Building comparison
head to head
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year DoorvsShogun: Total War
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is optimization, and it is a single point.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Optimization · Pure Optimization
A beloved turn-based RPG with theatrical combat.
Shogun: Total War
Optimization · Pure Optimization
A strategy wargame pairing turn-based management of feudal Japan with real-time mass battles.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Shogun: Total War leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year DoorShogun: Total War
Axis by axis
Execution3 vs 3
Same score on execution - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Action commands and stylish moves
Shogun: Total War
Real-time battle micro matters but pace is forgiving
Reads2 vs 2
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Scripted enemy AI
Shogun: Total War
Campaign AI daimyos follow mappable behaviors
Variance3 vs 3
Same score on variance - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Audience and badge effects
Shogun: Total War
Fog of war and agent rolls hide information
Optimization7 vs 8
Shogun: Total War leans a little harder on optimization, though the gap is small.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Badge builds and partner tactics
Shogun: Total War
Campaign economy, army composition and terrain are 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.