Building comparison
head to head
Castlevania: Aria of SorrowvsMiddle-earth: Shadow of War
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is execution, and it is a single point.
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
Optimization · Pure Optimization
A GBA metroidvania built around collecting enemy souls.
Middle-earth: Shadow of War
Optimization · Practiced Mastery
Nemesis-system sequel that adds orc army management and fortress sieges.
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Middle-earth: Shadow of War leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery).
Castlevania: Aria of SorrowMiddle-earth: Shadow of War
Axis by axis
Execution4 vs 5
Middle-earth: Shadow of War leans a little harder on execution, though the gap is small.
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
Modest action timing
Middle-earth: Shadow of War
Same counter-heavy combat as its predecessor
Reads1 vs 1
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
Scripted enemies
Middle-earth: Shadow of War
Nemesis system mimics adaptation but follows knowable rules
Variance3 vs 4
Middle-earth: Shadow of War leans a little harder on variance, though the gap is small.
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
Soul drops are heavily random
Middle-earth: Shadow of War
Random orc traits, betrayals, and fortress compositions
Optimization7 vs 7
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
Soul build crafting dominates
Middle-earth: Shadow of War
Army building and siege planning layer on top
A matching score does not mean a matching test. Two games can both sit at 10 on execution and demand completely different things of you - which is why the reasoning above matters more than the number beside it.