Building comparison
head to head
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIIIvsPrey (2017)
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is reads, and it is a single point.
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
Optimization · Pure Optimization
A time-limited JRPG where Lightning races a doomsday clock with customizable battle outfits.
Prey (2017)
Optimization · Pure Optimization
Immersive sim aboard Talos I where build and route choices dominate.
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Prey (2017) leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIIIPrey (2017)
Axis by axis
Execution4 vs 4
Same score on execution - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
Real-time guards and stagger timing matter
Prey (2017)
Wrench and Gloo timing modest.
Reads0 vs 1
Prey (2017) leans a little harder on reads, though the gap is small.
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
Enemies are scripted
Prey (2017)
Typhon AI scripted, not adaptive.
Variance2 vs 2
Same score on variance - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
Some drop and quest randomness
Prey (2017)
Mimics and resource spawns randomized.
Optimization8 vs 8
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
World-clock scheduling and schemata builds dominate
Prey (2017)
Neuromods, builds, station routing deeply 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.