head to head
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is variance, and it is a single point.

Optimization · Pure Optimization
Cyberpunk dungeon crawler where managing demon loyalty and fusion charts beats the digital city.

Optimization · Pure Optimization
Optimising a daily calendar and persona fusion economy against scripted turn-based combat.
Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Persona 3 FES leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Same score on execution - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers
First-person menu battles only.
Persona 3 FES
Menu-driven turn battles need no physical skill
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers
Demon personalities are scripted archetypes, not adaptive.
Persona 3 FES
Shadow AI is scripted weakness-exploitation, never adaptive
Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers leans a little harder on variance, though the gap is small.
Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers
Loyalty system and negotiation RNG cause real swings.
Persona 3 FES
Tartarus floors, shuffle cards and fusion outcomes are randomised
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers
Fusion planning and personality management are solvable layers.
Persona 3 FES
Social link scheduling and persona fusion are a solvable calendar
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.