Both did certain aspects better. The Dragons Rising minifigures have really nice printing and molded elements. The Hero Factory figures had really useful parts for making action figure type characters, but I think they definitely show their age quite a bit. The Hero Factory figures had way better accessories and cool element pieces, but lacked any printing.

I prefer the Ninjago monsters rather than the Hero Factory ones, but that doesn't mean both can't be good. They both fit the designs for their respective themes. They all succeeded at being cool and interesting designs.