Portal Retrospective

it's been a long time how have you been [Music] [Music] videogames are not an accessible medium of entertainment why and how can a non gamer appreciate them when films are so easily digestible in their length and techniques why should they have to wrap their head around controls and menus and stuff when they can stay inside their comfort zone and relax on their days off sure they may be capable of artistic narrative and design techniques unseen in any other medium and they may develop hand-eye coordination and critical thinking skills but there aren't many games that are able to immediately entice an immerse a non gamer Tetris pac-man Galaga bejeweled peggle blah blah blah these are some games that have easily understandable concepts that anyone can wrap their head around and even if some of these games could be considered gateways into the medium due to their intensity and replay value none of them really illustrate the full scope of what video games are capable of what about narrative presentation player choice and consequence the importance of a soundtrack a dynamic physics engine things that add to play or interactivity and overall immersion both mechanically in atmospherically when you're looking to demonstrate that to a non gamer you'll almost definitely come up empty-handed on games to suggest that is except for one game series one that has had an astounding impact on game design the industry pop culture and education let's take a step back to 2006 EA holds summer showcase and the world snores that is until they are abruptly shaken awake by the surprise appearance of gabe newell he reveals a new trailer for half-life 2 episode 2 the resurrection of the long thought dead Team Fortress 2 in an all-new art style and an absolutely mind-boggling new IP all being bundled together into a compilation known as The Orange Box to this day it represents what valve has done for the video game industry fans of the medium in the world and despite both half-life 2 episode 2 and Team Fortress 2 being hotly anticipated games within the this new IP ended up becoming the surprise favorite of many that new IP was portal portal was intelligent atmospheric unique satisfying and condensed it was a game that anyone could appreciate of any age and any skill level it and its sequel are what I consider to be some of the best gateway video games but why and how how did portal become so highly regarded and what makes it more than just an intelligent puzzle game most of you already have an inkling but perhaps there are still stories about this game left untold and insights still waiting to be given despite countless retrospectives on popular games releasing over the years not everyone's story will be exactly the same and when it comes to portal I think that notion is more important than ever before it's a tall order but in this video I'll be documenting the development of the series analyzing both games and what they bring to the table and digesting the impact they've left on the world no matter who you are or what your background is in video games I aim for this video to be entertaining informative and reflective in some way I'm Liam Triforce and this is a portal retrospective [Music] in 2005 a group of students at the DigiPen Institute of Technology created a game for their senior project it was called narbacular drop and it utilized a unique dual portal mechanic that made puzzle solving highly unconventional all while not being able to jump you'd have to assess your surroundings place your portals intelligently and use the items in the environment in order to solve each puzzle while more of a proof of concept than anything the uniqueness of the concept impressed those within niche gaming communities it even spawned a robust speedrunning community for what it was the team at DigiPen called themselves nuclear monkey software and they showed their game off at the school's annual career fair narbacular drop caught the attention of Robin Walker who himself was once a small-time developer making mods for quake one of those mods was a little game called team fortress and valve hired him to port the game to the gold source engine since then he's worked on the original counter-strike the half-life series and he was the lead designer for Team Fortress 2 noticing the game's potential he offered the team a chance to demo it at valves offices what happened next is a dream for many aspiring game developers while showing the game off at valves headquarters Gabe Newell very quickly hired the entire team on the spot to develop narbacular drop in the source engine according to him some factors that led to his decision included how fleshed out the concept was for a simple demonstration looking at it critically the team really went all-out for a senior project they had considered how physics would change and interact with portals and they put together pretty complex and engaging puzzles it's no wonder he would hire them the team was comprised of valve talent you might have heard of jeet Barnett and Kim Swift for example Kim Swift would become head of the valve adaptation of an orb ocular drop and the team was ecstatic to begin work at valve it's around this time where the game received a huge design overhaul initially the team was able to create some pretty intricate and fun puzzles to solve but they took place in these rundown warehouses that reused assets from half-life 2 and there wasn't any narrative to speak of playtesters took note of this and a common question that seemed to arise was what is all this for as time went on their game began to take shape and it had an identity of its own thanks to a complete shift in atmosphere and an overarching narrative and objective as valve and asked the game the world would be formally introduced to its individuality as portal despite the game's overwhelmingly positive reception upon being announced the team really felt the pressure it's rarely ever discussed but the portal team was made up of about 10 people throughout its development so when portal was singled out for praise and missed the orange boxes announcement they now had the weight of the world on their shoulders they needed to stand tall amongst half-life 2 episode 2 and Team Fortress 2 and live up to astronomical expectations on October 10th 2007 the Orange Box was released not only did portal live up to expectations it surpassed them in two years the team at DigiPen went from creating a unique concept for their senior project to creating one of the most beloved video games of all time [Music] portal is the perfect first video game and yet it has something for anyone that plays video games in contrast to narbacular drop portal has been given a great sense of pacing while portal may go from test chamber to test chamber in a similar manner to that senior project there's a clear progression and ideas here as the test chambers go on the game kicks off by showing you how portals function using preset portal placements you leave your claustrophobics cell as the portal opens and you learn how to place cubes on buttons to open doors not much of a test but when you're looking at it from