I’ve always preferred Portal 1’s tone and atmosphere. I like how grounded and real it feels as well. OST is definitely moodier, and it has a very desolate feel. Portal 2 is great don’t get me wrong, but I wish Portal 2 continued the tone that Portal 1 set.

If I were to draw a parallel, portal one is more akin to HL2 and portal two is closer to TF2

I always kinda hated how the 2nd game felt more restricted, like the physics, can't hop over things as much, can't pick up as many objects or even interact with them, like in the behind the scenes part of the game you could pick stuff up in the first and then the 2nd you couldn't.

I have to say, I didn’t expect to see someone touch on this subject. I played Portal 1 first, and I enjoyed it immensely, took my time with it, did some achievements and challenges. I really didn’t want to let it go too soon, because I heard that the sequel was better in every way, and I already liked the original. I thought I woud stop appreciating it after playing the second one. And when I played Portal 2, I was of course having a great time too, but to my surprise it wasn’t the same, and bizarrely, I still preferred the original.

The vagueness and creepiness of the first game gave it this unique charm where you could fill the gaps with your own experience. It made the story feel more personal – less like I was playing a role, and more like as if I, the player, was the one trapped in Aperture. In the sequel, although I still loved GLaDOS’s sassy remarks, it didn’t feel like my GLaDOS. In Portal, GLaDOS talked to me, in Portal 2, GLaDOS talked to Chell.

The atmosphere of the first game is also what, in my opinion, made the Companion Cube work so well there. Many players got attached to an inanimate object just because of how lonely and isolated they were in the chambers, with the cube not only being the first being that didn’t want to kill them in this harsh environment, but a helpful asset throughout an entire chamber as well. I denied being attached to a glorified metal box, until in a challenge chamber it was replaced by an incredibly annoying and uncooperative ball that made me curse it to hell, and want my cube back. In the secong game, the Companion Cubes are not only numerous, as GLaDOS states herself, but they don’t ignite the same feelings because we have a much more sentient and animate ally on our side in the form of Wheatley. We are not alone anymore, so we don’t need to pack bond with an inanimate object.

In summary, from my perspective, Portal 2 was the same journey that everyone experienced and loved the same way, but Portal 1 was an individual journey that was unique for everyone, and because of that, it had an individual and unique impact on each person.




Plus "Still Alive" is easier to sing than "Want you gone" if you're not a trained vocal artist, fight me

Portal 1 had accomplished something I never thought I could experience again, the feeling of isolation amongst some industrial complex/liminal spaces that I had gotten from Half-Life 1 that I loved so much. Valve had managed to capture that again. And if you subtract Cave Johnson from the old Aperture, you sort of get that feeling as well. But CJ undercuts that atmosphere.

something i find interesting is how a couple of the chambers you go through before glados wakes up still have the same disconcerting tone as portal 1. i see this as being a result of the facility's state of disrepair, and the soundtrack. in particular, the song "the future starts with you" always gives me the creeps. it's great

i think i spent more time looking for portalable surfaces than actualy solving the puzzles in portal 2

The Portal 2 "Lab Rat" tie-in comic perfectly matches the tone of the first game. It's weird to me that the main game didn't keep that up.

I absolutely LOVE this video because it completely nails and emphasizes the criminally overlooked parts of the first game. The dark tone, incredible learning curve, and flexibility of the solutions from Portal 1 are so underappreciated. I often tell my friends that I prefer Portal 1 over 2, but I often look silly because it's a bit hard to truly articulate why that's the case. This video really summarizes just what makes Portal 1 so special! I do think the humor of 2, despite it being more blunt and comedic, is still incredibly appealing and it in itself is what most people associate with Portal nowadays. 1 definitely just nails it in every aspect, however, and I really do agree with pretty much all of the points made here!

Couldn't agree more. One thing I'd add to this is, that Portal 2's aperture science feels much more organic, given that the panels and everything move around all the time. For me the fact that in Portal 1, it feels more manmade, more like an actual abandoned building makes it far creepier. The impossible architecture of 2 just doesn't feel as intimidating given the tone, with maybe the exception of some parts of old aperture. While in 1 you've got this crumbling facility that's just a bit off, with you only starting to realise that slowly.

Portal 1 is a thriller with comedy elements, Portal 2 is a comedy with thriller elements, why I prefer Portal 1.

I generally agree. The first one is more cohesive and the way the difficulty of the puzzles is the groundwork that most puzzle games are based off of, at least partially.

I definitely got stuck a couple times in the overworld looking for tiny portal spots in what felt like an art showcase. The difficulty of the puzzles in the second one was more often discovering the different areas they wanted you to work with than puzzling out the solution with all the pieces in front of you.

I've put 40 hours into Portal 2 since it launched, and 20 into Portal 1 since I bought the Orange Box. I can confidently recall pretty much all of Portal, but any of Portal 2 outside of the opening and ending. Just something about Portal 1 is more memorable. But clearly both are masterpieces.

Edit: Oh, and lemons

This is kind of the same reasons why i think dishonoured one is better than 2 even if two has more gameplay variety and is overall more fluid

I've always been fascinated by  instances when the author(s)/creator(s) of a piece of art or media makes something amazing, but they themselves do not understand WHY it is so amazing, and subsequently are unable to follow up on it properly.

In my opinion portal 2 two is awesome but original portal had that specific mood of being a lonely test subject. There was something little bit scary about the atmosphere

One of my favorite parts from the first game was the platforms you needed shoot the portal gun mid-air and remember alternate your portals to climb higher. In the second game, once you're airborne everything is automatic, no input from the player was needed, and I remember feeling a little disappointed by that.

I went into this expecting to get angry and yet instead I almost completely agree with all your points. Great job!

I've played both for the first time recently, and I feel like portal 2 expands on so much and is so utterly satisfying that... I just can't conceive myself that the original is superior

In earlier Portal 2 trailers the puzzles actually seemed more difficult