Building comparison
head to head
FAR: Changing TidesvsPortal
Portal asks more than FAR: Changing Tides, and the gap is optimization.
FAR: Changing Tides
Optimization · Pure Optimization
Meditative sequel sailing and diving a hybrid ship through flooded ruins.
Portal
Optimization · Pure Optimization
The portal-gun puzzle game whose solutions are everything.
FAR: Changing Tides leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Portal leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
FAR: Changing TidesPortal
Axis by axis
Execution2 vs 4
Portal leans clearly harder on execution.
FAR: Changing Tides
Simple swimming, climbing, and sail handling
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.
FAR: Changing Tides
Solo voyage with no adaptive opposition
Portal
No adversary modeling player.
Variance1 vs 0
FAR: Changing Tides leans a little harder on variance, though the gap is small.
FAR: Changing Tides
Set-piece obstacles, little randomness
Portal
Deterministic chambers; no randomness.
Optimization5 vs 8
Portal leans clearly harder on optimization.
FAR: Changing Tides
Managing sail, engine, and fuel loops efficiently
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.