head to head
vs
Castlevania: Harmony of DespairvsTomb Raider
Castlevania: Harmony of Despair leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery); Tomb Raider leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery).
Castlevania: Harmony of DespairTomb Raider
Axis by axis
Execution6 vs 5
Castlevania: Harmony of Despair leans harder on execution: Boss pattern dodges and speed-clear movement demand skill
Reads0 vs 0
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
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.