head to head
vs
Hyper Light DriftervsZelda II: The Adventure of Link
Hyper Light Drifter leans Execution (Practiced Mastery); Zelda II: The Adventure of Link leans Execution (Practiced Mastery).
Hyper Light DrifterZelda II: The Adventure of Link
Axis by axis
Execution7 vs 7
Even - both lean on execution about the same.
Reads2 vs 1
Hyper Light Drifter leans harder on reads: Scripted bosses with patterns
Variance1 vs 1
Even - both lean on variance about the same.
Optimization5 vs 6
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link leans harder on optimization: XP routing, spell use, palace order planning
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.