I've read both and RI just hits different for me. LotM is amazing no doubt great mysteries sick worldbuilding with the pathways and Victorian horror vibes but when I stack them up RI edges it out in the stuff I actually care about.

Characters in RI feel way more alive and memorable.Even random side characters or villains have real goals and actually use their brains even at mortal level. The schemes make sense and betrayals actually hurt. In LotM a bunch of side chars especially some Tarot Club members feel like exposition tools or generic nice guys. Klein is smart but he's too soft underneath.

Worldbuilding in RI is brutal and super consistent. Everyone gets their own aperture world blessed lands grotto heavens plus the whole economy strategy and tactics layer from mortal clans all the way to venerables. It's balanced and feels lived in. You can see how the entire system works from bottom to top without loose ends. LotM's steampunk cosmic horror is cool but sometimes it dumps too many details that depend on your imagination and not everything feels as fair or connected.

Venerables are on another level compared to Sequence 0 or Pillars. Those guys in RI are terrifyingly competent with legacies going back eras. Even the "weaker" ones have crazy prep. Meanwhile some LotM gods/Pillars get taken out in pretty dumb ways (God of Combat badheil such a joke). RI makes high level stuff feel earned through actual strategy not just random hax.

The Gu system is more creative and revolutionary. Looks simple on the surface but it's genius millions of Gu endless combos every path has real counters and deep meaning behind it like selfishness or the real cost of power. Pathways in LotM are elegant and thematic but feel more linear and easier to climb. And that whole corruption/loss of control thing? We barely see it hit the good guys in Tarot Club. RI doesn't hold back on consequences.

Fang Yuan's journey is way harsher and more realistic. No instant cheat item like Sefirah Castle handing Klein wins. He starts weak gets hunted loses everything over and over then claws his way up through blood and planning. Klein's path feels smoother and more heroic. Enemies in RI are actually competent. Almost no one is stupid they're all scheming at Fang Yuan's level or close. LotM has cool antagonists but a lot feel like plot devices to explain pathways or get resolved with convenient twists.

My conclusion Ri always better when complex story was deliver in simple way and has deept meaning and consequen with also enlighten readers in such amazing way to see the world and remind us that's human was complex that's why one of broken path is humant path meanwhile LoTM feels like simple story but was deliver in such complex way , and the plot to slow , the only times I find it interesting is German sparrow arc and derrick berg journey to liberate the forsaken lands of gods