, there will be plenty of free third-party content to last for quite a while.

 

Offline Lucika

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I really liked the game, all my post-playthrough analysis after my LP was just one word: "Wow.".

As for Battuta's complaints, I can't stop thinking that Portal 2 is obviously going to fail against Portal 1 when measured to Portal 1's standards. I liked the story a lot, the game elements as well - the puzzles, not so much, they were really simple. There were some nice classic literary themes going on
Spoiler:
power corrupts, the fall and rising back again, a new era beginning at the end of the game (both CJ and Caroline are gone and GLaDOS is subsequently becoming 100% "self") etc.
and it was a lot of fun. I agree that the humour was different and I considered it a bit over-the-top sometimes but all in all - when not compared with P1 - I really enjoyed it and liked the writing.

I had two major problems, one of which was already present at the end of the first game: the PSoPCs (Portalable Surface of Plot Convenience) and the invisible walls.
The PSoPCs made me cringe in the first game as well but they were even more blatant here. Just one of them missing and the protagonist has no chance of continuing. It really broke my suspension of disbelief every single time. "Wow, how lucky I am! There is one portalable surface! Not two or three but hey, at least not zero!"
As for the invisible walls, I understand that the scale and the sense of size kinda make it necessary, but it was lazy. Not once I tried to access a ledge when I was at the "backstage", so to speak, in order to make a jump easier but every time I ran into the invisible wall. It also happened when
Spoiler:
I tried to jump into the "pit" where Wheatley puts GLaDOS in the potato battery before it closed
and that really made me cringe, more than any other ones.

As for the ending, I really liked the final cutscene, I really did. I haven't played the co-op mode yet so I cannot be 100% sure about all that but I can't help but wonder about Portal 3. For pure financial purposes, it seems almost like a necessity. However, looking at the story, seeing
Spoiler:
how distanced the characters are in every sense of the word,
I am not sure if it is a good idea to try it. Sure, we could always
Spoiler:
have new characters established
but frankly, that would be a waste. Any other solution might happen to be a bit forced though. It might actually be a good idea to end the "series" here, on such a... not necessarily high, but a great note. I wouldn't like that solution but plot-wise it might be the best.

As for the very end, I think we can all agree that this game has laid down one of the finest examples of foreshadowing with... you know, that thing. Someone has already mentioned it in this topic, I believe. And
Spoiler:
Wheatley's final remarks only say 'her'. While it is obviously false, I kept toying around with the idea that he was referring to GLaDOS, not Chell.
By the way, I'd say that the best part of this game was that
Spoiler:
it had an evil adversary that was still hilarious and while trying to murder you, still not 'that' evil, if you know what I mean.
Compared to Portal 1, most of the puzzles (if not for the amount of gadgets and puzzles themselves) were disappointing, but I played this game caring a lot more about the plot so I definitely give it high marks. But even the other way around, it really is a good purchase in my humble opinion.
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Offline watsisname

Spoiler:
Space? SPACE! SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace...... ..!!!

Spoiler:
Space.  Going to space.  Can't wait!  Space!  Space.  Trial.  Put the system on trial.  In space.  Space system.  On trial.  GUILTY!  OF BEING IN SPACE!  GO TO SPACE JAIL!  I'm gonna be in space.  Wanna see me?  Gotta buy a telescope.  Let's go to space!  I love space.  Atmosphere.  Heh.  Heh.  Black holes.  Astronauts.  Nebulas.  Jupiter.  The Big Dipper. 
THE BIG DIPPER!!!
I love you, space.  Space.  So much space.  I can see it all.  Earth.  Wanna go to earth.  Wanna go to earth.  Wanna go home.  Wanna go home!  Don't like space.  Too big.  Wanna go home.
SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA CE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:wakka:
In my world of sleepers, everything will be erased.
I'll be your religion, your only endless ideal.
Slowly we crawl in the dark.
Swallowed by the seductive night.

 

Offline Klaustrophobia

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bought it on sale for $30, just started playing.  pretty good so far i guess, but not the best game ever or anything.  it does seem rather easy so far.
I like to stare at the sun.

