head to head
vs
South Park: The Stick of TruthvsStar Ocean: The Second Story R
South Park: The Stick of Truth leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Star Ocean: The Second Story R leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
South Park: The Stick of TruthStar Ocean: The Second Story R
Axis by axis
Execution3 vs 4
Star Ocean: The Second Story R leans harder on execution: Real-time combat rewards dodging but forgives sloppy hands
Reads0 vs 0
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance2 vs 2
Even - both lean on variance about the same.
Optimization6 vs 7
Star Ocean: The Second Story R leans harder on optimization: Builds, crafting breaks and ending routes are deeply solvable
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.