The first Portal is a short yet groundbreaking first-person puzzle game from Valve, originally released as part of The Orange Box, which was a bundle of Valve titles put together. The MC is called Chell, a silent test subject armed with the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device, capable of creating two linked portals on certain surfaces. This simple mechanic fuels an incredibly clever series of physics-based puzzles, gradually escalating in complexity and creativity without ever overwhelming you.

The game’s pacing is razor-sharp, each chamber teaches you something new, and just when you think you’ve mastered it, the rules are twisted in unexpected ways so it never gets stale. Beneath its sterile test-chamber setting lies a darkly comedic narrative, delivered through the sarcastic, passive-aggressive voice of GLaDOS, an AI whose cheerful malice turns the sterile environment into a deeply unsettling backdrop.This character alone carries the whole plot of the game, she is praised as one of the best villains of all time in gaming history.

At only 3~4 hours long, this game wastes no time, delivering a concentrated shot of innovative gameplay, memorable writing, and a now-iconic ending. It’s a perfect example of “less is more,” and even after all these years, it remains one of the most original puzzle experiences ever made. I highly recommend not skipping this one if you are a puzzle fan, it is truly one of the best games of all time, not just when it comes to it's puzzles, but the overall mechanics and narrative.

The cake is a lie!

The puzzles always stuck way more to “fun challenges” over “challenging fun”, but they do remain fun even today (though you will probably find that if you have any memory of previous playthroughs, the first 17 of 19 chambers will take less than half the total play time).

The writing and humour is still delightfully dark and can still elicit a chuckle, and while the literal writing-on-the-wall style of environment storytelling is now considered trite, it was at least still fresh at the time.

Its short runtime makes this an ideal replay game too: if you have a bit of recollection of the puzzles from the last time you played, you can comfortably beat the game in a single 90-ish minute sitting, which means there’s no bits to make you think “ah shit, I forgot about this bit”. (Ahem, the island in Resident Evil 4.)

To me, the general art style prevents the graphics looking particularly dated too, as the game is mostly smooth surfaces and enclosed spaces. I generally feel Source engine games have aged a lot better than their contemporaries anyway. The Switch port seems decent: it seems to run at a solid 60 handheld, with the small screen size also helping mask the fact that you’re playing a 15 year old game. Seams do start to show a little when docked: I noticed some frame hitches when looking through recursive portal-loops, and 1080p output scaled up on a large 4K screen was never going to be razor sharp, but it’s perfectly serviceable.

Anyway, go (re)play Portal. It’s like 90 minutes long.