 

Offline Androgeos Exeunt

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Offline karajorma

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Replay Portal if you think Portal 2 is too easy. You'll soon find that the main game is even easier than Portal 2. It's just that you've played the challenge levels, etc which make it seem like Portal was a harder game.
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Offline Ransom

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Portal had better puzzles and smarter writing and was about as perfect a game as I can think of.

I like Portal 2 more, though. I can't bring myself to disagree with RPS' evaluation, but for me its highs were higher. I'd quite happily call it the best game I've played in years.

 

Offline pecenipicek

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QD died at one of the first Hard Light Bridges levels.
i love the hard light bridge levels :D
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Offline Klaustrophobia

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Replay Portal if you think Portal 2 is too easy. You'll soon find that the main game is even easier than Portal 2. It's just that you've played the challenge levels, etc which make it seem like Portal was a harder game.

i only ever played one of the challenge levels.  i wasn't thinking of them when i called 2 easier.  after the test chambers in 1 was what i was mostly thinking of.  having said that, i've progressed to harder parts of 2 since that last post, and i've had a couple little stick points. 

i'm kinda "meh" on the gel, and on the puzzle setup in general.  i wish most of the surfaces were portal-able and you had to be more creative rather than looking for the solution, so to speak.
I like to stare at the sun.

 

Offline General Battuta

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Portal had better puzzles and smarter writing and was about as perfect a game as I can think of.

I like Portal 2 more, though. I can't bring myself to disagree with RPS' evaluation, but for me its highs were higher. I'd quite happily call it the best game I've played in years.

I think part of the joy of Portal 2 (for me) is the fact that it exists at all. We live in a sea of Modern Warfare rips with, at best, pablum for writing - a full AAA title with a huge marketing push that isn't about those things is a ray of light. Would that we had more games with Portal 2's flaws.

 
My biggest issue with the game revolves around the fact that it lost Portal 1's "Go Anywhere" philosophy.  It was nothing TOO major but the fact that I couldn't just jump the rails on the catwalk or stand under the falling beam, etc. made it feel very confined.  Other than that, I absolutely LOVED it.
Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made
Were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade
To write the love of God above, would drain the ocean dry
Nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky!

 

Offline AtomicClucker

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As for a certain Cave Johnson:

Spoiler:
Get Mad! Don't make Lemonade!

Some people whine the game is too short, I actually though it was rightly paced, despite being a short game. I tend to argue that if it were longer, the game would've lost the charm it managed to pull off and the foreshadowing, dear lord the foreshadowing.

And hats off to Wheatley, one of my favorite characters and an absolute [redacted] to boot!
Blame Blue Planet for my Freespace2 addiction.

 

Offline Klaustrophobia

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i think it's too short to pay $50 or $60 for, but the right length for the game itself. 
I like to stare at the sun.

 
It's been on sale at $30 at Best Buy, Amazon and Gamestop for some time now. :)
Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made
Were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade
To write the love of God above, would drain the ocean dry
Nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky!

 

Offline Klaustrophobia

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yeah i got it for that.  $30 is acceptable.  20-25 would be better.
I like to stare at the sun.

 

Offline General Battuta

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yeah i got it for that.  $30 is acceptable.  20-25 would be better.

Jesus. Games are already at fairly historically low prices and you want that much lower?

 
FYI, this is the business model of the future:

http://www.humblebundle.com/

I've seen CDs sold this way, as well as video games, T-shirts, etc.  It's pretty sweet.
Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made
Were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade
To write the love of God above, would drain the ocean dry
Nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky!

 

Offline Mongoose

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yeah i got it for that.  $30 is acceptable.  20-25 would be better.

Jesus. Games are already at fairly historically low prices and you want that much lower?
Seriously.  I'll never understand the whole "this game is too short for the price" argument.  Quality over quantity, much?

And that "humble bundle" concept would make a great model for the future...except for the fact that it doesn't work very well and is usually pirated far more than it's bought.