![]() But if they blithely import all of Portal's lessons, they risk making an also-ran. ![]() Now, if developers create environmental puzzle games as they did before Portal, their material often looks dated by comparison. You had this cult hit that revolutionised puzzle design, audiovisual representation of puzzle elements, and narrative delivery. Specifically, many PC/console puzzle games must answer the question "What comes after Portal?". Because many modern puzzles games incorporate large chunks of Portal, you need to talk about Valve's work to review them in full. The thing is, the elephant in the room doesn't get any smaller for us ignoring it. So, I don't want to do the same thing with video games: to reduce this storied and vibrant galaxy of experiences to one or two stars. A generation of filmmakers and audiences ends up with a much smaller film vocabulary and misses out on a lot of cool art. If we only deconstruct Marvel films, we get the impression that they are the be-all and end-all of the medium. Still, by discussing the whole craft of cinema in relation to a single franchise, these writers present only a tiny square of the medium's great tapestry. It's positive that there are on-ramps to understanding films that hold up popular entertainment for reference. There's a current trend of film articles to explore cinematic tropes and techniques predominantly or purely through the lens of Marvel movies. ![]() ![]() However, if we want to learn about games as a medium and not just a few examples of the form, we can't keep coming back to the same reference material. You can see why: It's an accessible point of reference because both writer and audience are likely to be intimately familiar with Portal. We don't seem to be able to get away from Valve's mind-bending cognitive exam every new PC and console game in the genre is inevitably and extensively compared to it. Note: This article includes major spoilers for Superliminal and Wolfenstein: The New Order, and minor spoilers for Portal and Antichamber.Įven fourteen years on from its release, everyone discussing puzzle games is still talking about Portal. ![]()
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