head to head
vs
Castlevania: Aria of SorrowvsTrove
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Trove leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Castlevania: Aria of SorrowTrove
Axis by axis
Execution4 vs 3
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow leans harder on execution: Modest action timing
Reads1 vs 1
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance3 vs 4
Trove leans harder on variance: Random dungeons and loot drops gate progress
Optimization7 vs 7
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.