Portal 2 has the most bittersweet ending in videogame history...(SPOILERS!!!)

[The perfect Dark]

I mean..really. I just finished it for the fourth time and I still feel weird at the end. It's so sad and beautiful at the same time.
Wheatley is such a great and funny character and he becomes your enemy out of nowhere. At the end he is pretty much in hell. And you feel bad...well...at least I am.
Then there is Glados. You think she's the devil at first but she really isn't. It's a very sad story. And the song at the end explains almost everything. The game is like an emotional rollercoaster ride...absolutely amazing.
And this is after the turret opera scene...which is another beautiful scene that makes me feel sad and happy at the same time.

Portal 2 is (imo) one of the best video games of all time and tells one of the best video game stories of all time.
It's amazingly written.

And it's the only video game that made me cry at the end. Not because I was sad. It made me cry because I was sad and happy at the same time. A strange and rare feeling.

 

[Dusk Golem]

I'm not sure I'd say ever, but I play a lot of horror games and some of the more emotional ones have bittersweet endings. That said, Portal 2's ending I think is rather stellar.

I will say I enjoy the underlined but surprisingly subtle story being told about how GLADoS' AI personality is based on Chell's mother and her father was Cave Johnson. Putting that together from the small clues through the game (and the smaller ones in the first game) were probably the most impacting part and does make the ending/song far more impacting.

 

[Liam Allen-Miller]

I think that Danganronpa V3 holds that crown far above most video games, but Portal 2 was a really impressive game. They really would the plot and gameplay so tightly together, man. I should play it again!

 

[The perfect Dark]

This is one of my "I will always remember this" gaming moments.



And yeah the story about Glados, Chell's mother and Johnson is amazing.

 

[TheSpaceBetween]

Agreed. Probably my favorite puzzle game of all time. Just fantastic. And that ending song is even better than Portal 1's.

 

[Nikus]

Shadow Hearts 2 says hi.

 

[The perfect Dark]

I know this is a strange opinion but I really want another Portal game.....Half Life can stay dead (sad but its the truth) but Portal....no, Sir. Not developing Portal 3 is a crime!

 

[Z-Beat]

I just like the idea of the villain failing to kill you so many times that they just kick you out.

 

[Jintor]

i wouldn't say wheatley goes crazy out of nowhere...

My favourite bit, to be honest, is wheatley finally outsmarting you by booby-trapping the personality switchplate but accidentally blowing a hole in the roof and then you seeing the full moon.

You know what you need to do

 

[StuBurns]

It's a good ending, but I have real issues with the characterisation of Glados and Cave. I still desperately want to know what F-Stop was, because in all likelihood, I tend to imagine it was the more compelling premise for a sequel.

 

[Azzanadra]

I agree, I had similar feelings upon finishing the game. In a way it also signaled an end to Valve, though we didn't know it at the time- that this would be the last single player game they make.

 

[Zacmortar]

The implication that

Spoiler

Caroline was Chell's biological mother and that GLaDOS getting Caroline back made her care about her and want Chell to leave

actually kills me. I Cry everytime I hear the turret opera or Want You Gone now.

 

[Zacmortar]

It's a good ending, but I have real issues with the characterisation of Glados and Cave. I still desperately want to know what F-Stop was, because in all likelihood, I tend to imagine it was the more compelling premise for a sequel.

Click to shrink...

GLaDOS and Cave are someof the best written characters in gaming. What problems? That they're comedically and ridiculously written in a comedic game? Thats the point.

 

[Cybersai]

I wish this game would get a remaster

 

[Deleted member 8861]

The implication that

Click to shrink...

wait what FUCK

I need a glass of water (edit: and a replay of Portal 2)

 

[Mg.]

I don't know if it has the most bittersweet ending... but it certainly has one of the funniest jokes in video games ever, that unfortunately only works the first time... which may be the reason why it's so good.

Spoiler

The part where he kills you

 

[The perfect Dark]

The implication that

Spoiler

Caroline was Chell's biological mother and that GLaDOS getting Caroline back made her care about her and want Chell to leave

actually kills me. I Cry everytime I hear the turret opera or Want You Gone now.

Click to shrink...

It's devastating. The whole story is great.
And I can't believe Valve decided to not make any more SP games after this. Maybe they really thought that this is/was their masterpiece. I don't know.
It's definitely a masterpiece... a magical game.
It's a linear puzzle game which you want to play again because the ending has such an emotional impact. And this is a puzzle game. I haven't mentioned the puzzles at all....they're amaing btw, lol.

