Many consider this narrative choice to be one of the game’s few flaws. This is why the second act is down below in the older parts of Aperture away from him, to save Wheatley for the third and final act. Wheatly, a character defined by having a low intelligence, wouldn’t have been able to keep up with Glados and Chell the entire rest of the game. WheatleyĮarlier I mentioned that a good antagonist has to keep up with the protagonist or the plight won’t be satisfactory. Voice work is half the battle, and it certainly helped out. Her ability to instill awe and fear is legendary, and her ability to make GLaDOS an endearing character while in the potato battery is incredible. I should also mention that Ellen McClain did an amazing job as GLaDOS. By the end, when GLaDOS frees Chell from Aperture Science, it feels well-earned. Yet, GLaDOS admits that this time is different. GLaDOS at one point might have schemed to betray Chell. This combined with the experiences that she has with Chell, leads to GLaDOS releasing her. It was extremely endearing to see GLaDOS work out her identity over the course of the game. The bird might have been a physical fear of being vulnerable, but Cave Johnson’s voice hit her emotionally. It is what gave GLaDOS the perspective to regain her Caroline persona. I found her fall from towering villain to helpless damsel to be interesting. The game makes sure you know this, by having various birds appear that spook the living hell out of Potato GLaDOS. After being cast down much further into the earth than they already were, GLaDOS is in a state of vulnerability, something she hasn’t been up until this point. Both of them have been bamboozled by Wheatley and have to work together to stop him from destroying the facility. The relationship between Chell and GLaDOS evolves in an extremely believable way. GLaDOS becomes the deuteragonist, while Wheatly becomes the antagonist, but more on him later.Ĭhell and GLaDOS in her potato form facing Wheatly together. At the same time, the writers have worked around that silent aspect to give a compelling narrative despite most games suffering from its use. As we play, we can put ourselves in the character, and feel like GLaDOS is really talking to us. This kind of setup works wonders because it effectively gives the player the best of both worlds. We learn about GLaDOS as she used to be, and she herself does too, causing a change within the AI that eventually resolves the conflict by the end of the game. As GLaDOS begins as the ever menacing antagonist, the plot places her right along side the silent Chell, and she goes through an entire character arc over the course of the game. The game quite ironically pulls a ‘have your cake and eat it too’ on us. Thankfully, Valve made up for this by giving GLaDOS so much character that it satisfied me anyway. The game employs the silent protagonist approach, leaving everything to the player to project their own feelings onto the character. Well, Portal 2 already starts out not pulling that off so well. In the end, the plight has to be a plight. Not only does the protagonist have to be enjoyable on a character and developmental level in order for their plight to be worthy of the player, but the antagonist has to keep up with them in the same way, almost like a mirror. When consuming a narrative, I base my experience on the conflict between protagonist and antagonist. Coming back to the original Portal, yes it was fun, but it wasn’t the game that Portal 2 ended up being. My fondness for Portal 2 almost entirely stems on what it did outside of its puzzle mechanics. I guess my tastes have changed since 2011. Last year I went through all of The Room games in quick succession and loved every second of it, especially the third game. In fact, as of 2020 I actually like puzzle games. I did play the original Portal prior to Left 4 Dead 2, but it didn’t speak to me the way that its sequel did, despite being of the same genre.īefore I get into what distinguished Portal 2 as a puzzle game in my eyes, I should first mention how its genre relates to that. After my bought my first Valve title, Left 4 Dead 2, I was hooked. As for why, well it was because of the company that developed it. The only puzzle console game that has ever come onto my radar back then was Portal. There isn’t any considerable amount of time I have put into games that aren’t massive hits, which don’t seem to be puzzle games. I’m not ashamed to admit I have a taste for popular games. This is because it’s in a genre I barely play. P ortal 2 is my favorite video game of all time, and if you had to guess that out of my entire video game history, you most likely would have gotten it wrong.
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