Building comparison
head to head
Nine SolsvsNinja Gaiden II Black
Neither is harder. They score identically on all four axes, so the difference between them is in kind, not degree.
Nine Sols
Execution · Pure Mechanics
Taopunk metroidvania whose parry-centric boss fights channel Sekiro in 2D.
Ninja Gaiden II Black
Execution · Pure Mechanics
Punishing combat execution against fast scripted enemies with deep encounter solutions.
Nine Sols leans Execution (Pure Mechanics); Ninja Gaiden II Black leans Execution (Pure Mechanics).
Nine SolsNinja Gaiden II Black
Axis by axis
Execution9 vs 9
Same score on execution - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Nine Sols
Sekiro-style parry timing is the entire combat test
Ninja Gaiden II Black
Frame-tight blocking, dodging and combo routing define survival
Reads1 vs 1
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Nine Sols
Bosses follow learnable scripts
Ninja Gaiden II Black
Aggressive enemies still run scripted, learnable behaviour
Variance1 vs 1
Same score on variance - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Nine Sols
Deterministic authored world
Ninja Gaiden II Black
Encounters fixed; spawns known after one run
Optimization6 vs 6
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Nine Sols
Moveset study, talismans, and route knowledge
Ninja Gaiden II Black
Weapon choice, essence economy and encounter solutions matter
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.