Group Rewatch S3P2: OOG Portal 2 Episodes 4&5

[mindcrack_love]

Now we're thinking with alcohol!

Episode 4: Bdubs | Guude

Episode 5: Bdubs | Guude

Comments

[isi]

Oh goodness, BdoubleO's Glados impression with "You must feel like you're the Yogscast" was PERFECT. All the funnier that I wasn't expecting him to pull something like that.

Lots of funny moments, like Bdubs repeatedly launching himself into the ceiling for no reason, launching around in that endless loop, and thinking he accomplished something when Guude switched the portals so he ended up at the exit door. And I know this is common knowledge, but Guude's laughter is just beautiful

[placeblocks]

Oh man, Bdubs' GLaDOS impersonation in ep. 4 is crazy good. o_o

Guude's reaction to the jumping portal thingie about 13 mins into ep. 4 is so great. I just love when he laughs so much he starts clapping in real life.

Watching that last one was just ridiculous for me. I'm sure people who've played Portal before can figure it out easily, but even once they found the solution, I still have no idea what they did. XD

And I'll have to watch ep. 5 tomorrow.

[crystalllized]

Valve is very good at teaching without being blatant about it, about calling your attention to things and then having you use your knowledge later. Watching these, I get the serious feeling that neither of them played the single player before starting this, and they have a lot of confusion because of that. For instance, they spent about three minutes discovering that they could place portals on both sides of the piece in the air (05, part 2). In the single player, there were quite a few instances in which placing a portal on both sides of an obstacle was the solution, and the obstacle was placed somewhere where it was much easier to see a portal-friendly surface on both sides.

Material Emancipation Grids are difficult, but by the time you get to the co-op you should have a decent idea of most of the tricks the game plays on you with them, and a basic idea of how to get around them. Note how they do significantly better in the puzzles after (05 part 3, 06.1), and they aren't even easier - it's just that they've seen flinging, and the plates, and the MEG combined in puzzles now, and they've solved those puzzles, and that makes the connections easier to make when it comes to more puzzles.

Of course, then they get to a timing-based puzzle (06.2). Timing puzzles are hard for SOBER people. For OOG I would expect nothing less than an hour or two of attempts to figure out the correct timing. They solve 7.1 with ease, as it uses only pieces that they have mastered, but with 7.2 they are introduced to the Thermal Discouragement Beam, Crushers, and another puzzle that requires some sense of timing. Even with the fact that a death counter would have been appropriate for 7.2, they eventually solve it, opening the timed door in a rather creative way (I just popped a portal on the wall above the door, which provides instant transport across the room).

In conclusion...I can't watch people who are bad at puzzles play puzzle games unless I'm making it intellectually stimulating for myself, too, clearly :P

[mindcrack_love]

They stated earlier (episode 2, I think? Maybe 1?) that Guude had played Portal 1 and was working on this recording with Bdubs before playing single player Portal 2. Bdubs had not played Portal 1, though he watched Guude's LP. Between that and the alcohol I'm sure that explains a lot. :P

Valve is incredibly good at what they do, though, and the fact that they make it relatively unscathed despite their lack of knowledge shows a surprising amount of skill on their part. Besides, it's OOG. It exists for us to laugh at and squee about. :P