Building comparison
head to head
Portal 2vsPost Mortem
Neither is simply harder - they are hard in different places. Portal 2 demands more execution; Post Mortem demands more variance.
Portal 2
Optimization · Pure Optimization
A first-person puzzle game where seeing the solution is the whole skill.
Post Mortem
Optimization · Pure Optimization
Piecing together a scripted murder conspiracy from hidden clues.
Portal 2 leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Post Mortem leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Portal 2Post Mortem
Axis by axis
Execution3 vs 0
Portal 2 leans clearly harder on execution.
Portal 2
Portal placement requires some precision but timing is lenient.
Post Mortem
Point-and-click interface, zero dexterity
Reads0 vs 0
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Portal 2
No opponent; puzzles are static.
Post Mortem
Suspects follow scripted dialogue trees
Variance0 vs 3
Post Mortem leans clearly harder on variance.
Portal 2
Puzzles are deterministic with no randomness.
Post Mortem
The conspiracy is hidden information revealed by investigation
Optimization9 vs 6
Portal 2 leans clearly harder on optimization.
Portal 2
Solving the puzzle's logic IS the entire game.
Post Mortem
Piecing fixed clues into the solution is the 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.