head to head

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies cover artvsPersona 3 FES cover art

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry SkiesvsPersona 3 FES

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Persona 3 FES leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).

EXECUTION1 /10READS0 /10VARIANCE5 /10OPTIMIZATION9 /10
Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry SkiesPersona 3 FES

Axis by axis

Execution1 vs 1

Even - both lean on execution about the same.

Reads0 vs 0

Even - both lean on reads about the same.

Variance5 vs 4

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies leans harder on variance: Grotto maps and rare gear drops are heavy RNG.

Optimization9 vs 8

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies leans harder on optimization: Vocation builds, alchemy, and grotto farming routes are solvable.

Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.

full breakdown

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies

full breakdown

Persona 3 FES