the perspective of someone who has never played a video game before it's important for them to grasp the controls and basic concepts like this from there it asks you to move the cube to the button through a portal that is frequently switching between three placements the game first introduces portals to the player before giving them the power to place them on their own to aid in this process is some genius art direction much like narbacular drop you may only place portals on surfaces with a specific texture in this case it's the light walls any darker walls or surfaces are out of the question this distinction is much easier on the eyes than arbok Euler drops which used an earthy texture for portal safe areas here it allows for the game's test chambers to have this modern and comforting yet soulless and bleak design this was a conscious choice and I'm sure most of you are aware of why more on that to come upon acquiring the portal gun you can only launch blue portals that correspond with pre-designated orange portals you'll use this portal to cross gaps and move cubes just like before while also learning that glass and other obstructions will prevent you from shooting portals through following up on these concepts is a test wherein you need to place a minimum of three portals in order to get both cubes on the buttons and open the door I always appreciated how good the first chambers were conveying mechanics to the player they're all about teaching the player to assess their surroundings and use assets in the chambers to their advantage here's a great example from a puzzle that isn't terribly complex a couple chambers down the line you'll need to move a cube between this wall here preventing you from just simply walking through the opening here is a force field that will disintegrate any items that pass through and it'll also close your portals your only clues are the orange portal and the small crevice at the top of the wall first you get up to the cube then you shoot your portal through the crevice then you take the cube with you to the button and clear the chamber it's a demonstration of how portal teaches and test the player on examining a chambers layout another example the power orbs they travel in straight lines and although the first test simply introduces you to how you can influence their movement the second test has you placing two portals in order to properly redirect the orb finally the introduction of carrying forward momentum through portals I remember when I first experienced this chamber the possibilities for fun momentum based puzzles started crossing my mind here you'll need to place your portal on the top wall that extends in increments based on your height and with taller Heights come faster flings this is where the game stops putting pieces in place for you it'll still introduce new challenges but the game will test you far more than it has up to this point and yet these early chapters retain their importance not only are they phenomenal teaching tools but they also introduce the ingenuity required of the player to clear each chamber due to the uniqueness of portal as a video game it is paramount that every mechanic is conveyed as clearly as possible so as not to confuse the player despite these early chambers not being terribly challenging I could still see the potential for future puzzles integrating its concepts and they did not disappoint in this chamber you gain access to the orange portal by first heading through where the portal is by the button and then again when you can cross onto the platform with both portals at your disposal the game becomes your playground you'll need to set up your own solutions to puzzles based on the information given to you in each chamber this is also where concepts begin to intersect with one another and it's here where portals design shifts from intriguing to exceptional everything that was talked before has a purpose these once isolated elements are now being put into play together it's such a seamless and beautiful progression in ideas and in difficulty changing the trajectory of an energy ball so that you can portal over to a moving platform with a cube finding areas to use forward momentum keeping an energy ball moving between rooms by using portals time doors for shooting portals and accessing buttons and energy balls factoring in the angles and energy ball will bounce that when traveling through a force field while simultaneously flinging yourself in order to access areas beyond said force fields I could go on even when ideas are isolated or new they're still befitting of the games mechanical structure thus far these energy balls always traveled at a right angle so factoring in a surface that ever so slightly changes your perception is a new and exciting thing and notice how I actually managed to get the ball in there totally not straight and kind of hopped into place right that's because there isn't a single solution to this puzzle this is where thinking outside of the box can make portal immensely replayable and it's why speed running is so prevalent for the game in another chamber you could shave off time while moving the energy ball by traveling through your own portals and setting up the final portal before the ball reaches your first one these are things that I was able to figure out on my own there are opportunities for this kind of thinking all over the place but here's another question why would you bother replaying this game if it's just chamber after chamber sure it'd be fun to speed run for those interested but is there anything that can be unanimously seen as worth revisiting let's take a step back for a second when playtesters were having fun with the test chambers they wanted to know what they were working towards in response the team incorporated one of the best narratives I've seen at play in a video game your first glimpse at the world of portal is through its title screen an empty relaxation chamber sits in the middle of the frame that of which he will soon inhabit you take this in while a foreboding piece of music plays [Music] [Music] as you take your first steps an unknown robotic voice begins to commentate on your journey throughout the game her name is GLaDOS please be advised that a noticeable change with love is not part of any test protocol as an unintended side effect of the Aperture Science material emancipation grill which may in semi rare cases emancipate dental fillings crowns tooth enamel panty as you tell she has a bit of a comedic edge you subject name here must be the bride a subject oh yeah sometimes even a dark comedic edge perfect I'm tested she single-handedly creates personality for the game and it makes clearing each test chamber a reward in and of itself her jokes gradually hint at sentience as they progress in subject matter and taste or lack thereof however there's a disconnect between the two of you although she may be a charming character she's talking down to you in her not so pre-recorded messages thus you're left with this feeling of isolation it's awesome that when asked about an objective by their play testers the team still wanted to retain the