What can I say about the Portal duology that hasn't already been said? Out of every game on my Top 100 list, I don't think there's a single one more analyzed than these two. The first Portal is considered by a lot of people to be a perfect game. It introduces a cool concept, fleshes it out, and tells a tight, succinct story in a few hours. Portal 2 is longer, harder, more maximalist, and it somehow manages to improve on perfection.
The first Portal game pretty much coined the first-person puzzle game. At the time, the concept of using FPS controls to do something entirely nonviolent was really novel and unique. Its main premise of creating portals to solve puzzles was also cool and impressive, as it allowed for a lot of inventive experimentation. The level design did a great job of slowly acclimating you to the portal mechanics and building on this single concept, though I feel like the game ended just as it was starting to get really tough. Of course, there's also GLADOS, the iconic robotic antagonist who tests and toys with the player throughout the game. The combination of the brilliantly blunt dialogue and Ellen McLain's performance makes for an all-timer video game character. With all that going for the first Portal, how could a sequel be even better?
For starters, Portal 2 has a far more involved story that expands on the first game's lore. After the events of Portal 1, Chell wakes up again in the Aperture Science Center where she was tested in the first game, as a "still alive" GLADOS tries to rebuild the facility. However, when an incompetent robot named Wheatley cut GLADOS down to size and starts wrecking the facility, Chell and GLADOS have to team up and stop him, all the while discovering the origins of Aperture. This is a brilliant premise for a sequel. After acting all high and mighty, forcing GLADOS to accompany you and taking her down a notch to facilitate a character arc is fantastic, and McLain's performance remains impeccable. Wheatley is also a strong villain though, almost as funny as GLADOS thanks to a very fun performance by Stephen Merchant. And of course, I can't go without mentioning JK Simmons as Cave Johnson, the founder of Aperture Science. Cave's recordings that we uncover over the course of the game are incredibly well-acted and boast some of the all-time greatest rants in video game history.
Being a more story-heavy game set in a destroyed Aperture, Portal 2 doesn't have the same focus on pristine chambers as its predecessor. Instead, you spent a lot of time traveling through the wreckage of the facility, which leads to way more diverse and inventive level design. The puzzle design is also a big step-up, tossing in more mechanics like the gels and lasers, and starting where the first game left off in terms of complexity. The puzzle rooms are larger, there's more moving parts, and there's even a few more platforming tests to keep the player on their toes. They're not as freeform as Portal 1's puzzles, but I think the added complexity is a worthy sacrifice.
Portal 2 also far surpasses its predecessor in terms of content. Portal 1 is an incredibly short game, and Portal 2's campaign alone is at least double the length. But that's not even getting into Portal 2's co-op campaign. The multiplayer in Portal 2 is absolutely stellar, you get an entire six-chapter campaign built around having two players. It's far more puzzle-focused than the more story-driven singleplayer campaign, and thus gets even more tough and complex in its puzzle design. And if all that still isn't enough, Portal 2 even introduces a robust level creator, basically making the amount of content in this game endless.
Both Portal games rank as some of the greatest puzzle games of all time, but Portal 2 stands out as one of my favorite games in general. It manages to explore the portal mechanic even more with increasingly complex and varied level design, a more fleshed-out story with more great voice acting, a stellar co-op campaign, and even the ability to make your own puzzles. It's everything a good sequel should be, taking what the original game did and just doing more of it.
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