This game makes you feel like Stephen Hawking without a wheelchair!

This was a triumph...

It's one of those games that makes you feel like a genius when you solve a puzzle, even thought it was obviously designed to be solved by any idiot.

Can you even call yourself a gamer if you haven't played Portal 2? Maybe. But your street cred will definitely suffer for it.

There’s really not much I can say about it that hasn't already been said. It is literally a perfect game. Game design courses should be (and probably have been) taught using this game. The story is absolutely amazing, the feelings of horror and terror are cultivated perfectly, and just like the puzzles, the story regularly subverts your expectations. And the voice acting done by Stephen Merchant is absolutely infatuating, he just talks and talks...

The graphics on my Steam Deck still look pretty darn good. The water and liquid effects are something I still haven't seen anything similar to in modern games. It's not Red Dead Redemption 2, but it's no launch-quality Cyberpunk 2077 either. The idea from the original Portal that you're not just in a series of square shaped rooms, but that the rooms are actually moving, modular panels with secret areas behind them, is expanded upon to great effect. You feel less confined in every space, while still literally being trapped.

And of course, the star of the show is the mind-bending puzzles. (Or is it the story?) Just like the original, my favorite part is how difficult they are, while still being entirely possible to solve on your own without ever cheating and looking up the answer. You could if you wanted to of course, but part of the joy of a game like this is figuring it out yourself. Sometimes they're so good at subverting your expectations, it's good to take a break, go make some food for your wife’s boyfriend, go take the dog for the walk, sleep on it, etc. Play this game a few days in a row and you'll have dreams about portal puzzles. And after giving yourself some distance from the problem, you can come back to it with fresh eyes, and see things in a completely new way that turns out to be the solution! The nature of having unlimited freedom and time to explore each puzzle area means nearly anyone can figure them out, no matter how hard, given enough time, and still feel like a genius once you do!

But what's even more amazing is the amount of content in this game. After you complete the single-player campaign, there's a whole co-op campaign (for those with friends...), and community-designed maps. And after playing about 10 more hours to just get a glimpse of all the community maps, I can safely say, there's literally dozens, probably hundreds that are damn-near the same quality as the core game. No joke. There's even voice lines and bits of story added to them. And while just choosing "quick play" throws you around entire player-created campaigns (several that were 12 maps long) randomly, from donglemonster's map 3 of 12, to tittycakes' map 1 of 14, I feel like I got a good sample of what's out there, and it's all definitely fantastic.

This game is exactly why myself and many others love gaming, to play games that have soul. To play games that aren't made to purposefully rip off gamers with things like micro-transactions, but instead to make a game that is aiming to be a great game that brings joy to us gamers. It’s clever, witty, and so real. Just in complete awe every time I pick this game up, it has so much character to it. You can tell that there was an incredible amount of thought put into Portal 2 and it must have been challenging to develop a game like this but they absolutely nailed it.

For everybody who has already played this game, this review should come as no surprise. But if anybody else out there needs a little nudge off the diving board, this is it. It's a game made with pure love, by gamers for gamers. It's literally a perfect game. And if you still haven't played the original Portal, flog yourself 3 times, buy that, play that, then buy and play this. You can thank me later. I mean, seriously? Never played Portal 1? I can't even look at you right now...

Finally, welcome.

Welcome to the, "nothing will compare to playing Portal 2 for the first time" club. Everything from here on out sucks. Even the good ones.

10000/10

Simple, Creative, Timeless.

Perfects the formula from Portal 1 and adds more twists. Clever puzzles that makes you feel like a genius, quality writing that flips your expectations. Banter between characters was welcome addition. I'm not even into puzzle games but this was brilliant all the way through.

~ DIFFICULTY ~

🔲 My 90 year old grandma could play it
🔲 Easy
✅ Normal
🔲 Hard
🔲 Dark Souls

~ GRAPHICS ~

🔲 MS Paint
🔲 Bad
🔲 Meh
🔲 Graphics don't matter in this game
🔲 Good
✅ Beautiful
🔲 Masterpiece

~ PRICE ~

🔲 Free
🔲 Underpriced
✅ Perfect Price
🔲 Could be cheaper
🔲 Overpriced
🔲 Complete waste of money

~ REQUIREMENTS ~

🔲 You can run it on a microwave
✅ Average
🔲 High end
🔲 NASA computer

~ LENGTH ~

🔲 Very Short (0 - 2 hours)
✅ Short (2 - 15 hours)
🔲 Average (15-50 hours)
🔲 Long (50-90 hours)
🔲 Extremely long (90-110 hours)
🔲 No ending

~ FUN ~

🔲 I'd rather watch paint dry
🔲 Hard to enjoy
🔲 Repetitive
🔲 Actually pretty amusing
✅ The kind of fun you'll remember
🔲 Ride of your life

~ REPLAYABILITY~

🔲 It's a one-time experience
🔲 Only for achievements
✅ If you wait a few months/years
🔲 Definitely
🔲 Infinitely replayable

~ WORTH BUYING ~

🔲 No
🔲 Wait for sale
✅ Yes