feeling of hopelessness felt in a game without a goal to work towards she talks to you as if you're an expendable pawn in aperture Sciences endless tests this is why the art direction and portal is so bleak and without soul it's symbolic of the emptiness and the disconnect between you and that disembodied voice when playing through the game this feeling of loneliness is exemplified in Kelly Bailey's phenomenal score for the game they managed to pull him away from half-life in order to compose his last soundtrack with valve while he also composes tracks that are emblematic of what the scenes in the game are conveying like subject named here upon taking your first steps into the game and 4000 degrees Kelvin when well more on that soon the majority of the songs he composed for the soundtrack are these ambient haunting sound scapes that sound futuristic and high-tech in nature it's absolutely incredible what these songs add to the game and yet there's always one track I often single out for praise you might have noticed that most of these track names are based on jokes that GLaDOS makes during your playthrough well done Android the enrichment centre once again reminds you that Android hell is a real place where you will be sent at the first sign of defiance it's a nice touch because really what else are you going to name them the game moves from chamber to chamber without defining set pieces like half-life so it makes sense there's this one track named after a dark joke she cracks and it is one of Kelly Bailey's finest compositions [Music] it's a soft depressing soundscape that shifts into this crescendo of harsh noise and dissonant synths it's sad lonely bleak all that and yet it's named after a joke it represents the duality of portal in many ways a twisted sense of humor being used as an accommodation for the discomfort experienced in a game in which you feel utterly alone well almost alone after an assortment of chambers GLaDOS throws turrets into the mix these turrets are so adorable and understanding that I honestly have a hard time accepting that they're my enemies you can take them down in a variety of ways dropping cubes on them portaling behind them throwing them through a portal etc but the mere existence of turrets and what were once confined test chambers with minimal life-threatening hazards completely changes the perception of Aperture Science there was already the sneaking suspicion that something wasn't right but this confirms it this place is messed up the swelling's of previous test subjects attempt to steer you away from promises of delicious desserts and for the rest of the game you're on your toes you can be the first test subject to escape and see the light of day again it's time to see this journey through to the end while GLaDOS may not be aware of the fact that you're onto her the designers created a test chamber that exists to screw with you after this revelation introducing the weighted companion cube this could have just been like any other layered and complex test chamber but the team saw an opportunity for you to cling to this one cube and snag that opportunity it becomes your best friend when solving the different parts of the chamber it protects you from energy balls it holds open doors for you it's a platform for you to jump on until you did it the weighted companion cube certainly brought you good luck however it cannot accompany you for the rest and unfortunately up until now you were your only friend the vague writing's on the walls may have aim to help you but they're from former subjects that are most likely dead the companion cube despite being an inanimate object became the only thing you could rely on and now with no way out and being with in a controlled environment the game is asking you to kill your only friend GLaDOS will continue to push you until you finally have to accept that the companion cube has to die quickly than any test subject I remember congratulations it's a twisted and humorous moment and subconsciously it flipped a switch in me now I had a reason to hate GLaDOS the wall between us was suddenly torn down as she forced me to destroy my only escape from loneliness in Aperture Science now it's personal the final chamber awaits it tests everything you've learned up to that point flinging yourself the trajectory of energy balls creative turret takedown transporting cues over certain death it all works in tandem for a lengthy and well-constructed chamber as you make your way to the end on a moving platform whilst portaling around obstacles the promise of cake stares you in the face until you turn the corner and see a pit of fire from here you have to think fast and escape certain death by portaling into a backroom navigation through the rest of Aperture Science becomes a lot trickier due to the limited amount of space for placing portals and safety is not guaranteed GLaDOS will continue to coax you into turning back and she'll guilt-trip you about leaving her behind as if she'll be the lonely one it's amazing how the tables turn these sections test you on path finding and ingenuity while still testing concepts like flinging organically based on a broken bridge being out of reach for example it makes the player feel like they're truly out of the frying pan and into the fire in one last-ditch attempt to stop you GLaDOS unleashes a barrage of turrets although you have to think fast it shouldn't be a problem at this point what I really appreciate is although the complexity for portal placement and puzzle design has evolved I still don't think it'll overwhelm players once again what makes portals such an accessible game is its mechanical guidance despite test chambers layering concept after concept they've all been laid-up before the difficulty progression and portal is absolutely fun and it's what makes this escape sequence not just the change of pace but also completely digestible this turret takedown sequence also foreshadows what a boss fight could be like in portal as there's only one objective left to tackle GLaDOS well you found me congratulations was it worth it because despite your violent behavior the only thing you've managed to break so far is my part maybe you could settle for that and we'll just call it a day I guess we both know that isn't going to happen you chose this earth now I have a surprise for you deploying surprise in 5/4 time at for a second that wasn't supposed to happen not only does this introduce the atmosphere for the boss and further asserts glados's message that you're the monster in this situation it also teaches you what needs to be done to kill her once and for all if you recall one of the puzzles during your escape sequence had you redirecting a rocket through a portal to break some glass this idea has been carried over to the boss as if you time and position your portals just right GLaDOS will take some damage and you can destroy one of her personality course here's where GLaDOS goes from guilt-tripping you to becoming a legitimately threatening presence kidding me did you just set that Aperture Science thing we don't know what it does into an Aperture Science emergency intelligence