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[Nizz]

Played a ways into chapter 6 last night, wow what a difference in tone. Feels a little Bioshock-ish to be honest. I need to start playing more than like 45 minutes at a time. lol

That was my problem too. I was playing about an hour a night. Sometimes a little more. But I finally finished the game Friday night. What a great game, I love it! I started replaying it again last night and it's so much fun going through the chambers now knowing exactly what to do. I wonder if there's a trophy/achievement for a speed run? Haven't checked the trophy list.

 

[Princess Skittles]

I wonder if there's a trophy/achievement for a speed run? Haven't checked the trophy list.

There is, but just for one chamber.

All the other single player achievements are mostly for finding little secret spots, a bit weak, IMO, but whatever, hopefully some better ones are added for the DLC.

 

[Wellington]

Test chamber 20 ("Lookin pretty good") solved with zero portals: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXvo7lm5nZs&

chapter 3 chamber 15: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBztB0yn-JA 0 portals again

Chamber 16: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Np7K2UYss_U

These are pretty awesome. Shows that there is more than one way to beat these levels, which has been a main complaint with this game as the past few pages indicate.

 

[Hawkian]

These are pretty awesome. Shows that there is more than one way to beat these levels, which has been a main complaint with this game as the past few pages indicate.

Wow, yeah.

 

[The Librarian]

the end of chapter

Spoiler

6 and the entirety of chapters 7 and 8

were phenomenal. a lot more of the traversal type stuff i was requesting did eventually come around and i thought it was absolutely a breath of fresh air. the

Spoiler

gels

i think were a mixed bag; they were fun sometimes and interesting in a quaint way, but did not feel like they 100% fit into the universe and i actually think may have detracted focus from the creativity of interesting portal and gravity use, a mechanic that i think has even farther reaching possibilities than i can begin to imagine.

listen though. this is an amazing game. it's the first game since SMG2 that i actually finished in just a few days. it is quality top to bottom, paced impeccably, has great humor, everything! i will admit i had considered the possibility that the scope of the game may be a bit larger, but i'm fine and perfectly pleased with what it is. for now, PORTAL remains about these contained environments where it makes sense to have only some surfaces able to accept portals for puzzle solving and navigation, while HALF-LIFE is about more expansive environments where the restrictions of PORTAL are unnecessary by design.

bravo valve!

Glad to hear you enjoyed it, Beelz. I have an itch to do ANOTHER play through (my third since the game came out, something I've never done for an FPS before) after I finish my commentary-run of Ep2.

Speaking of developer commentary, after playing through Ep1 and half of Ep2, I must say the developer commentary in Portal 2 is disappointing. Not only are there nowhere near as many, even though Portal 2 is longer, there aren't as many interesting/funny one. For example, Ep2 has some commentaries from the woman who voices Alyx.

Test chamber 20 ("Lookin pretty good") solved with zero portals: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXvo7lm5nZs&

chapter 3 chamber 15: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBztB0yn-JA 0 portals again

Chamber 16: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Np7K2UYss_U

This is awesome. I may try one of these for my next run.

 

[Saty]

These are pretty awesome. Shows that there is more than one way to beat these levels, which has been a main complaint with this game as the past few pages indicate.

Not quite. It's 'gaming' the game to complete the chambers rather than use portals in more than one way.

Arstechnica has a very critical article on Portal 2. Worth a read eventhough i don't agree with most of what the guy says. He comes off as wanting a re-tread of the original game. Contains spoilers for the SP and co-op.
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/reviews/2011/05/portal-2-a-good-game-but-not-a-great-one.ars

 

[Hawkian]

Not quite. It's 'gaming' the game to complete the chambers rather than use portals in more than one way.

All speedruns are based on that principle, really, regardless of the language of the game. It's still impressive.

Arstechnica has a very critical article on Portal 2. Worth a read eventhough i don't agree with most of what the guy says. He comes off as wanting a re-tread of the original game. Contains spoilers for the SP and co-op.
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/reviews/2011/05/portal-2-a-good-game-but-not-a-great-one.ars

So he says:

As I said, I couldn't play Portal at night. With the house silent, playing in the dark, just me and the game, it felt too desperate. I was not just the only person in the Enrichment Center—I felt like I was the only person on the planet. The feelings it provoked of existential despair were just too profound. I had to play it during the day, just to retain that connection to the outside world.

