head to head
Neither is simply harder - they are hard in different places. Grand Theft Auto V demands more reads; Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time demands more optimization.

Execution · Practiced Mastery
Sandbox crime playground spanning shooting, driving, and a persistent online economy.

Optimization · Practiced Mastery
A turn-based RPG where timed button presses and strategic builds both matter.
Grand Theft Auto V leans Execution (Practiced Mastery); Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery).
Same score on execution - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Grand Theft Auto V
Driving and shooting demand decent inputs.
Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
timed hit inputs require precision
Grand Theft Auto V leans clearly harder on reads.
Grand Theft Auto V
Online PvP exists but mostly gear/positioning, not modeling.
Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
scripted enemies, no adaptation
Grand Theft Auto V leans a little harder on variance, though the gap is small.
Grand Theft Auto V
Some mission and lobby randomness.
Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
minimal randomness in battles
Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time leans clearly harder on optimization.
Grand Theft Auto V
Heists, money loops, builds learnable.
Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
builds and turn strategy near-solvable
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.