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One of the first titles I launched on the simplified "Games I Played" list ("Games of June 2019", the very first one, that is), was Portal 2. In retrospect, it was fitting seeing how Portal was one of the first games I added for what is now Exor's Dungeon. The following review takes some parts of that 2019 review verbatim.

I completed Portal 2 in early 2019 after some on-and-off playing (no telling when I started, but it was at least four years), but despite the praise it got at the time, the first half of the game (at least the first third) is that it basically functions as a "mission pack sequel" of the first game, and then when the game storyline finally gets off the ground, it changes too many things about GlaDOS' character, from a sardonic immoral pathological liar AI to a sardonic but deeply conflicted AI that was originally designed with a real person's mind uploaded into it, as well as the backstory of Aperture Labs from a mysterious, enigmatic facility with just enough background to know that something horrible happened not too long ago, to this weird underground lab with the disembodied voice of a wacky sociopath who rambled on about lemons, tumors, and mantis-men. Since playing it and other games, it seems to fall into the same trap of tending to change and overexplain things. A lot of fundamental issues I found wrong with Hotline Miami 2 are also here, though not nearly as pronounced (or leave a bad taste in my mouth).

The good news is that unlike other games, at least Portal 2 is done in the same spirit of the original. I have good memories of playing the original Portal back in 2011 and 2012, and "Want You Gone" felt like a reminder that fit in well with the comfy feel of "Still Alive" and other games of that era. It was a good ending, and I wasn't left completely disgusted how the new gimmicks REALLY stretched the gameplay. (There are games where they really wear it out by the end). In fact, I was intrigued enough to play a total overhaul mod, "Portal Reloaded", which has its own Wikipedia article though I'd hesitate it to call it a full game since like any mod, expansion pack, or DLC it requires the full version of the game. This adds a new function of the portal gun to add time travel and puzzles associated with that. I didn't get too far into it, and eventually fully abandoned it after it wasn't able to load my last save.

Still, the whole experience didn't really capture the same feel or innovation the original had, hence the lower grade.

FINAL RATING:   

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