head to head
vs
Castlevania: Harmony of DespairvsCatherine
Castlevania: Harmony of Despair leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery); Catherine leans Execution (Practiced Mastery).
Castlevania: Harmony of DespairCatherine
Axis by axis
Execution6 vs 7
Catherine leans harder on execution: Climbing block towers fast under time pressure
Reads0 vs 1
Catherine leans harder on reads: Versus mode exists but is niche
Variance4 vs 2
Castlevania: Harmony of Despair leans harder on variance: Rare drop grinding injects real RNG into builds
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.