head to head
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is execution, and it is a single point.

Execution · Practiced Mastery
Robot-dinosaur hunting that rewards weak-point study and ranged precision.

Optimization · Practiced Mastery
Tests patience with scripted encounters and light adventure-game routing.
Horizon Zero Dawn leans Execution (Practiced Mastery); The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery).
Horizon Zero Dawn leans a little harder on execution, though the gap is small.
Horizon Zero Dawn
Bow aiming and dodge timing matter.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Basic melee, archery and stealth need only modest timing
Horizon Zero Dawn leans a little harder on reads, though the gap is small.
Horizon Zero Dawn
Machines follow fixed patterns, not adapting.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Enemies follow simple scripts; nothing adapts
Same score on variance - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Horizon Zero Dawn
Some loot and patrol randomness.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Encounters are fixed; little is random once seen
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Horizon Zero Dawn
Weak points, traps, builds fully solvable.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Learning levels, item use and encounter order carries the game
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.