Er... :-/

 

[Dead Man Typing]

Glad to hear you enjoyed it, Beelz. I have an itch to do ANOTHER play through (my third since the game came out, something I've never done for an FPS before) after I finish my commentary-run of Ep2.

Speaking of developer commentary, after playing through Ep1 and half of Ep2, I must say the developer commentary in Portal 2 is disappointing. Not only are there nowhere near as many, even though Portal 2 is longer, there aren't as many interesting/funny one. For example, Ep2 has some commentaries from the woman who voices Alyx.

This is awesome. I may try one of these for my next run.

I agree, but I'm only a few levels in and I'm hoping for the commentary to pick up later in the game. Any commentary on the early levels would be going over a lot of old ground that Portal 1's excellent commentary covered as far as designing and testing the game was concerned. If it doesn't pick up then I'll be a little disappointed. I never did do a commentary run of the half life episodes... they didn't do it for the main HL2 game did they?

 

[The Librarian]

I agree, but I'm only a few levels in and I'm hoping for the commentary to pick up later in the game. Any commentary on the early levels would be going over a lot of old ground that Portal 1's excellent commentary covered as far as designing and testing the game was concerned. If it doesn't pick up then I'll be a little disappointed. I never did do a commentary run of the half life episodes... they didn't do it for the main HL2 game did they?

Nah, Valve never did a commentary run for HL2. I dunno if you want it spoiled, so I'll put this in tags, but concerning the commentaries in the latter parts of the game:

Spoiler

it doesn't pick up. They're pretty sparsely populated all the way through.

Arstechnica has a very critical article on Portal 2. Worth a read eventhough i don't agree with most of what the guy says. He comes off as wanting a re-tread of the original game. Contains spoilers for the SP and co-op.
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/reviews/2011/05/portal-2-a-good-game-but-not-a-great-one.ars

It amazes me how some people can prefer an original over it sequel even if the sequel improves upon it in almost every way imaginable, it's longer, has a bigger scope, and makes the first game look more like a demo.

 

[Air Zombie Meat]

On the whole I didn't enjoy the commentary that much but there were some interesting tidbits in there. I always like the ones where something actually happens in game, like the one showing all of Wheatleys expressions.

 

[Hawkian]

It amazes me how some people can prefer an original over it sequel even if the sequel improves upon it in almost every way imaginable, it's longer, has a bigger scope, and makes the first game look more like a demo.

He extracted some very personal, very philosophical experiences from the first game which admittedly can't be recreated. I think this paints the severity of the supposed criticisms he offers to be much much troubling than they would be to most gamers.

 

[Princess Skittles]

It amazes me how some people can prefer an original over it sequel even if the sequel improves upon it in almost every way imaginable, it's longer, has a bigger scope, and makes the first game look more like a demo.

Longer and "bigger scope" don't necessarily mean better.

While I can't say which game I prefer (still too early), there's a subtle perfection to the first game that the second game doesn't quite achieve because of all the extra stuff going on.

 

[The Librarian]

Longer and "bigger scope" don't necessarily mean better.

While I can't say which game I prefer (still too early), there's a subtle perfection to the first game that the second game doesn't quite achieve because of all the extra stuff going on.

Wasn't saying that. I listed those as supplements to why it's better, after saying it improves upon the first game in almost every way.

He extracted some very personal, very philosophical experiences from the first game which admittedly can't be recreated. I think this paints the severity of the supposed criticisms he offers to be much much troubling than they would be to most gamers.

He also calls Wheatley annoying.

 

[Saty]

All speedruns are based on that principle, really, regardless of the language of the game. It's still impressive.

It is impressive but it isn't something that was intended by Valve or ment to be as an alternate solution.

 

[Foliorum Viridum]

Anyone who hates Wheatley clearly has no soul. Merchant is perhaps the star of the game.

I mean, GLaDOS is fantastic, but yeah.