incinerator that has got to be the dumbest thing that well good news I figured out what that thing you just incinerated it was a morality core they installed after I flooded the enrichment center with a deadly neurotoxin to make me stop flooding the enrichment center with a deadly neurotoxin although you'll eventually get into a rhythm of damaging GLaDOS as the neurotoxin timer ticks down I can't help but admire how truly unique this bossfight feels it reminds me of how original the game felt up to this point in concept and function and how GLaDOS as an antagonist flipping the blame on you is both humorous and gut-wrenching although I wanted to take her down and escape the facility I thought harder about our circumstances she must have been as alone as I was perhaps even more so but then again why would she want to kill me if she missed having subjects to test with perhaps that was standard procedure that she had been programmed to follow and she really didn't want to lose you her guilt tripping is just a form of negotiation see it's stuff like this that makes portal more than just an intelligent and unique puzzle game its atmosphere is so desolate and claustrophobic that a window of opportunity to escape feels like a miracle and yet GLaDOS is there to flip the blame on you you're the bad person here upon landing the final blow on GLaDOS I felt a sense of satisfaction a feeling of pity and an immense sadness knowing that the game had just ended portal was and still is the perfect gateway game and despite being simple and easy to understand it still stands the test of time as one of the best games I've ever played its mechanics are properly demonstrated for new players and yet expanded upon in ways players of any skill level can appreciate it never misses a beat and puzzle design constantly layering concepts on top of one another for a gauging gameplay and it has an impeccable progression and ideas in difficulty that sweet spot that so many games can't quite nail down it all makes for the closest thing you can get to being perfect it's a blast to replay thanks to its mechanical depth and the reasons for replaying it are as strong as ever it's atmosphere the disembodied voice that becomes your antagonist and the escape from Aperture Science all have the potential to show non-gamers how a videogame is capable of telling a story but for those already experienced with video games storytelling there still isn't anything else like portals narrative games have tried time and time again to recapture the magic of portal storytelling but none of them can come close without feeling disingenuous and that's why portal is forever worth experiencing it's unlike anything else in the industry it's smart funny lonely challenging accessible innovative intense thought-provoking inspiring and above all else fun what else is there left to say about portal except it shouldn't come as a surprise that a game this good yet so short and compact would warrant a sequel mods were and still are very prevalent nowadays but an official follow-up from the team themselves would be ideal thankfully musician Jonathan Coulton was brought on in order to compose the games credits theme and bring hope to what otherwise felt like a hopeless game the games credits theme is called still alive and I'm sure you can guess what it implies it's all chipper and catchy unlike anything else in the game it's an insurmountable payoff for such a dire adventure [Music] [Music] [Music] portal made an immediate impact on the video game industry for reasons I've made a parent even from its first trailer people were instantly latched on to the concept before the game even launched the team that we create stuff made portal the flash version which adapts its concepts rather faithfully into 2d this game was eventually adapted back into 3d with a map pack for the game valve as they often did once upon a time took notice of the community's talent and adapted these levels into a DLC pack for the Xbox 360 version of portal known as still alive these maps have since been ported over to PC thanks to the community and you can check all of these projects out by clicking the links in the description by the way this wouldn't be the last time they hired community talent for portal game although the portal modding scene didn't create nearly as much of a boom as half-life did it still represented the community's passion for the game it's worth discussing just how much content you can get lost in by browsing mod DP for portal maps valve once again unleash the beast and let the community go wild with new tools at their disposal and yet there was still this undying hope that a sequel would eventually be released portal conceptually had limitless potential for exploring new gameplay paradigms and employees within valve were as passionate about the game as the fans were it's an open secret at this point that valves desks have wheels what that means is if their employees are interested in working on another ongoing project they can wheel their desk over to that side of the building and get to work as soon as possible this open-ended method of project management has unfortunately caused them to lose direction in multiple projects over the years most infamously follow up to half-life 2 episode 2 it's not a perfect system but the freedom to be creative in the workplace is something a lot of a stream about this was felt unmask shortly after the orange box shipped Gabe Newell essentially shut down production on other projects and let employees work on whatever the heck they wanted at the time this lit a fire on the minds of many valve developers portal was something that inspired a massive amount of people there so they all put their heads together to follow up one of the best games ever made sound familiar yeah valve was pretty cool back then at first portal 2 lacked the integral mechanic that made the game what it is instead they were experimenting with a mechanic they codenamed f-stop while in tune with the name of Aperture Science and playtesters seemed to enjoy the game it disappointed them to see that their beloved portals were excluded from what was supposed to be a sequel although they went back to the drawing board after feedback they decided to put a pin in the f-stop mechanic in case you have no idea what f-stop is meant to denote in photography the F number denotes the depth of field in a photo lower numbers mean the subject of the photo will be in focus and everything else would be blurred just as an example and higher numbers would gradually bring everything into focus imagining depth of field being a mechanic in a videogame is an exciting prospect and I really wish valve would return to it someday for an original game alas valve had to start from scratch although they wanted to create a narrative prequel that was set before the days of glados's reign elements of this era are still present within the final game as we'll discuss finally the team focused on following up the events of the first game the original protagonists for the game Mel was scrapped as play testers were disappointed that GLaDOS didn't recognize them from before things