head to head
vs
Baldur's Gate 3vsPillars of Eternity
Baldur's Gate 3 leans Optimization (Systems & Chaos); Pillars of Eternity leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Baldur's Gate 3Pillars of Eternity
Axis by axis
Execution1 vs 2
Pillars of Eternity leans harder on execution: Real-time-with-pause removes all twitch pressure from the player
Reads2 vs 1
Baldur's Gate 3 leans harder on reads: Companions/enemies scripted, not adaptive to player modeling.
Variance7 vs 4
Baldur's Gate 3 leans harder on variance: Dice rolls, hidden checks, encounter RNG everywhere.
Optimization9 vs 9
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.