head to head
vs
Elite DangerousvsTotal War: Attila
Elite Dangerous leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery); Total War: Attila leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Elite DangerousTotal War: Attila
Axis by axis
Execution6 vs 5
Elite Dangerous leans harder on execution: Flight controls, docking, combat aim
Reads2 vs 3
Total War: Attila leans harder on reads: AI factions follow scripted migration paths; human play adds reads
Variance3 vs 5
Total War: Attila leans harder on variance: Hunnic migration pressure and disease outbreaks add meaningful campaign unknowns
Optimization8 vs 8
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.