were coming together quite nicely in the end they had a sizable team behind the game they had the passion and they had that steam revenue flowing in to fund their project it was around this time that valve once again turned their heads towards DigiPen a team of students had just finished a project called tag the power of paint you had to use three different types of paint to bounce sprint and stick your way through levels and puzzles would mix the three elements together for fun and inventive platforming incidentally this team would be hired in full to incorporate the mechanics of their game into Portal 2 more on how it affected the game later like I said portal 2 was destined to evolve upon its predecessors ideas and that meant evolving upon its narrative to the end of portal was left intentionally open to interpretation we could at least gather that GLaDOS somehow survived shells onslaught but what about Chell what happened to her and what's happening outside well thanks to a cheeky Easter Egg and a black mesa name dropped from GLaDOS herself we know that the first game took place in the half-life universe and the resonance cascade occurs at Black Mesa shortly after Chell defeats GLaDOS in the abandoned sylheti leaving Aperture Science completely forgotten for years after the Xen and combine invasions this became the basis for the story of portal 2 and once the pieces were in place valve began to drop hints that portal 2 would be on its way on March 1st 2010 portal received an update on Steam that added a new achievement transmission received manipulating in-game radios would reveal strings of Morse code that the player could then interpret among the various references to Aperture Science documents the primary message that these strings relayed was that GLaDOS was rebooting two days later another patch was shipped that altered the game's ending now an unknown entity drags Chell back into the Aperture Science facilities as she observes the damage these subtle additions to the game were immediately interpreted as a sign of an imminent announcement of portal 2 sure enough two days later portal 2 was officially revealed in the cover story for that month's issue of Game Informer I was old enough at the time to finally be conscious about video game press and I kept up to date with the developers I cared about at the time valve was flying high and I took notice I was introduced to their games back in 2007 with the orange box and the next two years were filled with absolute joy thanks to the ongoing support for Team Fortress 2 the release of both left 4 dead games and a plethora of user-generated content for half-life 2 and Garry's Mod I was in love with them they were like a Western Nintendo and when I heard GLaDOS interrupts Sony's press conference and I saw a gabe newell walk on stage i knew [ __ ] was about to get real now out of e3 2010 there were two games i was beyond excited for portal 2 and The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword it shouldn't come as a surprise that I'm a huge Elda fan but even my underdeveloped pubescent brain could determine that skyward swords demonstration was absolutely embarrassing therefore my most anticipated game of 2011 became portal 2 not only was it going to expand upon gameplay paradigms that already blew my mind but it also had cross-platform play with the PlayStation 3 version butwait cross-platform play sure it's nice that I can play the game on both ps3 and pc with one purchase but does that mean there's going to be a multiplayer mode Kim Swift once stated that multiplayer portal wouldn't be feasible but from the looks of it they you doubt portal 2 was finally released on April 19 2011 the game has received numerous accolades is regarded as one of the greatest games ever made like its predecessor and Gabe Newell has since called it his favorite game to come out of valve portal 2 is one of my favorite games of the past decade for numerous analytical and personal reasons and from the outside looking in it's once again very easy to see why I would come to that conclusion [Music] remember when I discussed how concise and respectable portal was for introducing its concepts so smoothly and brilliantly portal 2 does the same and it's even better at it although it's teaching the player extremely fundamental concepts such as using the keyboard and mouse to move and look it still manages to be entertaining this is hard you will hear a buzz when you hear the buzzer stare at the you should now feel mentally reinvigorated that's always an important balance to strike portal excelled in being a great first video game but it also didn't treat a veteran to video games like an idiot here that role has been filled with perhaps one of the funniest tutorials I've ever experienced most test subjects do experience some cognitive deterioration after a few months in suspension now you've been under for quite a lot longer you have been in suspension and it's not all of the question that you might have a very minor case of serious brain damage but they'll be a lot alright although if you do if you do feel alarm try to hold on to that feeling because that is the proper reaction to being told that you've got pretty damaged do you understand what I'm saying does any of this make any sense just tell me just say yes okay what you're doing there is jumping you just you just jumped but never mind okay you know what that's close enough just hold tight okay so there's quite a lot to unpack here first of all shell has outlived humanity Aperture Science has been long since abandoned and the immediate mystery is who's keeping the place active well there's really only one answer to that question but in order to get there you'll need some help luckily a personality core named Wheatley will be your guide he's voiced by Stephen Merchant whom you might know for working alongside Ricky Gervais is in the office and an extras and with karl Pilkington on the Ricky Gervais show a podcast I often revisit for the absurd musings of Carl and how well the three of them bounce off of one another initially they wanted Richard I awadhi assuming that Stephen would be unavailable but he actually showed interest in the project his improv skills and genuine scatterbrained delivery ended up defining Wheatley as a character and I can't imagine portal 2 without him alongside me Oh brilliant you did find a portal gun oh do you know what it just goes to show people with brain damage are the real heroes in the end aren't they the end of the day brave okay all right so I've gone I did but it is bloody dangerous here we go oh for God's they told me if I ever turned this flashlight on I would die they told me that about everything I don't even know why they bother give me this stuff if they didn't want me to use it it's pointless man I almost got job down here in manufacturing but guess who the foreman went with only an exact duplicate of himself nepotism ended up giving me the worst possible job tending to all the smelly humans that the sorry that doesnõt is he smelling just just attending to the humans sorry about that I just just slipped a little bit sensitive this many