Building comparison
head to head
Disco ElysiumvsPortal
Neither is simply harder - they are hard in different places. Disco Elysium demands more variance; Portal demands more execution.
Disco Elysium
Optimization · Pure Optimization
A dialogue RPG resolved by stat builds against dice checks.
Portal
Optimization · Pure Optimization
The portal-gun puzzle game whose solutions are everything.
Disco Elysium leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Portal leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Disco ElysiumPortal
Axis by axis
Execution0 vs 4
Portal leans clearly harder on execution.
Disco Elysium
No mechanical inputs of consequence
Portal
Portal placement timing modest.
Reads1 vs 0
Disco Elysium leans a little harder on reads, though the gap is small.
Disco Elysium
Dialogue partners are scripted, not modeling you
Portal
No adversary modeling player.
Variance4 vs 0
Disco Elysium leans clearly harder on variance.
Disco Elysium
Skill checks roll dice with hidden modifiers
Portal
Deterministic chambers; no randomness.
Optimization7 vs 8
Portal leans a little harder on optimization, though the gap is small.
Disco Elysium
Build skills and route choices to pass checks
Portal
Pure puzzle-solving optimization.
A matching score does not mean a matching test. Two games can both sit at 10 on execution and demand completely different things of you - which is why the reasoning above matters more than the number beside it.