head to head
vs
Medieval II: Total WarvsShadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew
Medieval II: Total War leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Medieval II: Total WarShadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew
Axis by axis
Execution2 vs 2
Even - both lean on execution about the same.
Reads1 vs 0
Medieval II: Total War leans harder on reads: campaign AI is exploitable and mappable
Variance3 vs 2
Medieval II: Total War leans harder on variance: fog of war and event triggers hide some state
Optimization9 vs 9
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.