head to head
vs
ARK: Survival AscendedvsHearts of Iron IV
ARK: Survival Ascended leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Hearts of Iron IV leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
ARK: Survival AscendedHearts of Iron IV
Axis by axis
Execution3 vs 2
ARK: Survival Ascended leans harder on execution: Combat is clunky; precision rarely decisive.
Reads4 vs 4
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance3 vs 3
Even - both lean on variance about the same.
Optimization8 vs 9
Hearts of Iron IV leans harder on optimization: division templates and production solved
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.