Building comparison
head to head
Dungeon SiegevsPortal
Neither is simply harder - they are hard in different places. Dungeon Siege demands more variance; Portal demands more execution.
Dungeon Siege
Optimization · Pure Optimization
A streamlined click-along action RPG famous for its seamless world.
Portal
Optimization · Pure Optimization
The portal-gun puzzle game whose solutions are everything.
Dungeon Siege leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Portal leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Dungeon SiegePortal
Axis by axis
Execution1 vs 4
Portal leans clearly harder on execution.
Dungeon Siege
Combat mostly resolves itself
Portal
Portal placement timing modest.
Reads0 vs 0
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Dungeon Siege
Mobs charge on simple scripts
Portal
No adversary modeling player.
Variance2 vs 0
Dungeon Siege leans clearly harder on variance.
Dungeon Siege
Loot drops vary modestly
Portal
Deterministic chambers; no randomness.
Optimization6 vs 8
Portal leans clearly harder on optimization.
Dungeon Siege
Party builds and pack-mule logistics are the game
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.