 

[Qwomo]

Arstechnica has a very critical article on Portal 2. Worth a read eventhough i don't agree with most of what the guy says. He comes off as wanting a re-tread of the original game. Contains spoilers for the SP and co-op.
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/reviews/2011/05/portal-2-a-good-game-but-not-a-great-one.ars

This is doubtlessly one of the stupidest things I have ever read. I laughed more reading this article than I did playing Portal 2.

 

[The Librarian]

This is doubtlessly one of the stupidest things I have ever read. I laughed more reading this article than I did playing Portal 2.

Lead writer for Portal 3!

 

[Hawkian]

Lead writer for Portal 3!

No come on, he'd have the walls for every chamber get increasingly tighter and tighter until you can't even turn around in place and the end of the game is you dying from being cut off from the rest of the world as your psyche slowly deteriorates.

It is impressive but it isn't something that was intended by Valve or ment to be as an alternate solution.

I may be missing the original question that explains why this is relevant, but in my opinion that doesn't change anything. In fact, I'd go a step further and say that finding solutions that were not intended by the developers is more impressive than finding alternative "planned" solutions.

 

[dionysus]

This is doubtlessly one of the stupidest things I have ever read. I laughed more reading this article than I did playing Portal 2.

I have to agree with you. It reads like some fan fiction writer who is disappointed that the sequel didn't match his fan fiction.

Also, portal couldn't be played at night because of how scary the solitude is?
Also, he complains about too much unreality in the portal universe? Portal 1 was just the paragon of realistic storytelling.

 

[Mister_Bubbles]

Chell's story, never happy, is more tragic now than it ever was. At the end of Portal (the original end, that allowed her to escape, rather than the retconned end released to promote Portal 2 that saw her dragged back inside the Enrichment Center) she is liberated, free to return to her friends and family. But that hope is now gone, due the frankly cruel and heartless decision by Valve to place the events of Portal 2 hundreds of years into the future, a thoroughly pointless move that I completely resent.

Hehe. Bless.

 

[D4Danger]

I agree, but I'm only a few levels in and I'm hoping for the commentary to pick up later in the game. Any commentary on the early levels would be going over a lot of old ground that Portal 1's excellent commentary covered as far as designing and testing the game was concerned. If it doesn't pick up then I'll be a little disappointed. I never did do a commentary run of the half life episodes... they didn't do it for the main HL2 game did they?

I wish Valve published a book like this for every game.

 

[The Librarian]

No come on, he'd have the walls for every chamber get increasingly tighter and tighter until you can't even turn around in place and the end of the game is you dying from being cut off from the rest of the world as your psyche slowly deteriorates.

Sounds epic. Make it and ship it!

 

[Wellington]

I wish Valve published a book like this for every game.

Never even heard of this. Just checked on Amazon and it's expensive as heck wow. I'm interested!

 

[Nappuccino]

I wish Valve published a book like this for every game.

Has that ever been reprinted?

 

[Mister_Bubbles]

Nope

 

[Grisby]

Has that ever been reprinted?

No, I don't think so.

 

[JaseC]

No, I don't think so.

Valve really have some more copies printed and sell them via their merchandise store.

 

[D4Danger]

yeah, it's become a bit of a collectors item now.

If you find one cheap though it's absolutely worth buying.

 

[Jasoco]

Reading through this thread because I dropped out until I got the game to avoid spoilers. Now that I beat it I can read it again! Dammit. So many pages... Currently on 27-ish...

Was anyone else dissapointed that

Spoiler

there was no old timey portal gun? I mean you saw the cool old boxes and switches. It would have been cool to see what the old gun looked like.

Gotta save something for the

Spoiler

Portal 3 prequel

. Wouldn't that be sweet...

Awesome reference!

Do you not know what both of those are actually a reference to?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NZW3J8/?tag=neogaf0e-20

 

[faceless007]

yeah, it's become a bit of a collectors item now.

If you find one cheap though it's absolutely worth buying.

Wow, glad I bought one a few years ago.

 

[Chorazin]

Not quite. It's 'gaming' the game to complete the chambers rather than use portals in more than one way.