units while working with Wheatley you'll drop down into the old test chambers you might remember if it ain't broke don't fix it these introductions to portals cubes and buttons worked like a charm and it's interesting to solve them while Aperture Science is falling apart it seems due to age there are twists and turns that steer this away from being a simple rehash and I welcome their inclusion aesthetically I always loved seeing how they made the clean look of Aperture Science seem like a facade of sorts as if it was only put in place for test subjects to see and because the Chamber's are decaying we get to see what's really going on at the heart of it all the game does have the mind to fast-track its teachings on mechanics from the first game as portal 2 has far more to play around with and far more to explore in its narrative like the reactivation of GLaDOS we both said a lot of things that you're going to regret but I think we can put our differences behind us you monster just like old times you'll be going through the dilapidated test chambers of aperture science while GLaDOS talks down to you and guilt trips you I discovered I have a sort of black box quicksave feature in the event of a catastrophic failure the last two minutes of my life were preserved for analysis I was able well forced really terminating killing me again and again forever you know if you've done that to somebody else they might develop their existence to exacting revenge I'll just know that out of the way forgiving this place really is a wreck what I love about these moments of portal 2 and portals storytelling as a whole really is that it rarely slows the game down to convey plot information a lot of the time it's a disembodied voice that talks to you as you make your way through portions of Aperture Science it's like a step beyond what half-life did at times you'd examine things around dr. Kleiner's lab while they discussed the goings on in city 17 even though you were still confined to the lab here these moments of confinement serve a gameplay or narrative purpose once more a dramatic reveal a humorous gameplay interjection it makes me happy to see that Valve's utilization of scripted sequences in a game something that they pioneered in half-life 1 has evolved exponentially since then although the atmosphere here may be a step away from the loneliness the original game established as you and GLaDOS have formed a proper connection at this point this was done so for a reason in Portal 2 you're breaking the shackles that GLaDOS is desperately trying to reattach instead of feeling helpless I felt like I was fighting back in every moment of course the atmosphere has its diversity on its own which we'll be addressing in just a bit something that also adds to the atmosphere in this game is Mike Moravsky soundtrack known for his work on the left for dead and Team Fortress 2 soundtracks Mike took over for Kelly Bailey as he had departed from valve at that point sadly overall the soundtrack is a departure from how valve sound tracks are usually staged it's far more abundant in the game's narrative highs and lows orchestrating this grandiose vibe for each encounter as much as I appreciate what it adds to the game what really makes it special is its use of stems essentially depending on what's happening the music will dynamically change if you're soaring through the air the music will ramp up in intensity depending on how much of a puzzle you've solved different portions of the composition will become audible for example this laser puzzle this harsh scents aound represents the laser cutting through the air sizzling it's being built up as you connect each laser it eggs you on and it's such a welcome detail aside from being a worthy successor to the sound of portals music it's also as intelligently implemented as the gameplay concepts themselves speaking of which let's talk gameplay these first chambers begin the introductions for new gameplay mechanics in Portal 2 first lasers which I just mentioned they can be redirected via portals and glass cubes in order to activate mechanisms and kill turrets on occasion the lasers are immediately expanded upon as you use portals and cubes in tandem to create a long chain that redirects them towards your objective one of my favorite examples of its possibilities in solving puzzles occurs sometime later in Chapter three there are three lasers that need to be redirected the puzzle itself is like an ultimate test of the concept as the possibilities for angles and portal placements feels endless that seems to be something unique to portal 2 because of the breadth of its new mechanics it feels the need to ramp up the challenge for each idea much faster than its predecessor did and that game was only like an hour and a half long on an initial playthrough rather than overwhelming the player by creating a strange spike in difficulty for each new mechanic they balanced the difficulty by interspersing the new ideas in between when the puzzles are entering an intermediate difficulty just as things have clicked with one concept they move on to the next in this case launch pads they are an immediate way to create forward momentum and most puzzles that use them and tend to test timing after this light bridges you can have them travel through one portal and out the other to maneuver around levels you can even use them to climb walls and shield yourself from bullets and of course all of these concepts intersect with one another for a gradual progression and difficulty despite that laser puzzle being an isolated test toward the end of a chapter it came after a plethora of puzzles that tested you on ingenuity maneuvering around turrets with a light bridge wall stopping your forward momentum with a wall you'd set up with a laser powering it that sort of thing lateral thinking is a huge part of portals design if it already wasn't obvious enough and yet despite the increase in challenge over the first game it's a learning curve is perfectly measured and its pacing is fresh thanks to how it scatters its various concepts throughout the chambers based on difficulty throughout this portion of the game Wheatley tries to reach you several times and is only successful after like 22 chambers have gone by the two of you make your escape and explore parts of Aperture Science you were never supposed to see the puzzle solving here directly ties into narrative progression much like how portal handled its escape sequence it's a seamless mixture of the two and it works beautifully with what the game has taught you the safar and it all wraps up with you allowing Wheatley to take control of Aperture Science after pressing that button unfortunately Wheatley's endgame here was revenge as his insecurities overtook him in a blind rage that [Music] welcome to the second act of portal to the part of the game in which I realized portal 2 was one of my favorite games of all time your accumulated attentiveness will be required to navigate the wreckage Wheatley caused places for your portals to land aren't clear-cut to the sheer scope of the areas and the fact that they've been buried underneath rubble and