Building comparison
head to head
Diablo IIvsShin Megami Tensei IV
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is execution, and it is a single point.
Diablo II
Optimization · Pure Optimization
The genre-defining loot ARPG whose builds, runes, and trade economy players still optimize decades later.
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Optimization · Pure Optimization
Handheld SMT where smirk RNG stings but fusion planning and weakness knowledge carry you.
Diablo II leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Shin Megami Tensei IV leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Diablo IIShin Megami Tensei IV
Axis by axis
Execution2 vs 1
Diablo II leans a little harder on execution, though the gap is small.
Diablo II
Positioning and potion reflexes, little else physical
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Menu combat with no execution ceiling.
Reads0 vs 0
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Diablo II
Monster AI is fully mappable
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Demon negotiation is random personality scripts.
Variance6 vs 5
Diablo II leans a little harder on variance, though the gap is small.
Diablo II
Loot RNG and random maps drive the grind
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Smirk procs and negotiation RNG swing fights hard.
Optimization9 vs 9
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Diablo II
Builds, breakpoints, rune economy, magic-find routing are the game
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Fusion apps, weakness charts, and builds solve the game.
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.