Arstechnica has a very critical article on Portal 2. Worth a read eventhough i don't agree with most of what the guy says. He comes off as wanting a re-tread of the original game. Contains spoilers for the SP and co-op.
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/reviews/2011/05/portal-2-a-good-game-but-not-a-great-one.ars

Oh wow, that article was fucking terrible. "Whine whine Portal 2 isn't exactly like Portal so now I can't be emo in my basement in the dark and feel all scared and lonely."

 

[Shotgun Kiss]

I swear that Ghost of Ratman might be the creepiest music track I've ever heard in a videogame. Especially when you're playing late at night, and factor in the scribbles/drawings in his dens. The sense of isolation and the atmosphere in Portal 2 can be incredibly dark and depressing at times, to the point where I felt a vague sense of despair.

EDIT: This Statement is False is another track I found quite eerie as well.

(If you watch either of these videos, and you haven't already beat the game, don't read the comments, or look at the related videos. It should go without saying, but you might have something spoiled)

I find it quite funny that Portal 2 is a million times creepier than the Left 4 Dead games are. That's not a failing on their part, but it shows just how successful Portal 2 is in it's atmosphere and tone.

 

[Mister_Bubbles]

I can't play Portal at night. The game has this pervasive, soul-destroying feeling of solitude.

I swear that Ghost of Ratman might be the creepiest music track I've ever heard in a videogame. Especially when you're playing late at night, and factor in the scribbles/drawings in his dens. The sense of isolation and the atmosphere in Portal 2 can be incredibly dark and depressing at times, to the point where I felt a vague sense of despair.

You and the author of that Arstechnica article could hold each other in the blackness.

You're right though, that track is chilling - I get the feeling that the Ratman ranting would have been really faint in the background of the Ratman dens had they not decided to go for an E rating.

 

[Shotgun Kiss]

You and the author of that Arstechnica article could hold each other in the blackness.

You're right though, that track is chilling - I get the feeling that the Ratman ranting would have been really faint in the background of the Ratman dens had they not decided to go for an E rating.

I think you're a little confused, as he says that Portal 2 *doesn't* have that dark atmosphere and sense of isolation. Whereas I think it's a whole lot more prominent in Portal 2 than Portal 1. Sure, you have a "buddy" with you a fair bit of the time, but to counter that, you really get a sense for just how vast Aperture Science really is (or maybe it's more accurate to say that you don't, as there are countless times when you're able to look into a void of seemingly endless space, full of chambers, facilities, and structures that you don't get to visit). And again, while you may have a "buddy", I was always aware of the fact that I was the only human left alive, and the only other characters were AIs. All of this combined with the soundtrack really creeped me out at times.

Speaking of the soundtrack, I think it's one of the best I've heard in a videogame for a long time.

 

[Mister_Bubbles]

I think you're a little confused, as he says that Portal 2 *doesn't* have that dark atmosphere and sense of isolation. Whereas I think it's a whole lot more prominent in Portal 2 than Portal 1. Sure, you have a "buddy" with you a fair bit of the time, but to counter that, you really get a sense for just how vast Aperture Science really is (or maybe it's more accurate to say that you don't, as there are countless times when you're able to look into a void of seemingly endless space, full of chambers, facilities, and structures that you don't get to visit). And again, while you may have a "buddy", I was always aware of the fact that I was the only human left alive, and the only other characters were AIs. All of this combined with the soundtrack really creeped me out at times.

It was just a throwaway joke about the Arstechnica dude being a complete emo case, don't worry about it Yeah, the fact that the characters in Portal 2 are either robots, or long dead,

Spoiler

or both

made it feel all the more 'one woman against the world'.

 

[Jasoco]

Is there any significance to the lighted sign in the

Spoiler

"Death trap" room Wheatly sends you to after you escape that has the defective turrets? It says "75/19" as in room #75 of 19.

Does the

Spoiler

75

mean anything?

 

[Shotgun Kiss]

It was just a throwaway joke about the Arstechnica dude being a complete emo case, don't worry about it Yeah, the fact that the characters in Portal 2 are either robots, or long dead,

Spoiler

or both

made it feel all the more 'one woman against the world'.

