I'm thinking about buying one of these two games right now, but I don't want to get both yet. Should I jump into the second one, or should I start with the first one for continuity purposes? I have been getting a little fed up with multiplayer on the PC for a while now, and I would like a single player diversion for a little break. So, what will it be duders? Portal or Portal 2?

I don't think you'll ever forgive yourself if you jump into Portal 2 and later in the future realize that you missed out on the experience that made people anticipate Portal 2 (and consequently love it). That experience is called Portal.

I strongly recommend you play Portal, get acquainted with the portal gun, LISTEN TO THE LEGENDARY MENU MUSIC, get introduced to GladOS properly, and know what the Cake is. Then you'll triple your Portal 2 enjoyment when you get around to playing it.

This was a triumph.
I'm making a note here: Huge success.

@AhmadMetallic: That's good advice. I think I'll just do the bundle after all. It's $24.95 on Steam right now, and I guess I don't have to pinch the pennies so much.

@kgb0515 said:

@AhmadMetallic: That's good advice. I think I'll just do the bundle after all. It's $24.95 on Steam right now, and I guess I don't have to pinch the pennies so much.

the bundle is worth it.

@kgb0515 said:

@AhmadMetallic: That's good advice. I think I'll just do the bundle after all. It's $24.95 on Steam right now, and I guess I don't have to pinch the pennies so much.

Definitely play Portal first. On sale both are extremely cheap.

@kgb0515 said:

@AhmadMetallic: That's good advice. I think I'll just do the bundle after all. It's $24.95 on Steam right now, and I guess I don't have to pinch the pennies so much.

My second advice is: Kill yourself. Anyone who hasn't played Portal yet deserves to die :P

Get the bundle and enjoy those gems!

Didn't like Portal all that much, Portal 2 is utterly amazing. Play both.

@JacDG said:

Didn't like Portal all that much

WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

I'm kidding, but why didn't you like the first one?

Anyway, playing them in order is the best way to play them. The first one is only about 2-4 hours long so it won't take you long, and then jump right into the sequel.

@AhmadMetallic said:

@kgb0515 said:

@AhmadMetallic: That's good advice. I think I'll just do the bundle after all. It's $24.95 on Steam right now, and I guess I don't have to pinch the pennies so much.

My second advice is: Kill yourself. Anyone who hasn't played Portal yet deserves to die :P

Get the bundle and enjoy those gems!

Well, I will play it, but I don't think I'll take that second part to heart. I just got my gaming PC together a month ago and didn't want to play the Orange Box on Xbox. I wanted to play it in all of its PC glory.

@JacDG said:

Didn't like Portal all that much, Portal 2 is utterly amazing. Play both.

Ha, I thought I was gonna kick the hornet's nest first, but yeah. I thought Portal 1 was okay, but I really enjoyed Portal 2. My personal GoTY of 2011. I honestly think you could go into Portal 2 without playing Portal 1 without missing out on much of anything. They don't call back to too many jokes of Portal 1 (which is why it's so great) and the plot of Portal 1 really isn't Metal Gear complicated that you need to dig into the mythos and continuity of it. Whether it is a crucial experience to undergo as a lead in to Portal 2 is debatable. As I said, I didn't think Portal 1 was the spectacular game experience everyone else did and went into Portal 2 with less than zero expectations and it came out of my favorite game of 2011.

Either way, I'd say get both. Portal 1 is free isn't it?

@believer258 said:

@JacDG said:

Didn't like Portal all that much

WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

I'm kidding, but why didn't you like the first one?

Anyway, playing them in order is the best way to play them. The first one is only about 2-4 hours long so it won't take you long, and then jump right into the sequel.

Hmm...didn't know it was that short. I guess that's why it only took 7 mins to download, and I don't even have a great connection!

@MiniPato said:

Either way, I'd say get both. Portal 1 is free isn't it?

Not sure if it's free but can't be much at all these days.

I'd say invest in the first game if you want the complete experience of Portal 2 but it's not essential to have played the first. Portal 2 is better, the variations in setting and new mechanics make it even more joyous than Portal.

@dinkys said:

@MiniPato said:

Either way, I'd say get both. Portal 1 is free isn't it?

Not sure if it's free but can't be much at all these days.

I'd say invest in the first game if you want the complete experience of Portal 2 but it's not essential to have played the first. Portal 2 is better, the variations in setting and new mechanics make it even more joyous than Portal.

Yeah, I'd figure it is dirt cheap. But I could swear that Valve does the free Portal 1 promotion pretty frequently. Or I'm just imagining things.

While it's hard to argue that Portal 2 isn't better in almost all aspects (besides the final song), nothing beats the experience of you first playthrough of portal, especially if you go in knowing nothing about it.

Portal 2 is also a direct sequel so the story and characters will have less of an impact if you skip the first game.

While Portal 2 is better than the first one in every way, you should play them both in order.

@JacDG said:

Didn't like Portal all that much

WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

I'm kidding, but why didn't you like the first one?

Anyway, playing them in order is the best way to play them. The first one is only about 2-4 hours long so it won't take you long, and then jump right into the sequel.

Well, I bought both and put about an hour and a half into Portal the 1st. Love this game so far! I have been playing mostly shooters lately, and aside from Half-Life 2, non of them really scratched that itch I've been developing. It's nice to play a thinking game for a change.