Poll: Did Portal 2 surpass it's predecessor?

[AlternatePFG]

I liked the first Portal, while I love Portal 2. I think that Portal 2 really added alot on the mechanics of the first game, and the story, writing, and jokes are all great. Co-Op is alot of fun, much more challenging than the single player.

 

[Vrach]

Similar story quality (both are excellent), (appropriately) longer, more & better characters, co-op mode, more ways to solve puzzles, more fun

Now, as for surpassing it... the initial game had massive innovation in forms of portals and while the new elements to puzzle solving are fun, they are hardly innovative. However, I don't think anyone expected the same amount of innovation from a sequel and there's nothing wrong with that.

I wouldn't say surpass - but it definitely is an excellent game that more than lived up to the expectations put on the sequel of the initial.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

Yep, portal may have made the cake but portal 2 perfected it.

Just like Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie. Gosh, I have a lot of nostalgia now.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

My honest answer is that it did not. Yes, it was a better game in most respects but, though this might be a shock, I tend to expect that of a sequel. Though it is a better game, the relative impact of portal 2 is virtually non-existent. I've already played that game. Sure, more of the game was great and all. I suspect that the real problem is simply that my expectations for Portal 2 were quite high whereas I started portal virtually blind.

 

[blankedboy]

Well I think Portal 2's sliiightly better, but it definitely has it's drawbacks. As does the first one.

Who cares, they're not exactly replayable games. I'm bored of the entire concept now.

 

[SoranMBane]

Portal was one of the best games I've ever played, but, at the end of the day, all it was was Valve throwing a new concept at the wall to see if it would stick. Portal 2 is the real deal, taking the core concept behind what made the first one great and finally ringing all its true potential out of it. So, yes, Portal 2 is the superior game in virtually every respect.

 

[pearcinator]

I voted 'other'. It is in some ways better but lacking in other ways.

My favourite part from Portal 1 was the advanced/challenge mode where they re-made a level and made it way harder or, my personal favourite, gave medals for the challenges based on least portals/steps/time taken to solve the room.

Thats missing from Portal 2 and that is disappointing...the single-player from Portal 2 was way better than Portal 1 and co-op is a welcome addition but it needs the advanced/challenge mode that Portal 1 had to make it stand out as a better game.

 

[TheRealCJ]

In some ways, yes. It's certainly a much more fleshed-out game overall.

But Portal came out of absolutely nowhere. It sprouted up as filler for two high-profile game releases, and nobody really knew about it until they played it. It want trading on a brand name, or massive marketing campaign. The entirety of it's popularity was based entirely on the game itself.

Portal 2 is really just "the same, but more", not a bad thing, of course, but it'll never recapture that amazing feeling of playing a truly perfect game.

 

[Plazmatic]

The only respect in which I find it worse is the song at the end.

On the other hand it makes up for it with the song by the National and the turrets song.

I actually thought the song was much better. so you point is not across the board.

.

Portal 2 is really just "the same, but more", not a bad thing, of course, but it'll never recapture that amazing feeling of playing a truly perfect game.

have you even gotten portal two? did you turn your sound off while playing it? did you skip half the game?

 

[MiracleOfSound]

I thought it was more enjoyable than the first game in every single way.

 

[The Wykydtron]

It was way better than Portal 1... It had Wheatley in it for one (offically my new favourite game character ever... Sorry Edgeworth)

Also better character develoment in general and the gameplay is the same but better

Also this

 

[PhiMed]

In most ways, Portal 2 is better than Portal 1, but I sort of miss some of the difficulty of Portal 1. I enjoyed both games, and would say Portal 2 is mostly better than the first, but I don't define it as clear-cut for me.

(btw, anyone want to help me get the Professor Portal achievement (needs someone who hasn't done co-op yet)? ¬¬)

I haven't. But I've got it on PS3.

 

[Buizel91]

Seen my mate play it, and by god am i getting this 2morro!

May have to get Portal one as well xD

Although i will have to get the console version, as my laptop will die if it try's to play either.

 

[TheRealCJ]

have you even gotten portal two? did you turn your sound off while playing it? did you skip half the game?

Yes, I have played it through, Mr. I-know-better-than-you. Thrice.

And guess what? I thought it was fucking brilliant, I was laughing the whole way through, I got really into the new characters, and played it start to finish in one whole go.

Where did I say it was a bad game, smartarse? All I said was that it was less surprising than the first one. I knew the dialogue was going to be hilarious, I knew that the song by Jonathan Coulton was going to rapidly become one of my favourites, I knew the puzzles were going to be amazingly complex, I knew what to expect.

I played the first Portal game with no idea what I was getting into when I first started playing. I bought the Orange Box for Half-Life ep. 2, and the rest was just gravy. When I played Portal for the first time I was blown away by the great writing and fantastic game mechanic. Partly because I was simply amazed that something so good came out of apparently nowhere (look at how many people actually worked on the first game compared to the second).

Why do idiots always assume that "Not better than the first" means "outright bad"?

 

[Megacherv]

I'm sorry, but that song is beautiful, nobody can deny that. This part alone surpasses the masterpiece of Portal and puts Portal 2 to near-perfection

 

[irani_che]

yes,
if portal two showed it mature, it has grown alot since we last saw it, the basic premise is the same but it has developed, brought new mechanics into its repertoire,
granted it will not surprise you quite as much as you now know what to expect

 

[GrizzlerBorno]

The only thing Portal 2 did wrong was a lack of portal surfaces.

Remember that puzzle in Portal 1 that no one ever does the way the dev team designed it? Well Portal 2 didn't have any freeform creative puzzles, there was always a single right way to do it.

Which puzzle was that? I played through Portal several times (as did everyone) and I almost never really found different ways of solving a puzzle even after actively trying to do so. But if you can describe which puzzle you're referring to, I might crank it back up and check it out.

Spoiler: Also, in response to that first line; four words:

"Conversion Gel" and "the Fucking Moon" X)

All I said was that it was less surprising than the first one. I knew the dialogue was going to be hilarious, I knew that the song by Jonathan Coulton was going to rapidly become one of my favourites, I knew the puzzles were going to be amazingly complex, I knew what to expect.

I played the first Portal game with no idea what I was getting into when I first started playing.

This is a common trend for an answer and while there's absolutely nothing wrong with it, imo, may I confess that I don't fully "comprehend" why being a surprise Wild card was a pro for Portal1?

Or indeed why the fact that Portal 2 was advertised (with an ingenious campaign, as you probably know, too) and expected to be awesome was a Con.

People don't praise Mass Effect over ME2 becuase the latter was "expected to be awesome" for example. Would you kindly, help me understand the difference?

 

[jackpipsam]

umm yes