| Rank the Games (with a few additions) Posted: 08 Mar 2020 01:23 AM PST I've decided to rank the games, including all the mods on Steam (so, Rexaura, Aperture Tag, Thinking with Time Machine, and Portal Stories: Mel) and Lego Dimensions, both the main game and the special Portal level since it managed to get most, if not all, of the previously established characters and voice actors for said characters. - Portal 2 - While Portal started it all, this is the game that I feel most people envision when they think of Portal. It expanded upon the puzzle mechanics and brought the world of Portal to life in a way that the original only hinted at. It introduced Wheatley, who is one of my favorite characters of any series, and the spectacular Cave Johnson, both of whom were expertly cast. It even introduced co-op and allowed you to create your own test chamber without mod tools. This game really is the complete Portal package.
- Portal Stories: Mel - Frankly, it's incredible that this is fan-made. The story is fantastic, the puzzles legitimately challenging, and the humor is spot-on for the series. Honestly, if the mod team had managed to get JK Simmons to voice Cave, some people probably wouldn't have realized it was fan-made.
- Portal - The classic. The main reason it's at #3 instead of #2 is because of how short it is. As a result, the test chambers don't really get challenging until the last 5 tests or so. Also, the story doesn't really progress until the tests are completed, but honestly, that's sort of what makes it great. The entire time you're playing, you just think it's a simple puzzle game with a funny robot instructing you that the incinerator room just takes you completely by surprise. Short, but sweet!
- Rexaura - It takes the energy pellet from Portal 1 and expands upon its potential, adding new ways to complete puzzles with it. The tests are challenging without becoming frustrating, and the new mechanics introduced feel right at home in the Portal world. Plus, I enjoyed the voice acting.
- Lego Dimensions: Main Story - The gameplay of the Lego games is rather simplistic but can still be fun. The fact that this game is toys-to-life, however, is really annoying to me, as I don't like the idea of having to buy new characters in real life (especially since they're no longer being made, so if you didn't get a pack you want, your only chance now is eBay). So while the gameplay aspects of this are probably my least favorite, the story more than makes up for it. Seeing multiple different franchises come together, usually with the A-List actors who played the characters originally coming back to voice them, is a ton of fun. Specifically with the Portal elements in the main story, I think the writers did a really good job. GLaDOS and Wheatley don't feel any different than they did in Portal 2, and GLaDOS acting as reluctant ally to Batman and Gandalf is so crazy an idea that I can't help but love it. And the cherry on top of this is the fact that the credits of the game are once again accompanied by a GLaDOS song, which was not something I was expecting at all!
- Aperture Tag: The Paint Gun Testing Initiative - This is a really neat concept for a Portal mod, which takes away the Portal Gun from you, instead giving you a new Paint Gun, which allows you to shoot blue and orange gels. I found the experience to be a lot of fun, if somewhat short. While the story is perfectly serviceable and the acting is fine, neither reach anywhere near the heights of any of the games above on the list, which is why I put it down here.
- Thinking With Time Machine - The Portal mod that essentially allows to co-op with yourself, this game gives you your trusty Portal Gun and a time travel device, which will basically clone you, so you can work around any past actions your clone is now repeating. It is a really fun mechanic to work with, and the tests do require some thought to get through. The reason it's so low is because it is really, really short and the story of it is not very good. As a result, this game plays more like a proof of concept for the Time Machine component than an actual game (which I guess it isn't, it's a mod, but given its competition, this point still stands).
- Lego Dimensions: Portal Story Level - If you are unaware of how Lego Dimensions, buying the base game gives you access to the main story, while buying certain would open up alternate free roam worlds and sometimes a story level disconnected from the main story set in that world. Portal's level takes place after Portal 2 and has Chell inexplicably returning to Aperture Science and Wheatley returning with new anti-gravity powers he received from space somehow. He and Chell team up once again to depose GLaDOS, at one point once again getting stranded in old Aperture to hear some more Cave Johnson pre-recorded messages. The reason this gets last place is because the story follows Portal 2's beat for beat except Wheatley never goes evil. It doesn't do anything new and feels a little lazy as a result. Plus, the gameplay is Lego gameplay, which is not as fun as normal Portal. That being said, it's still worth it to hear all the new dialogue from GLaDOS, Wheatley, and Cave since, as stated before, the writers of this game nailed their personalities perfectly, and all three have their original actors back.
Overall, I think all 8 of these are fun experiences in their own right, and all of them I've played multiple times (except for Rexaura, which I've only just discovered). I'm super happy just to have so much Portal content to play, be it professionally made and canon or not. If you're a fan of the Portal series (and I assume you are if you're on this sub), I would recommend each and every one of these to you (though maybe look up Lego Dimensions playthroughs on YouTube if you don't already own it, as that game is quite expensive). submitted by /u/pje1128 [link] [comments] |
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