head to head
vs
Animal WellvsCastlevania: Symphony of the Night
Animal Well leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Castlevania: Symphony of the Night leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Animal WellCastlevania: Symphony of the Night
Axis by axis
Execution4 vs 4
Even - both lean on execution about the same.
Reads0 vs 1
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night leans harder on reads: Scripted bosses
Variance2 vs 2
Even - both lean on variance about the same.
Optimization8 vs 7
Animal Well leans harder on optimization: Metroidvania puzzles reward deep optimization.
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.