Ah, gotcha.

One thing I do agree with Arstechnica on though is that I think the puzzles/test chambers are better in the first game. I thought they were a lot more clever, and many of them could be solved in different ways. But more importantly is that I think Portal 2 spread itself a little too thinly with all the new game mechanics (the gels, the lasers, aerial faith plates, excursion tunnels, and light bridges), to the extent where they became the focus, rather than the portals themselves. Portal 1 was all about knowing where and when to place portals to make use of the environment/momentum. In Portal 2, it's usually obvious where to place the portals (most surfaces don't allow it, so you just look for those that do); instead, you need to figure out how and when to use the other mechanics.

As an example, in the first game, you might think to yourself: "where do I need to place portals to get to that platform?", whereas in Portal 2, you'd think "I obviously put a portal there, but what type of gel needs to go through it/how do I redirect that laser through it?"

The exception seems to be the co-op, which is definitely more about the portals, as the game is built around the mechanic of having four of them to place down at a time, so the emphasis is on making you figure out who needs to place which portals where.

That said though, Portal 2 is obviously more about the exploration/atmosphere/story than the puzzle-solving/test chambers, and in that regard is almost the opposite of Portal 1, because while I think Portal 1 has the better puzzles, I thought it took a fairly significant dip in quality during the escape portion of the game, which is the direction Portal 2 took, but succeeded in.

All in all, I think the two games compliment each other quite well, and I'm looking forward to the DLC for Portal 2. I'm hoping that now we're familiar with all of the game's mechanics, the emphasis will shift more onto making us figure out where to place the portals.

 

[big ander]

Is there any significance to the lighted sign in the

Spoiler

"Death trap" room Wheatly sends you to after you escape that has the defective turrets? It says "75/19" as in room #75 of 19.

Does the

Spoiler

75

mean anything?

I think it just means

Spoiler

Wheatley can't do math.

 

[Jasoco]

Dammit! Why the hell did they put the last Commentary bubble there? It's almost impossible to touch on the first try and if you miss you have to do the entire battle again in order to try it again. Now I have to look up what it says. I played through the entire game and hit every commentary bubble except the last one in the stupidest place possible.

For fucks sake, Valve.

Edit: Okay. So Googling does nothing. What does the last Commentary say? I WANT TO KNOW!

 

[UltimaPooh]

Spoiler

Basically how they studied up on the speed of light so they could apply that to the portal shot on the Moon. It takes 1.5 seconds for light to reach the Moon and the same thing happens when you shoot your portal.

 

[The Xtortionist]

As an example, in the first game, you might think to yourself: "where do I need to place portals to get to that platform?", whereas in Portal 2, you'd think "I obviously put a portal there, but what type of gel needs to go through it/how do I redirect that laser through it?"

Well, Portal 2's level design philosophy seems to be "process of elimination". Even casual players can get through the game simply by exhausting their options and trying a bunch of different shit. Having too many options could make it frustrating and undermine the whole point.

 

[Exuro]

Dammit! Why the hell did they put the last Commentary bubble there? It's almost impossible to touch on the first try and if you miss you have to do the entire battle again in order to try it again. Now I have to look up what it says. I played through the entire game and hit every commentary bubble except the last one in the stupidest place possible.

For fucks sake, Valve.

Edit: Okay. So Googling does nothing. What does the last Commentary say? I WANT TO KNOW!

You can always press tab to warp to the commentary node. I have yet to finish the dev commentary but pressing tab helped quite a bit,

 

[Summary Man]

Dammit! Why the hell did they put the last Commentary bubble there? It's almost impossible to touch on the first try and if you miss you have to do the entire battle again in order to try it again. Now I have to look up what it says. I played through the entire game and hit every commentary bubble except the last one in the stupidest place possible.

For fucks sake, Valve.

Edit: Okay. So Googling does nothing. What does the last Commentary say? I WANT TO KNOW!

Can't you just activate that node from the adjoining room? You have unlimited time, don't you? You don't have to enter the portal before listening to it.

