head to head
vs
Final Fantasy XVvsPopulous II: Trials of the Olympian Gods
Final Fantasy XV leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery); Populous II: Trials of the Olympian Gods leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Final Fantasy XVPopulous II: Trials of the Olympian Gods
Axis by axis
Execution4 vs 4
Even - both lean on execution about the same.
Reads1 vs 2
Populous II: Trials of the Olympian Gods leans harder on reads: Rival gods are scripted AI; human matches add light prediction
Variance2 vs 2
Even - both lean on variance about the same.
Optimization6 vs 7
Populous II: Trials of the Olympian Gods leans harder on optimization: Mana economy and terraforming efficiency decide each trial
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.