Building comparison
head to head
Shin Megami Tensei IVvsXenonauts
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is execution, and it is a single point.
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Optimization · Pure Optimization
Handheld SMT where smirk RNG stings but fusion planning and weakness knowledge carry you.
Xenonauts
Optimization · Pure Optimization
Faithful X-COM successor managing a global war against alien invasion.
Shin Megami Tensei IV leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Xenonauts leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Shin Megami Tensei IVXenonauts
Axis by axis
Execution1 vs 0
Shin Megami Tensei IV leans a little harder on execution, though the gap is small.
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Menu combat with no execution ceiling.
Xenonauts
Turn-based; no physical demands.
Reads0 vs 0
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Demon negotiation is random personality scripts.
Xenonauts
Alien AI follows consistent behavior rules.
Variance5 vs 6
Xenonauts leans a little harder on variance, though the gap is small.
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Smirk procs and negotiation RNG swing fights hard.
Xenonauts
Hit rolls and unseen alien positions punish certainty.
Optimization9 vs 9
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Fusion apps, weakness charts, and builds solve the game.
Xenonauts
Air war, economy and squad doctrine decide campaigns.
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.