head to head

Borderlands 3 cover artvsRisk of Rain Returns cover art

Borderlands 3vsRisk of Rain Returns

Borderlands 3 leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery); Risk of Rain Returns leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery).

EXECUTION6 /10READS1 /10VARIANCE6 /10OPTIMIZATION8 /10
Borderlands 3Risk of Rain Returns

Axis by axis

Execution6 vs 6

Even - both lean on execution about the same.

Reads1 vs 0

Borderlands 3 leans harder on reads: Enemies scripted, no adaptive opponent

Variance6 vs 6

Even - both lean on variance about the same.

Optimization8 vs 7

Borderlands 3 leans harder on optimization: Skill trees, anointments, gear math deep

Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.

full breakdown

Borderlands 3

full breakdown

Risk of Rain Returns