that's what's admirable about the section speaking of attentiveness you may have noticed the Aperture Science logos floating amidst the dirty water this is what a hint of what's to come this is aperture Sciences dark history and you're about to unearth all of it including the story of the man behind it all Cave Johnson when I first heard JK Simmons in Portal 2 I was ecstatic I couldn't imagine a better casting choice for a boneheaded CEO like Cave Johnson and his dialogue narrating the tests of aperture Sciences past is some absolute gold mattes DNA I've got some good news and some bad news bad news is we're postponing those tests indefinitely good news is we've got a much better test for you fighting an army of mantis man pick up a rifle and follow the yellow line you'll know when the test starts right now you might be asking yourself cave just how difficult are these tests what was in that phonebook of a contract I signed am I in danger let me answer those questions with a question who wants to make $60 cash if you're allergic to peanuts you might want to tell somebody now because this next test may turn your blood into peanut water for a few minutes on the bright side if we could make this happen there's a new type of Nobel Prize to give us so hang in I don't usually showcase this much uncut dialogue from games that I discuss on this channel but the writing generally speaks for itself portal 2 is one of the funniest games I've ever played p-nut water these chambers introduce gels they base this entire section around the mechanics found and tag the power of paint the game itself was already intuitive as all hell and now the paint is being used to interact with portals blue repulsion gel will allow you to bounce orange propulsion gel will speed you up and conversion gel will allow you to place a portal on whatever it touches as the team at DigiPen were able to Center an entire game around the mechanic I'm sure you can imagine how in-depth this goes you'll need to use portals to transport the gel as it falls from the tube spray blue gel and a cube to get it to momentarily rise from a button you're pressing combined orange and blue gel together insane forward momentum to clear gaps and shoot through portals find ways to make your conversion gel cover the chamber gradually combining all three in order to climb your way out of the Aperture Science wreckage it's amazing introducing and focusing on the gels in a portion of a game that has open-ended and without a strict and obvious path to follow is what makes utilizing the gels so fun and rewarding just when you think portal 2 may not be able to sustain itself on new ideas it blows your mind I talked about how portal to use its various ideas to create great pacing right well devoting a chapter or two to something this complex and capable of so much is an absolutely phenomenal idea especially with a conversion gel it makes a decrepit inaccessible part of Aperture Science your playground that's the other thing that makes this portion of the game special it sheds some light on GLaDOS and it even builds her relationship with you years ago Cave Johnson was once backed up by his assistant Carolyn she is after suffering from moon rock poisoning Cave decides to have Carolyn run the place her personality was put into GLaDOS and that's where we are today the build-up to this discovery not only allows you to form an unlikely bond with GLaDOS but it also creates an intriguing and believable motivation for putting GLaDOS back in charge of course the initial end goal was just to shut Wheatley down and be grudgingly put GLaDOS back in control but now there's something for her to learn perhaps she can take what she can gather from her past life and empathize with humans or at the very least show some mercy towards you there's also one part of this section that I feel is worth mentioning because it's really important to me there's a secret door that you can access behind some shelves that contain a few Easter eggs some scrapped tests and whatnot Pinot Noir but there's one that above all else gave me hope for the future of a certain series if you wander all the way down the hall you'll find a dry dock with no ships in sight to your left is a life preserver that says borealis to this day this has been the last time the ship was officially acknowledged by valve and at the time I took it as a sign that half-life 2 episode 3 wasn't far off but hindsight sucks unfortunately every time I come back to this drydock I imagined what might have been I dream of a parallel universe where valve were able to conclude this story arc without Marc Laidlaw having to do it himself out of retirement it has been a rough ride since portal 2 and what once gave me hope is now a grim reminder of how long we've been waiting in silence but you know cute Easter Egg after climbing out of the depths of Aperture Science Wheatley subjects you to some of the most treacherous chambers thus far they're these haphazard combinations of ideas that make for the ultimate test of your knowledge and abilities with layered concepts and quick reaction time but of course you make your way towards Wheatley and it's time for the part where he kills you this is the whole world iqu what ensues is a crazy escape sequence akin to the first game and a final fight with Wheatley the fight is like an inverse version of the first games boss rather than disassembling Wheatley bit by bit you're actually attaching corrupt personality course to him and creating openings for yourself with the gels while having Wheatley hit himself with his own bombs through your portals it makes for a great evolution on the final boss and what's even better you portal onto the moon no we're in space thank you let's go and still connected I can pull myself in I can still fix this already fixed and you I'm not [Music] GLaDOS indeed ends up showing you some mercy after he worked alongside her but she decides that she'd rather have nothing to do with you anymore and she lets you finally escape from the facility to the sounds of a turret choir the song represents GLaDOS is willingness to move on and allowing Chell to move beyond Aperture Science in - well what remains of Earth as we know it it's a beautiful way to cap off Chell and GLaDOS as relationship and the series as we know it she deletes Carolyn in what I can only imagine is an undying want to start from scratch no loose ends untied let sleeping dogs lie and begin Aperture Science anew she even had the heart to return your lovely companion cube to you Jonathan Coulton returned to compose a new song for the credits and it's a lovely summation of GLaDOS as character development and closure on portal storyline portal introduced the world to what could be accomplished in storytelling and accessibility in the interactive medium and although portal 2 stepped away from the first game's lonely and hopeless atmosphere in favor of something less introspective and more fun it still balances that loneliness among various other emotions in a rollercoaster of a video game its pacing is exceptionally varied thanks to its balanced progression and difficulty in ideas its tutorial