Nikon D3500 has a
24.0MP APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Expeed 4 processor. On the other hand, Panasonic GX85 has a
16.0MP Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Venus Engine processor.
Nikon D3500's sensor provides 8MP more than Panasonic GX85's sensor, which gives a significant advantage in real life. You can print your images larger or crop more freely.
On the other hand, please keep in mind that Max sensor resolution is not the only determinant of resolving power. Factors such as the optical elements, low pass filter, pixel size and sensor technology also affects the final resolution of the captured image.
Another similarity between these two cameras is that both Panasonic GX85 and Nikon D3500 sensors lack anti-alias (Low-Pass) filters. Removing anti-alias filter increases the sharpness and level of detail but at the same time, it increases the chance of moiré occurring in certain scenes.
Below you can see the D3500 and GX85 sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Nikon D3500 has a 1.6x Larger sensor area than Panasonic GX85. Larger sensors give photographer more control on the depth of field and blurry background compared to smaller sensor when shot in same focal length and aperture.