Portal(Nintendo Switch) Review

Portal was a game I played 10 years ago and I remember wanting to play it because it was short and I wanted to beat it one sitting. I did enjoy it but at the same time, I didn't overly think too much of it outside of certain things like Glados and how the game told it's story over the course of it's short length. However, upon replaying Portal on the Nintendo Switch, I really appreciate the way the campaign is structured and the idea of smooth difficulty curve that eased you into the game while playing.

The story is interesting more so in how it's told much like the Half Life series where there isn't much in the way of cutscenes or cinematics and the player is always in control whenever story beats are happening. The main difference between this and Half Life is that the player will often have to pause and wait for the characters to finish speaking before he can continue on with the game.

Portal changes this where now, you can keep playing the game while characters are speaking but instead it's just one character which is Glados. It's fascinating in how the whole thing is contextualized, you are trapped in a facality being forced to do these "experiments" of sorts. Glados is an antagonistic figure who just keeps insulting and belitting you and never expects you to solve any of these puzzles but the player keeps surprising her every time you solve one.

In one sense, if you choose to listen to her, it makes solving the puzzles that much more rewarding when you pull it off but you can choose to ignore her if you want to.

I don't make nearly as big of a deal in how a game story is presented as long a game writer follows the rule of establishing major character traits, story beats quickly, efficiently within in a short period of time. Portal's story much like Half Life does do that but more so over the course of the game where the more you progress through it, the more Glados gets annoyed and wants to get you out of the way. It's a good way to give a reason to solve the puzzles.

The biggest star of the show is how campaign. I don't like puzzles in games especially really challenging ones since trying to figure them out is the gameplay. Portal manages to strattle the line between being easy enough to follow but without being challenging and eventually needing a guide.

A big reason to this is how the campaign eases you into doing what the player will be doing throughout the game. On a replay and if you are adept at puzzles this might be very easy but for some not really into a puzzles or even someone who is new to video games, the game hits the right level of challenge. That and the very idea of the portal gun wasn't really even explored in gaming before this.

The campaign structure plays a big part of in that. What Portal esstentially does is that it gives the player one gimmick, do a few puzzles with that said gimmick, then introduces a new one a few rooms later.

First you start off with only one portal, then you get two, then there is pressure and interactable switchs and cubes, then there is momentum jumps, then there is turrets, then there is energy orbs, timing puzzles, then there is shooting a portal jump while during a momentum jump and so on.

What works about all this is that it has the player slowly learn the game's mechanics and slowly he starts to feel more competent. A common theory in game design is that the more player feels competent, the more he wants to be challenged.

This all culminates in Test Chamber 18, some have criticized this section for being noticeably harder than the rest of the game, however the argument I make is that it feels like a culmination of everything the player learned. Everything is here from momentum jumps, turrets, cubes, switches, energy orbs and fast paced timing to boot it all off is all here. It might stump a first time player but on a replay, I appreciated this a lot more.

In many ways, this section is a great final test because from here on afterwards, it's an escape from the Aperture Science facility and the player pretty much knows the mechanics and concepts of the game inside out and now he is using them to outsmart Glados. By this point, the player instictively knows what he is supposed to do because of everything learned in the Test Chambers.

The only big issue with the game I can say is that certain puzzles require the player to fire a portal while in the air but every time he gets out of one, the camera reorients itself constanly and as a result not giving a good angle to see the platform to fire another portal. If I had motion sickness this would make me feel dizzy.

Overall, Portal is a game that I had a great time with and has a very well structured and enjoyable campaign. Some could criticize the game for being "short" but the game feels so self contained and never overstaying it's welcome because of how short it is.