head to head
vs
A Plague Tale: RequiemvsGarden Story
A Plague Tale: Requiem leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery); Garden Story leans Execution (Practiced Mastery).
A Plague Tale: RequiemGarden Story
Axis by axis
Execution4 vs 4
Even - both lean on execution about the same.
Reads0 vs 0
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance2 vs 1
A Plague Tale: Requiem leans harder on variance: Minor encounter variability.
Optimization5 vs 4
A Plague Tale: Requiem leans harder on optimization: Tool combos solve set-piece encounters.
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.