I find the portals a bit too video-gamey, because the party seems to be the only group of people who uses them in the game, even though there are people around some portals. Might as well have a neon sign over them that says "teleport point, players only". The problem is really that they are canonically visible in the game world, and Gale has a little speech about them. I would have preferred that we simply have a reference point on each "map" (Druid Grove, Blighted Village, etc), and when going to the Map/Fast Travel menu, the party can "appear to teleport" there. Basically, we players skip the boring click-click-click of travel, but the characters have actually walked.
I'm fine with the idea of portals actually existing, but then they should be really part of the world, commented on and used by everyone.
Anyway, this is one point I really doubt Larian will change. It feels too established for them to want to revise that. (I'd be happy to be proven wrong though.)
