head to head
vs
A Plague Tale: InnocencevsThe Last of Us
A Plague Tale: Innocence leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery); The Last of Us leans Execution (Practiced Mastery).
A Plague Tale: InnocenceThe Last of Us
Axis by axis
Execution4 vs 5
The Last of Us leans harder on execution: Aim, stealth timing, and scarce-ammo combat
Reads0 vs 1
The Last of Us leans harder on reads: Enemy AI searches but follows mappable routines
Variance2 vs 2
Even - both lean on variance about the same.
Optimization5 vs 5
Even - both lean on optimization about the same.
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.