 

[Zacmortar]

wait what FUCK

I need a glass of water (edit: and a replay of Portal 2)

Click to shrink...

Several hints point to

Spoiler

Caroline and Cave being her biological parents, and the opera at the end is the biggest clue because iirc its a mother singing about how much she loves her daughter in italian

It's devastating.
And I can't believe Valve decided to not make any more SP games after this. Maybe they really thought that this is/was their masterpiece. I don't know.
It's definitely a masterpiece... a magical game.
It's a linear puzzle game that you want to play again because the ending has such an emotional impact. And this is a puzzle game. I haven't mentioned the puzzles at all....they're amaing btw, lol.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, I sadly only got to experience the SP puzzles because nobody really liked puzzle games when I first played it, but even those puzzles were fantastic(except for a few pixelhunty Old Aperture puzzles)

 

[Death Metalist]

i wouldn't say wheatley goes crazy out of nowhere...

My favourite bit, to be honest, is wheatley finally outsmarting you by booby-trapping the personality switchplate but accidentally blowing a hole in the roof and then you seeing the full moon.

You know what you need to do

Click to shrink...

This. I remember yelling when I found out what was going to happen next.

 

[Deleted member 5398]

The turret opera was so weird but so well done, it felt like such a "Valve" thing to do and its why I love it so much.

 

[Deleted member 12790]

Seems like a pretty uplifting ending, seeing as the shot of the earth indicates eventually the combine are repelled because there are still oceans on the planet.

 

[Rygar 8Bit]

Give me Half-Life 3 with Gordon, Shephard and Chell please Valve.

 

[Kyle Cross]

I'm not sure I'd say ever, but I play a lot of horror games and some of the more emotional ones have bittersweet endings. That said, Portal 2's ending I think is rather stellar.

I will say I enjoy the underlined but surprisingly subtle story being told about how GLADoS' AI personality is based on Chell's mother and her father was Cave Johnson. Putting that together from the small clues through the game (and the smaller ones in the first game) were probably the most impacting part and does make the ending/song far more impacting.

Click to shrink...

Wait, what?! I never caught on to them being her parents. I... don't know how I feel about that.

 

[ZeroDotFlow]

Nope. Most bittersweet ending will always belong to Lufia 2 for me.

 

[StuBurns]

GLaDOS and Cave are someof the best written characters in gaming. What problems? That they're comedically and ridiculously written in a comedic game? Thats the point.

Click to shrink...

The first Portal is comedic, and much funnier with it. It also has much better puzzle design, much better art direction, much better everything outside of production standards really.

I understand the issue they faced with tackling a sequel. The cat's out of the bag, the voice over isn't automated, it's an evil robot. You can't recapture that. But what they did was retread with a bunch of gimmicky paint nonsense and absurdist comedy. Cave talks about giant mutant moth men and other dumb shit. Portal is in the Half-Life universe. A portal gun is one thing, but everything Portal 2 added to the mythology of the Universe was detrimental to the internal logic of the world.

The prequel 'F-Stop' game, I like to imagine wouldn't have perverted the Universe to such a degree. Actually featuring Cave and Caroline, during their time, seemed like a much more compelling premise. The entire way the Caroline/Glados thing rolls out is just so on the nose it's unreal. Making it painfully obvious to the audience way before Glados realises just makes Glados seem like an idiot, which she's clearly not intended to be.

I'm not saying it's a bad game by any stretch, it's a fantastic game, but Portal is nearly perfect. One of the few true 10s in my book. Portal 2 is just great.

 

[Karnova]

Seems like a pretty uplifting ending, seeing as the shot of the earth indicates eventually the combine are repelled because there are still oceans on the planet.

Click to shrink...

Might go against Marc Laidlaw's Epistle 3.

 

[Deleted member 12790]

Might go against Marc Laidlaw's Epistle 3.

Click to shrink...

Not really, since Portal 2 is assuredly hundreds of years in the future.

 

[SecondNature]

It bothers me that poor Wheatley suffers such a terrible fate, especially after Glados was allowed to get her redemption.

 

[Karnova]

Not really, since Portal 2 is assuredly hundreds of years in the future.

Click to shrink...

Yeah I guess, just the concept of the Dyson Sphere (which I take as canon for some semblance of closure) just feels like Valve was saying yeah "Shit's fucked."

 

[The perfect Dark]

Imo Portal 2 has so much background story. It's a story about living and dying. A story about friendship, a story about success and failure. A story about family and a story about how friendship and relationships can change. It's a pretty adult game actually if you want to understand it. And that's very unique nowadays.

