Portal 2’s puzzle mechanics are critically important to the experience of the game for two main reasons: they both constitute a majority of the gameplay, and are the primary driver for the story due to the fact that the embedded narrative of the game cannot progress without completing the puzzles in their presented order.
The player’s journey of desperately trying to claw their way out of Aperture Science, Inc. is a thoroughly immersive one, partly due to the expertly-crafted, dystopian scene – Chell finds herself in a dilapidated, abandoned research facility which can only be escaped by leveraging the incredible sci-fi devices developed there. The mechanics of Portal’s puzzles take advantage of these wacky devices in myriad ways – speed/jumping gel to get to out-of-reach places, laser beams to activate doors and other electronics, and of course portals which are incredibly versatile and serve as the cornerstone to the solution of practically every problem in the game. The fact that the puzzles leverage these sophisticated sci-fi devices works wonders in facilitating player immersion, helping to invoke feelings of intrigue for the innovations made at Aperture within the player and pushing them to move forward in order to see all that the facility is hiding.
From a developer’s perspective, it’s very interesting to note the way that Portal 2 presents its scenes: Chell is essentially dropped into a puzzle full of potentially never-before-seen technology, and is left to her own devices to figure out how it all fits together. This is significantly more exciting than the alternative, hand-holding approach of explicitly telling the player what it all is/does, even if some players may initially be frustrated by their lack of understanding. It was certainly a conscious choice to give the player the freedom to explore and uncover the usage of the tools on their own, which is greatly rewarding to curious players and contributes heavily to the sense of mystery and wonder at Aperture.
Also of import to the player experience is the manner in which these mythical sci-fi devices are leveraged in order to solve puzzles: the player has to really think outside of the box in order to uncover how certain, already-seen tech synergizes with the newly-introduced inventions. For example, when Chell falls into the underground, she’s presented with a stream of blue fluid which makes bouncy whatever surface it coats. The player then has to synthesize their knowledge of portals with their limited understanding of this fluid, provoking experimentation much in the spirit of Aperture Science itself. Chell quickly discovers that the blue fluid (bluid?) can be sent through portals; the player is then quickly rewarded with feelings of accomplishment after sending the bluid through a portal to coat a surface, which bounces Chell at a crazy angle straight to the end of the puzzle. What may not necessarily work for some players is the constant trial-and-error that must be done in order to exhaust every possible interaction between these innovations, which in my experience felt very tedious at times. However, overall this was a positive experience as I was left with the sense that I was contributing to scientific inquiry, pushing the envelope of what can be done with these mythical technologies in the name of progress.