still sets the player up for a great time no matter how inexperienced they might be its narrative presentation and writing evolved upon the dark cynicism of the first game and create an atmosphere of hope rather than isolation which I welcome its mechanics are genius its puzzle design is outstanding it's far more challenging despite being an accessible game which makes it rewarding to play and just like the first game it never seems to miss a beat while portals uniqueness will never be topped portal 2 is still one of the best games I have ever played bar none and the fun doesn't end with its single-player campaign a huge part of portal 2 is also its cooperative mode that of which people tend to revisit most after all these years it adds an entirely new layer of communication timing and puzzle solving concepts to what was already an ingenious video game two sets of portals - immediately apparent layers - test chambers all finely tuned by valve to make sure that two players need to be placing portals in order to solve them despite not being immediately accessible in teaching the player like its single-player counterpart does it still manages to emphasize a fair difficulty progression when you're playing with someone who has never played portal or barely plays video games and yet you're experienced the two of you can work together and still feel like you're accomplishing goals as a team it's a direct opportunity to introduce someone to the medium by involving them on what you're playing and that goes beyond what portal attempted to do in the first place a non video game player would still have to accept that they need to learn the controls and persevere despite not playing games in the first place here they have someone to rely on and work with while discovering what makes portal special that is a golden opportunity and the accessibility of this game has spread to education valve early simplified map making tools with the launch of portal 2 so that anyone that wanted to make test chambers for the game could do so without finagling with the source engine and working out it's admittedly antiquated kinks this simplified map maker ended up being used in class with the steam 4 Schools Initiative teachers were able to create physics problems for their class to solve within portal and around 2,500 educators we're using portal in their curriculum portal is very easy to learn to play and understand and it was able to make a positive impact on the development of cognitive skills and fluid intelligence as well if you felt like playing through portal makes you smarter you'd actually be right about that studies conducted from 2014 to 2017 concluded that portals test chambers developed and improved cognitive capabilities as well as problem-solving and spatial skills communication adaptability and resourcefulness portal has become the linchpin in the discussion of importance of video games in the development of the human mind and it's easy to see why beyond narrative and gameplay achievements portal has left a significant impact on the world even outside of the video game industry and yet I've had this thought that has persisted since the game's release despite the unanimous acclaim that has been showered upon both games over the past decade and a half and the cultural educational and design impacted has left on various fields it's highly unlikely we'll ever see a portal 3 among every leak and rumor that has come out of valve over the past decade none of them have ever held their weight as a concrete lead on a sequel to portal 2 and although they tried experimenting with VR it made playtesters motion sick so there's no guarantee they'll return to it anytime soon despite the concept being ever so right for expand portal 2 wrapped on a conclusive note much like half-life the tools to expand upon the universe have been left in the hands of fans it's bittersweet but at least we haven't been left on an infinite cliffhanger thus can we really ever expect another portal game well maybe the answer is we don't need one although there is always a lot of potential to be extracted from portals core gameplay valve has concluded that they really don't need to be the ones to introduce such concepts the rest of the world used the games as a base for new maps mechanics and total conversion mods the support for the series is coming directly from fans let's think back to Marc Laidlaw as letter at the end he directly implied that he believed even if valve did nothing to continue the half-life story the fans would be the ones to carry its legacy sure enough that's what's happening but portal has gone far beyond what half-life was able to accomplish I don't doubt that half-life could be a great first video game but portal is something that I think everyone should play regardless of whether or not they even care about video games in the first place I think a lot of portals design is applicable to any video game and that's created this undying want for a portal 3 to show the world how important it is to incorporate elements of what it taught us into all video games why shouldn't we convey narratives and games through means that are unique to the medium why aren't we making players feel empowered through ingenuity and creativity more often why haven't games pushed accessibility and challenge in tandem with one another more frequently why aren't games being used in other fields of education that's why portal will forever stand the test of time as one of the most important video game series to ever exist in my half-life video I mentioned that portal was actually my favorite series to come out of valve and since then I've wondered if I truly still believe that well after mulling it over I still think it is it represents strides and accessibility leaps and video games storytelling that anyone can appreciate the hiring of outside talent in the dreams that Valve made a reality and a significant cultural scientific and educational impact in the fields of physics game design and psychology half-life may have done a lot for video games but portal did a lot for the world and the individuals that worked on it and for that I will forever cherish it and it's why I've stuck with valve after the long periods of silence and mediocrity valve no matter what I might say about you I love you and I have to thank you for everything you've done but now it's your turn let me know why portal is important to you because discussion is how we keep the design and impact of portal alive even if valve never makes another portal game we have the power to keep it in the public consciousness and I have a feeling that passion from the community will never die out I've been liam triforce and I'd like to thank you for watching [Laughter] [Applause] [Laughter] [Music] Pinot Noir

Channel: Liam Triforce

Views: 726,235

Rating: 4.9395509 out of 5

Keywords: portal, portal retrospective, retrospective, portal 2, ps3, xbox 360, xbox one, pc, steam, f-stop, valve, liam triforce, half-life, half life, tag the power of paint, narbacular drop

Id: VohdYI8lEXM

Length: 56min 19sec (3379 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 25 2019