It bothers me that poor Wheatley suffers such a terrible fate, especially after Glados was allowed to get her redemption.

Click to shrink...

He's probably still out there and Gabe is laughing right now.

 

[Etain]

. . . I misread this as Postal 2 and wanted to see how the hell THAT happened. Whoops!

But yeah, Wheatley was an endearing idiot.

 

[Zacmortar]

The first Portal is comedic, and much funnier with it. It also has much better puzzle design, much better art direction, much better everything outside of production standards really.

I understand the issue they faced with tackling a sequel. The cat's out of the bag, the voice over isn't automated, it's an evil robot. You can't recapture that. But what they did was retread with a bunch of gimmicky paint nonsense and absurdist comedy. Cave talks about giant mutant moth men and other dumb shit. Portal is in the Half-Life universe. A gravity gun is one thing, but everything Portal 2 added to the mythology of the Universe was detrimental to the internal logic of the world.

The prequel 'F-Stop' game, I like to imagine wouldn't have perverted the Universe to such a degree. Actually featuring Cave and Caroline, during their time, seemed like a much more compelling premise. The entire why the Caroline/Glados thing rolls out is just so on the nose it's unreal. Making it painfully obvious to the audience way before Glados realises just makes Glados seem like an idiot, which she's clearly not intended to be.

I'm not saying it's a bad game by any stretch, it's a fantastic game, but Portal is nearly perfect. One of the few true 10s in my book. Portal 2 is just great.

Click to shrink...

Portal 2's overgrowth and aged art design is leaps and bounds better than the first, along with it's writing, characters, and general mechanics. You just dont like it. I thought Portal was really boring
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Also the GLaDOS/Caroline thing was supposed to be obvious lol, from second one. It was never meant to be a huge twist, the twist is the Caroline part of her slowly softening her.

Aperture is literally built off of an insane man with a ton of money doing whatever he wants. He's doing shit for shits and giggles. It's not supposed to be logical, or reasonable. He's an incompetent owner of a giant corporation who is pushig things far. I think it's rad and unique and cleverly written so

 

[StuBurns]

I think it's rad and unique and cleverly written so

Click to shrink...

And I think it's not.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.

 

[RedShift]

Definitely one of the most amazing endings to a game ever.

But Link's Awakening is more bittersweet imo.

 

[kvetcha]

Portal 2 is a masterpiece. I think the potato battery gag alone is top-tier comedy.

No other puzzle game grabbed me the same way until The Talos Principle.

 

[Deleted member 12790]

Yeah I guess, just the concept of the Dyson Sphere (which I take as canon for some semblance of closure) just feels like Valve was saying yeah "Shit's fucked."

Click to shrink...

Ah, but episode 3 doesn't conclude with finality. In the end, nothing has really changed. In fact, what we saw might have actually just been the very beginning of the war given the time travel fuckery.

Never doubt the one free man...

 

[Deleted member 12790]

Aperture is literally built off of an insane man with a ton of money doing whatever he wants. He's doing shit for shits and giggles. It's not supposed to be logical, or reasonable. He's an incompetent owner of a giant corporation who is pushig things far. I think it's rad and unique and cleverly written so

Click to shrink...

Just to drive the point home -- the "Portal" technology? It was conceived as a super high tech SHOWER CURTAIN. This after their last marketable product -- the reverse-Heimlich maneuver -- failed.

 

[semiconscious]

The first Portal is comedic, and much funnier with it. It also has much better puzzle design, much better art direction, much better everything outside of production standards really.

...

I'm not saying it's a bad game by any stretch, it's a fantastic game, but Portal is nearly perfect. One of the few true 10s in my book. Portal 2 is just great.

Click to shrink...

yep. wheatley was just a little too 'douglas adams' for me, &, as a character, not even in glados' ballpark. also thought the game went too long for its own good, while the original was pretty much perfect! :) ...

 

[Sal_S]

I absolutely love the final "puzzle". That point when you join all the dots

Spoiler

and shoot the moon

is one of my favourite moments in gaming. Like the biggest "aha!" ever

 

[Cipherr]

I agree. I consider the entire series to be videogame writing at its peak. A lot of growth is needed in that particular area, especially for RPG's, but Portal was great. Knew what it was, and did everything it could with it.

Loved it, one of my favorites of all time.

 

[StuBurns]

yep. wheatley was just a little too 'douglas adams' for me, &, as a character, not even in glados' ballpark. also thought the game went too long for its own good, while the original was pretty much perfect! :) ...

