Building comparison
head to head
L.A. NoirevsTharsis
Neither is simply harder - they are hard in different places. L.A. Noire demands more execution; Tharsis demands more variance.
L.A. Noire
Optimization · Systems & Chaos
1940s detective procedural built around crime scenes and reading scripted interrogation tells.
Tharsis
Variance · Systems & Chaos
Tests probability management as dice rolls repeatedly threaten a doomed Mars mission.
L.A. Noire leans Optimization (Systems & Chaos); Tharsis leans Variance (Systems & Chaos).
L.A. NoireTharsis
Axis by axis
Execution2 vs 0
L.A. Noire leans clearly harder on execution.
L.A. Noire
Light shooting and driving, very forgiving
Tharsis
Assigning dice needs no dexterity
Reads0 vs 0
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
L.A. Noire
Suspects follow fixed scripts, never adapt
Tharsis
Disasters are random events, not an adapting mind
Variance4 vs 8
Tharsis leans clearly harder on variance.
L.A. Noire
Interrogation tells and clues hidden until discovered
Tharsis
Dice rolls and event draws brutally dominate each turn
Optimization5 vs 7
Tharsis leans clearly harder on optimization.
L.A. Noire
Evidence chains and question choices have fixed correct answers
Tharsis
Crew allocation and risk math are the counterplay
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.