Loving the appreciation for Portal. More people should pick up Monkey Island, the humour in that game is something that many people here would most definitely enjoy.
13. The Cave (2013)The playable characters (left to right) are The Monk, The Adventurer, The Hilbilly, The Scientist, The Twins, The Knight and The Time Traveller.Playing as The Adventurer.This is another humour-based point-and-click game made by Ron Gilbert (the creator of the Monkey Island series), so it can only be good. What's really cool about this game is that you have to choose three characters at the beginning, out of seven, so you have to play the game at least three times to experience everything. Every player has a certain ability that is uniquely available only to him/her, like The Adventurer, who can swing across pits using her whip (like Indiana Jones), The Knight, who can make himself invincible for a short amount of time or The Hilbilly, who can hold his breath longer than the others. Another thing that's great about this game is the dark humour, and how it upsets your expectations. As The Monk, for instance, your goal is to become head monk of your order. How? You assassinate the current head monk, of course. The Hilbilly has been rejected by the love of his life, so burning down a carnival is a logical solution. The Twins are annoyed by the rules their parents impose, but don't worry, rat poison in the soup can solve that. And so on. In addition to the plot lines and the multi-faceted nature of this, the graphic style is also quite beautifully done, and each area is given an appropriately unique atmosphere. Highly recommended for anyone who likes puzzle games and weird, off-the-wall humour.
12. Rayman II: The Great Escape (1999)Coming across the game's first of 80 Pirate Cages, in the first level, "The Woods of Light".The first foray of the Rayman franchise into the world of 3D games is pretty damn cool. Playing as the titular, limbless hero, you have to fight off the invasion of the Robo-Pirates under the command of Admiral Razorbeard, by awakening the god Polokus, which can only be done by uniting the four masks of Polokus. The story is fairly ho-hum, but the rest more than makes up for it. The graphics are beautiful, especially considering that this game came out in 1999, it's challenging throughout, but never too hard, both the platforming and the fights here are really a lot of fun and the world-building is beautiful, no matter what it is like, an underground lava temple, a foray through the hights of the trees or an excursion to the sea, everything is beautifully designed in the way that still holds up fifteen years later. And if that's not enough, there's tons of collectibles and you can spend hours searching through the many world offered in order to find every last Lum or the final Pirate Cage. While I enjoy quite a few other entries in the Rayman series, this one is, without a doubt, my favourite of the bunch.