Building comparison
head to head
E.T. the Extra-TerrestrialvsPortal 2
Neither is simply harder - they are hard in different places. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial demands more variance; Portal 2 demands more optimization.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Optimization · Pure Optimization
The infamous Atari 2600 adventure that is trivial once its obscure rules are known.
Portal 2
Optimization · Pure Optimization
A first-person puzzle game where seeing the solution is the whole skill.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Portal 2 leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
E.T. the Extra-TerrestrialPortal 2
Axis by axis
Execution2 vs 3
Portal 2 leans a little harder on execution, though the gap is small.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Clumsy pit navigation, little dexterity
Portal 2
Portal placement requires some precision but timing is lenient.
Reads0 vs 0
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
No adaptive opposition
Portal 2
No opponent; puzzles are static.
Variance2 vs 0
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial leans clearly harder on variance.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Item locations vary per game
Portal 2
Puzzles are deterministic with no randomness.
Optimization5 vs 9
Portal 2 leans clearly harder on optimization.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Knowing the obtuse zone rules solves it quickly
Portal 2
Solving the puzzle's logic IS the entire game.
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.