I always saw the portals as an entirely different mechanism: same thing in e.g. Divinity 2 where you could warp back to the Battle Tower from anywhere and (albeit via a slightly convoluted route) get to a portal that would take you to any of the others. The pyramids were always their own thing. In DD in particular I usually left one next to a handy sleeping spot by the market unless I needed them both for something else.
Edit: actually, D2 did have the pyramids, didn't it...? It's been so long since I did a full play-through and I have a terrible memory. I think that was the upshot of Zixzax's usual randomness, anyway. Further edit: apparently not, unless they've been cunningly hidden. Well thanks, memory, for being typically unreliable. <_<
Yeah, it is a different mechanics, it just so simple to go anywhere that I don't feel that the pyramid really make it worse. I could be wrong though.
Can't recall D2, I haven't played it too much. All I recall is the beginning was super hard and then WAY too easy even after switching the difficulty all the way to the max
