head to head
vs
No Man's SkyvsThief II: The Metal Age
No Man's Sky leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Thief II: The Metal Age leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
No Man's SkyThief II: The Metal Age
Axis by axis
Execution3 vs 3
Even - both lean on execution about the same.
Reads0 vs 1
Thief II: The Metal Age leans harder on reads: Mechanist guards run scripted beats, never adapting to tactics
Variance3 vs 3
Even - both lean on variance about the same.
Optimization8 vs 9
Thief II: The Metal Age leans harder on optimization: Loot routing and tool economy are fully optimisable once learned
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.