Click to shrink...

Certainly agree with that. Reentering the facility to do more puzzles after having gone down to the traversal bit then the old Aperture puzzles, reentering felt like a reversion of progress. They had originally planned to do the same with the original game too actually, but scrapped it in favour of working on the boss fight.

 

[Dusk Golem]

Wait, what?! I never caught on to them being her parents. I... don't know how I feel about that.

Click to shrink...

It's told incredibly subtlety, which I think was the best choice.

So the obvious thing shown is Caroline (the basis of GLADoS' personality) and Cave were involved with each other. You also can know from the first game and something that you can find hidden in the second game that Chell was in the facility when this all happened because she was visiting on "Bring your child to work day", which means Chell's mother was an employee of Aperture. Moreso you can find in the area in Portal 2 with all the science fair exhibits the children held on take-child-to-work day, a potato power exhibit that's grown out of control, and if you look at the label of who's exhibit it is, it's Chell's. Of course some irony later when GLADoS needs to be powered by a potato battery as that was Cell's science fair project.

GLADoS at multiple times says things to get a rise out of Chell, including that she's adopted and that her mother was a test subject. Chell is not the same race as Cave Johnson or Caronline, and Caroline did ultimately become a test subject to make GLADoS. When GLADoS is overwhelmed by the emotions of Caroline, she says in a tender way to Chell that it's good she's awake. GLADoS also mentions that Caroline was a lot like Chell.

In the background of Cave and Caroline's photo you can see Chell just barely in the back of the frame:

Both of the ending songs heavily allude to it. The opera song with the turrets at the end especially, which is the song, "Oh my daughter" in Italian. The lyrics in English are:

Beautiful dear, my darling beauty!
My child, oh heavens (Chell)![note 4]
How I adore you![note 5]
How I adore you!
Oh my dear, farewell!
My dear child...
Why don't you walk far away?
So far away from Science!
My dear, dear baby...
Ah, my beloved!
Ah, my dear!
Ah, my dear!
Ah, my dear!
Ah, my little girl!
Oh dear, my dear...

Click to shrink...

While GLADoS puts up a front of making Chell leave because she's sick of her always not dying, the real reason is probably after regaining Caroline's memories and feelings, she wanted Chell to go on to live.

 

[Deleted member 1003]

I absolutely love the final "puzzle". That point when you join all the dots

Spoiler

and shoot the moon

is one of my favourite moments in gaming. Like the biggest "aha!" ever

Click to shrink...

I loved the shoot the moon. The whole part where you are down underneath, find out about the white goo and it how it's made of moon dust, it was very just to brush off like, "Okay, I can create portals on this white stuff. Moon dust? Sure whatever."

The roof gets ripped off and you see the moon and it all comes together. Spectacular.

Edit: Looking at the painting above, the only thing I can make of in the background look like a statue or figure.

 

[The perfect Dark]

Imo this game hast the most "satisfying" ending ever made. I used quotes because it's sad and great at the same time. And this is the result of an amazingly written story.
You won't forget this game after it ends. You will think about it. Since 2013 (current generation)...there's not a single game that tries to be as good/emotional as this game. "The Witness" is a really good puzzle game but you just can't compare it to Portal 2.

 

[angel]

Cave Johnson is perfection, the voice acting is incredible. I love the comedy of just burying the lethal old facilities, wandering through them hearing his voice on the tannoy is incredible. Also the subtle jokes, him being 2nd at everything (his trophy cabinet), the potato jokes, moon rock dust being pure poison. One of the greatest games of all time.

Oh and finally opening the world's biggest door to find behind it

Spoiler

a small wooden door.

 

[Vulcano's Assistant]

I shouted out loud when I shot a portal to the freaking moon and it blinked.

 

[i'm not a rob0t]

it's ok.

 

[Clefargle]

I know this is a strange opinion but I really want another Portal game.....Half Life can stay dead (sad but its the truth) but Portal....no, Sir. Not developing Portal 3 is a crime!

Click to shrink...

Too bad, valve can't count past 2

 

[StuBurns]

Since 2013 (current generation)...there's not a single game that tries to be as good/emotional as this game. "The Witness" is a really good puzzle game but you just can't compare it to Portal 2.

Click to shrink...

This is true. There are several Portal-likes, QUBE, The Talos Principle, The Turing Test, etc, none have at all captured that sense of discovery the Portal games did. I really hope Miegakure is as good as people claim...

 

[Mezentine]

The ending to Portal 2 is the actual closure on the Half Life saga for me

Whatever else, Earth is okay