head to head
Neither is harder. They score identically on all four axes, so the difference between them is in kind, not degree.

Optimization · Practiced Mastery
Ambitious online space sim with deep systems.

Optimization · Practiced Mastery
Mastering samurai unit cohesion and clan-specific economic chains across feudal Japan.
Star Citizen leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery); Total War: Shogun 2 leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery).
Same score on execution - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Star Citizen
Demanding flight and FPS inputs
Total War: Shogun 2
Samurai unit micro, zen arts timing, and castle sieges reward sharp play
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Star Citizen
PvP encounters reward reading pilots
Total War: Shogun 2
AI daimyo follow scripted clan doctrines; human opponents require reads
Same score on variance - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Star Citizen
Server instability and event RNG
Total War: Shogun 2
Metsuke agent skill rolls and random farm yields add moderate unknowns
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Star Citizen
Ship loadouts, cargo routes, career grind
Total War: Shogun 2
Clan-specific mastery paths and trade port chains are the core solvable layer
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.