Building comparison
head to head
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIIIvsPortal
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII asks more than Portal, and the gap is variance.
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
Optimization · Pure Optimization
A time-limited JRPG where Lightning races a doomsday clock with customizable battle outfits.
Portal
Optimization · Pure Optimization
The portal-gun puzzle game whose solutions are everything.
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Portal leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIIIPortal
Axis by axis
Execution4 vs 4
Same score on execution - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
Real-time guards and stagger timing matter
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.
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
Enemies are scripted
Portal
No adversary modeling player.
Variance2 vs 0
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII leans clearly harder on variance.
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
Some drop and quest randomness
Portal
Deterministic chambers; no randomness.
Optimization8 vs 8
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
World-clock scheduling and schemata builds dominate
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.