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I really really wish I could recommend this game, I've been waiting on it excitedly since it was announced, but there's one huge problem that I just can't get past. I rarely write reviews, but this one needs to be written.
I want to preface this by saying that Portal 2 is one of my all-time favorite games, I have almost 150 hours in it. Hopefully that provides some context for other parts of this review.

The Portal Inspiration

This isn't as much part of the review as it is something I really wanted to discuss (don't worry, the actual review is below). You can't look at The Entropy Centre and argue that it wasn't very heavily inspired by Portal. While some might see it as a blatant rip-off, I honestly love all of the references. The beginning of the game feels like a Portal 2 mod, and honestly I think it might be intentional.
Some of the first EC puzzles are essentially identical to the first P/P2 puzzles. The now iconic cube-and-button mechanic is ever present throughout the game. Virtually every mechanic Portal has (aside from the, you know, portals), EC has their own version of. From laser cubes to fans as tractor beams, or bridge cubes as hard light bridges to entropy bots as turrets, or even bounce cubes as repulsion gel and conveyor belts as propulsion gel, the inspiration is obvious. The talking gun is essentially a much nicer version of GlaDOS, and walking around feels like talking to PotatOS or holding Wheatley while the ever-present announcer talks in the background. There's too many little references to count, but I just really want to shout them out because I love them and think the devs did a great job. (Was the "nine nine nine nine nine..." sound bit pulled straight from P2?)
With all that said, in my opinion the EC is still very original, and the Portal references remain just that- references. The time travel mechanic is unique and the story is actually really engaging once you get into the later acts.

The Good

I really want to start the actual review portion of this review with what I liked about the game, because honestly there's a lot to love.
- As I discuss in detail above, the Portal references are really cute
- The soundtrack and overall sound design is incredible
- The talking gun is adorable and I found myself emotionally attached to her throughout the game, but she's still really funny
- The story is really engaging, and gets super interesting in the final third of the game- like wow that ending really makes it all worth it
- I appreciate the relatively regular introduction of new puzzle mechanics
- The runner levels and exploration levels are pretty fun
- The visuals are (mostly) beautiful

Why I Can't Recommend It - Bounce Cubes

There's a lot to love about this game, but one huge issue I can't get by: as small as it may seem, the bounce cubes are, without a doubt, the worst game mechanic I have ever experienced. Allow me to explain.
I know I discuss Portal a lot, but bear with me here. I'm not sure how common this knowledge is, but Portal uses something the devs called "funneling", which means that as you're falling into or flying towards a portal the physics engine cheats a little to guide you into it. In short, if you jump of a ledge into a portal, as long as you jumped near it you will fall through the portal if you don't touch any buttons while you're in the air. You get funneled towards it.
The bounce cubes are in desperate need of a funneling mechanic, and in all honesty if they had one I would be able to confidently recommend this game. Sure, I have other issues with it, which I discuss below, but this one is the only deal-breaker for me.
For context, the puzzles in this game aren't particularly difficult. I was able to mentally solve nearly every puzzle within a minute of entering the room, and then it was merely a matter of executing the solution. All you have to do is work backwards through the puzzle in your head and then move the cubes around so they can be rewound, it's not that hard.
But that's where the problems come in. In a puzzle game, the challenge should be figuring out what to do, not actually doing it. Portal doesn't require any significant gaming skill- you rarely need to aim precisely or think fast. When executing a puzzle solution it's difficult to mess up.
Unfortunately, in EC, it takes gaming skill to complete puzzles. If you're good at platforming it probably isn't hard but I'm not. One of the most frustrating experiences is to spend several minutes setting up a puzzle solution, only to need to make one more big jump to the exit door, and when you make the jump you fall right next to the bounce cube you were aiming for, requiring you to go back to the start and tediously set everything up again. It's not difficult, it's just really annoying (especially when you can't run and you walk at a snail's pace). I found myself putting on YouTube videos in the background while I attempted long, multi-step puzzles four or five times because I kept missing a bounce cube.
There are a few other minor things I'm not a huge fan of:
- The entropy robots are REALLY annoying. In Portal 2, you never have to worry about turrets really because they sit still. Entropy bots move around, and can only be destroyed by launching an explosive at them or by rewinding their pellets. It's really frustrating to be in a lockdown puzzle trying to find a button to unlock the door when a robot sneaks up behind you and nails you in the back with an energy pellet at the same time as his friend and you die. They're a pain in the butt and I don't like them. The runner levels are fine, but the combat/lockdown levels are endlessly annoying.
- This might be more of a bug, but occasionally you need to stand on a fallen walkway or whatever and rewind it to lift you up in the air. Well, it's really obnoxious when part of the walkway swings into place and crushes you. I wish it would just push you out of the way instead of killing you just because you didn't see it coming (turns out predicting how things will fall in reverse is hard!)
- The puzzles are REALLY repetitive. I know it's weird to say I want the game to be shorter, but they get old so fast. The new elements are nice, but it really feels like you aren't making any progress when every puzzle is essentially the same, and the only difficult part is the execution not the solution.
- The areas between the worlds really break suspension of disbelief sometimes. It feels too much like a game, like a puzzle, it doesn't feel real. Am I expected to believe that some quarters have bounce cubes in them, complete with a button to spawn a new one? And wow, how convenient that that walkway is not only destroyed, but rewindable!
- A lot of the animations are pretty janky. The launch things (EC equivalent of faith plates), for example, just bounce up. Compare that to Portal's intricately designed plates and it just feels sorta sad and empty. I'd love to see refinements on the animations. To the dev's credit, though, the destruction animations are solid.

TL;DR

Man, that was a big wall of text. Hopefully it's useful to some of you. Long story short:
- I love the game, very pretty, engaging, and a solid storyline with lovable characters
- The bounce cubes not funneling break the whole thing for me
- It still needs a little work in some areas
- If it weren't for the bounce cube issues, I could easily recommend this game
- Oh yeah, the puzzles are pretty easy, good for beginners