head to head
vs
It Came from the DesertvsThe Last of Us
It Came from the Desert leans Execution (Practiced Mastery); The Last of Us leans Execution (Practiced Mastery).
It Came from the DesertThe Last of Us
Axis by axis
Execution5 vs 5
Even - both lean on execution about the same.
Reads0 vs 1
The Last of Us leans harder on reads: Enemy AI searches but follows mappable routines
Variance3 vs 2
It Came from the Desert leans harder on variance: Town events and clue timing start unknown each campaign
Optimization5 vs 5
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.