u/Y98_

ER does a lot of things really well, don’t get me wrong. I love the game, but I just personally enjoyed Khazan more and here’s why:

For starters, the combat is way more fast paced and has many cool combos you can do instead of the norm slow paced combat in a lot of soulslikes and soulsbournes. Even with ER’s huge build variety, it still didn’t feel as enjoyable as Khazan.

ER is definitely the greatest open world I have ever played. Every corner has something for you: mini bosses, loot, lore items, secret items, secret dungeons. It definitely warrants me to explore a lot more than in Khazan. Even though Khazan is technically not open world, the exploration in it is decent, but not as good as ER.

Main bosses in both games were really good in terms of design and movesets. I enjoyed them in Khazan more though.

My favourite bosses in Khazan: Maluca, Viper
My favourite bosses in ER: Maliketh, Festival Radahn

I hated the dragon fight in Khazan though (Hismar), the camera angles became super annoying.

In ER, I hated the Godskin Duo. I summoned my Mimic Tear to jump them like they owed me money.

Story or plot wise, I would give it to Khazan because it was more straightforward than ER, but I also enjoyed how Elden Ring told the story through its items and side characters. Sure, it’s cool that you put the pieces of the story together yourself, but I personally prefer a more straightforward experience.

And sure, there are others that imo are better than ER like Sekiro and Lies of P, but I wanted to focus on Khazan mainly because I believe it is underrated , unlike ER which is slightly the opposite.

There are specifics that ER truly does better , but overall , Khazan for me personally gave me a much more fun experience.

For starters the combat is way more fast paced and flashy combos instead of the norm slow paced in many soulslikes and soulsbournes (except for nioh and sekiro , and probably late lies of P). Even with ER's huge build variety, Khazan's combat clicked with me more.

ER is definitely the greatest open world I have ever played , the world is beyond amazing , nothing will top it , there is so much to uncover , wether it was lore items , mini bosses , gear , exploration is top tier. Khazan has decent exploration but not as much as ER.

Main Bosses in both games were really good in terms of design and movesets. Khazan felt more enjoyable still but without taking away anything from ER also , my favourite one was the maliketh boss fight, in Khazan it was the Maluca boss fight. Boss fights I hated in Khazan is the hismar boss fight, the camera angle was annoying and it made the boss fight 10x more difficult , and in ER I hated the godskin duo, they weren't very difficult , but they were extremely tedious and annoyed tf out of me :)

Story or Plot wise , i would give it to Khazan because it was more straightforward than ER but I also enjoyed how Elden Ring told the story through its items and side characters , and sure it's cool that you put the pieces of the story yourself , but I like a more straightforward experience.

A lot of people may think I hate ER , I don't , in fact i love ER and to this day I will always recommend it , I'm not one of those purists who will shutter anyone from any game , but some of the fandom treat ER as above criticism.