 

[TxdoHawk]

And...beaten. I still think this is nowhere near GOTY material, but I definitely enjoyed the ride.

What's funny is that I played Portal 1 again a few weeks before to kind of put myself in the mood, and I think that actually made some of the game a little more tedious. 2, IMO, needed more funny and clever set pieces like the

Spoiler

turret factory

and less test chambers.

 

[Sibylus]

It's not just the active/inert panels. The

Spoiler

gel emmiters work blatantly better when splatting across puzzle important panels (paving of the "runways" for speed gel is particularly glaring in that regard)

.
In entire game there's not a single instance of a

Spoiler

Gel, Mine, Bridge, Laser Emitter, Jump-Spring or a Button

that isn't directly linked to progression - which is expected in "test" rooms but when every "free/organic" area follows the same rule, things start getting a bit silly.
And then there's also the aim and jump assist around important areas...

That's certainly true, but that falls pretty in line with Valve's philosophy about these sorts of things: very little redundancy, but everything that's needed to progress. It didn't perturb my experience in the slightest.

Though speaking for myself, I would have liked to see

Spoiler

a handful more rooms like the first conversion gel chamber, which was basically a playground and you ended up painting a huge swathe of the room. Would love to play some customs or challenge maps that take that concept to an extreme.

"Jump assist": I like this feature. I had far too many instances of clipping the phantom edge of a portal in Portal 1, it drove me nuts.

 

[Jasoco]

Can't you just activate that node from the adjoining room? You have unlimited time, don't you? You don't have to enter the portal before listening to it.

No, because the second you enter that room and try to "press the button", the ending script starts. It's placed in a horrible place and should really be on the outside of the window, not inside of it. Then you can hit it before you go after the button. I could not reach it from outside the window. It was too far away. I'm pretty sure. If it can definitely be done again, I might try again, as long as the Commentary lets me start right from the boss level and not from some half dozen levels before.

You can always press tab to warp to the commentary node. I have yet to finish the dev commentary but pressing tab helped quite a bit,

Tab is a PC term. What does it translate to on the Xbox?

I just want to hear that last commentary!

 

[Daigoro]

No, because the second you enter that room and try to "press the button", the ending script starts. It's placed in a horrible place and should really be on the outside of the window, not inside of it. Then you can hit it before you go after the button. I could not reach it from outside the window. It was too far away. I'm pretty sure. If it can definitely be done again, I might try again, as long as the Commentary lets me start right from the boss level and not from some half dozen levels before.


Tab is a PC term. What does it translate to on the Xbox?

I just want to hear that last commentary!

one of the other buttons. select/back maybe? cant be that hard to do trial and error.

they must have mentioned this in one of the earlier commentaries. its a feature in all valve games with commentary.

 

[EL Beefo]

No, because the second you enter that room and try to "press the button", the ending script starts. It's placed in a horrible place and should really be on the outside of the window, not inside of it. Then you can hit it before you go after the button. I could not reach it from outside the window. It was too far away. I'm pretty sure. If it can definitely be done again, I might try again, as long as the Commentary lets me start right from the boss level and not from some half dozen levels before.


Tab is a PC term. What does it translate to on the Xbox?

I just want to hear that last commentary!

I had the same problem, here's the youtube of the last commentary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0G9Y8jbSZb0#t=03m00s

 

[Jasoco]

one of the other buttons. select/back maybe? cant be that hard to do trial and error.

they must have mentioned this in one of the earlier commentaries. its a feature in all valve games with commentary.

What? The Use button? Is that what Tab does? Seems like it isn't because that's a silly place to put a Use button. It must be something else. What does it say in the Controls options that Tab does? What is its name?

I had the same problem, here's the youtube of the last commentary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0G9Y8jbSZb0#t=03m00s

Thanks!

 

[Daigoro]

What? The Use button? Is that what Tab does? Seems like it isn't because that's a silly place to put a Use button. It must be something else. What does it say in the Controls options that Tab does? What is its name?


Thanks!

its not used in game i dont think, its just the tab button. one of the buttons on the 360 controller will provide the same function for skipping commentary. you're making this over complicated.