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Portal: completed again, and the boss battle

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I have now lost count of the number of times I’ve played through Portal. The last time I posted about it, back in 2010, I said I’d completed it on four platforms; by now I must have completed it multiple times on each of those, and additional platforms since. This latest completion is due to the Portal collection (both games) being cheap on Switch, and the desire to try playing through Portal 2 on a convenient platform. But I couldn’t let the first game just sit there.

I actually played through the game twice, the second time listening to the developer commentary – I meant to only do this for the first couple of levels, but each time a new level started I could see the speech bubbles hanging temptingly close. It is still magnificent, with its short length adding to its genius. But I’ve said all that before.

What I found interesting this time, following so close to my completion of Metroid Prime Remastered, and also various other games over the past couple of years, is how the boss battle in Portal was so clearly signposted. As you enter, one of GlaDOS’s orbs falls to the ground and before you are in any danger you have to incinerate it. Once that’s done, you know that you will have to do that again, and you can see where the orbs are, and it’s very soon after that you realise how to get them after some of GlaDOS’s commentary hints at the rockets. Even with the one-hit-kill nature of Portal’s gameplay, it’s easy to both understand what to do, and also to do it.

This is in contrast to some of the bosses in Metroid Prime, for example. The last boss, in particular, had no signposting on how to damage it, until I accidentally stood on some of the deposited goo and realised that the HUD now read “hypermode” (or similar). The Omega Pirate killed me many times until I realised that missiles dealt huge amounts of damage. Thinking back to Sonic on the Mega Drive, bosses often required a little trial and error before you worked out how to hit them consistently.

As I’ve grown older I think that the signposting is appreciated – but the challenge of Metroid Prime came as a welcome surprise, and the bosses in the Zelda games are an appropriate crescendo – plus the minor bosses across the worlds of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, optional as they are, are a great focal point for adventure.

Moving day

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19 years.  I started this gaming diary 19 years ago, because I wanted to write something. It's fair to say there have been ups and downs in my writing frequency.  It's time for a big change now, though - after a few years of procrastination I'm moving this over to Wordpress.

Blogger has been fine, but there are some limitations that I'm not going to overlook any more.  As I've included more and more screenshots in my posts, the lack of a gallery function has annoyed, and the interaction between my Google account and Blogger files has annoyed me.  It's time for a move.

I won't be updating this blog any more.  See you on the other side.

Moving day

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Regular readers of this blog may notice some change.

Well, they won’t, because this is now going to be at a completely different web address, so regular readers won’t see this until I post on my old blog and tell them about the move, at which point they will be expecting change anyway. Plus, of course, I have very few regular readers, if any at all, given my infrequency of posting.

Anyway.

I am moving to WordPress from Blogger, due to feature availability, a desire to decentralise, and a fear that Google may one day just drop Blogger support with no notice. The move was not exactly seamless. Old posts have strange formatting quirks; images seem to still be hosted at the Blogspot server; there is an inconsistency in categories and tags which will take some time to get my head around. I will update some posts over time; I will also publish some others which have been stuck in draft form for months. If you find anything completely broken, please tell me.

Good to see you again.

Two Dots: how to ruin a game

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I have been playing Two Dots for a number of years now; it’s a really well designed puzzle game, ideally suited for mobile and portable use, short levels and touch screen control. The game starts easily, requiring you to clear a certain number of dots of defined colours, then introducing the square move (make a closed area of a certain colour, and all of that colour disappear). Slowly other mechanics are introduced – bugs that change colour each time they are connected until they fly away; fire which consumes a dot each time unless it’s cleared; water and slime which spread around the level; other blocks which cover or obstruct play.

I am now at level 5434 of the game. That is a huge amount of content, however you measure it, but it still feels like new levels have something different to try. It’s a while since new mechanics were introduced, admittedly, though the interplay between existing ones isn’t yet explored fully.

Getting that last coconut slice in the bottom left is a huge pain.

I’m not sure it will be. Unfortunately Two Dots, as an ongoing game, has been sold to Take 2, and they seem to see it as a cash cow. Increasingly levels are becoming difficult to pass without using boosters or other power ups, and these are in short supply unless you buy them with real money. In the past I’ve willingly paid for access to different modes, since that felt like additional content. This now just feels like cynical money grabbing, and according to others I’m not even up to the really impossible levels yet.

Apparently the concerns over increased difficulty have been heard via the game’s social media channels, and adjustments were made. It doesn’t seem to have changed much.

Portal 2 (Switch): COMPLETED!

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Having completed Portal 2 in co-op, I thought I should really play the single player too. I’d remembered the overarching plot from my first playthrough, and the end boss fight (including how to beat it), but almost none of the puzzles and areas were familiar. Or rather, were but in a fuzzy sort of “this looks like something I have a very vague recollection of” in terms of graphics more than anything.

So as with Portal, it was a nearly new experience and it still holds up well today. The new additions over the first game such as the bouncy gel and slidey gel are fun, but I seem to remember that those bits of the game, specifically in the Cave Johnson areas, made up a much larger proportion of the game than it turns out they do. As in, I was sure they took up at least 90% rather than the 20%-ish they actually do. Memory, eh? It isn’t how it used to be.

Cave Johnson is great, by the way. His audio recordings and descent into old man lunacy as they progress are hilarious. As is the rest of the dialogue, actually, with Wheatley being excellent and Potato-GLaDOS an excellent alternative to the unhinged normal-GLaDOS.

Portal 2 may not be as fondly remembered as Portal but it is still fantastic. If only Valve knew how to count to 3, eh?