head to head
vs
Elite DangerousvsTotal War: Three Kingdoms
Elite Dangerous leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery); Total War: Three Kingdoms leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Elite DangerousTotal War: Three Kingdoms
Axis by axis
Execution6 vs 5
Elite Dangerous leans harder on execution: Flight controls, docking, combat aim
Reads2 vs 3
Total War: Three Kingdoms leans harder on reads: Warlord AI follows scripted temperaments; human play adds genuine reads
Variance3 vs 4
Total War: Three Kingdoms leans harder on variance: Random Han court events and spy network exposure create real 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.