A friend of mine has been streaming her very first experience with the Portal series over the past couple of weeks. It has been a treat for me to re-experience this game through her fresh eyes, though something has been missing. Portal and Portal 2 are as perfect as a set of puzzle games mixed with fun humor and a genuinely clever mechanic which builds the whole foundation for both games. The issue is you can really only feel its magic firsthand once. While I’ve enjoyed replaying it over the years as well as watching my friend have their first playthrough, you can only personally feel the joy of solving a test chamber or discovering something new one time. Almost the entire game is a tutorial for its titular mechanic—using a portal gun to manipulate space—and each puzzle is designed around discovering all the ways that can interact with other mechanics and physics. So while you may have forgotten the specific solution to a puzzle, you likely have not forgotten the interactions the game taught you years ago playing for the first time.
Many games in which the focal point of the experience is discovery or problem solving can fall into this category. Brilliant first-time experiences that leave you wishing you could wipe your brain clean and feel that sense of discovery once more all over again. Portal and Portal 2 are exactly that for me. Though it does give me endless excitement to know they will be releasing on Nintendo Switch soon and a whole new generation whose first console has been the Switch will get to experience this magic for the first time, I wish I could partake in that first-tine joy once more.
I’d like to ask you ... what game is out there you wish you could experience for the first time once more time? Some quick rules for your nominations:
1) Your nomination should contain the name of a specific video game, why you wish you could re-experience it fresh, a link where it can be purchased, and an image.
2) You can nominate multiple games, but please put each one in a separate comment or reply on Twitter.
3) Vote by starring someone else’s comment or liking someone else’s Twitter reply.