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When I played the demo I thought it was neat that you netted exp for a failed boss attempt, and that item drops (which all have set bonuses - another nice tweak on the FromSoft formula) seemed more frequent when replaying an area, so you could mix it up and do either - attempt the same boss multiple times or grind already explored areas.
I agree with your Elden Ring critique: open world + repeat bosses eventually makes the difficulty trivial if you like to explore and 'finish' an area before moving on to the next. It's one of the main reasons I prefer the Souls series.
The main downside to the Khazan demo I felt was that the areas were all quite small, so you were never really that far away from your corpse, and it felt too easy to reclaim your dropped exp. But I only played the demo so maybe things improve in the main game. Part of the appeal of a Soulslike for me is your universal exp being at threat, and I never really felt that in Khazan, which is why it's on my wishlist waiting for a discount rather than being an instant purchase.
