The First Berserker: Khazan
MSRP $59.99
“The First Berserker: Khazan will frustrate you to no end, but it’s still worth its weight in broken controllers.”
Pros
Beautiful artwork model
Balanced fight
Strong development system
Great degree design
Cons
Frustrating stamina administration
Puzzling mission construction
Bad ally AI
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Standing out from the pack
Many inspirations
Growing pains
Soulslike video games are available in many flavors. Some emphasize parrying enemy assaults like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, whereas others utterly depend on dodging them, like Black Myth: Wukong. When I performed The First Berserker: Khazan, I used to be wanting ahead to seeing the place its mechanics fell inside the Soulslike spectrum. It seems that it’s squarely within the center.
Up till a boss battle in opposition to an enormous bipedal ox, I used to be parrying each single assault. I lastly noticed the worth in dodging as an alternative of parrying when its flaming weapon inflicted chip injury though my parry timing was good. That boss battle taught me that I couldn’t solely depend on blocking and I wanted to make the most of each software in my equipment to outlive.
The First Berserker: Khazan has among the most balanced defensive and offensive fight methods I’ve skilled in a Soulslike recreation, in addition to some wealthy development. However, some irritating boss mechanics, braindead AI, and puzzling mission construction maintain it again from reaching its full potential.
Standing out from the pack
The First Berserker: Khazan is a Soulslike RPG spin-off of Dungeon and Fighter, a side-scrolling beat-em’ up franchise. It follows a disgraced basic named Khazan who’s falsely accused of being a traitor. He varieties a pact with an entity known as the Blade Phantom, who grants him supernatural powers to get revenge on those that wronged him. The recreation acts like a prequel to the Dungeon and Fighter sequence, because it tells the origins of the Khazan Syndrome, an ailment handed right down to Berserkers that causes elevated energy at the price of psychological degradation.
While its story isn’t probably the most unique, it’s far more coherent than your typical Soulslike recreation. Unlike video games like Elden Ring, which is stuffed with cryptic lore, The First Berserker’s story is relatively simple to observe as Khazan repeatedly recruits new allies to his revenge quest.
Nexon
The First Berserker makes use of an anime aesthetic that’s most just like Bandai Namco’s personal Soulslike, Code Vein, however with far more cel-shading. Its tone is edgy and brooding, however the saturated colours distinction properly and pop within the character fashions and environments, making it stand out in comparison with the plethora of Soulslike video games with boring and muted coloration palettes.
Many inspirations
The fight feels prefer it takes inspiration from a wide range of contemporaries in its subgenre, particularly Sekiro. Khazan can parry enemy assaults with the intention to scale back their stamina and break their stance. He can even dodge incoming assaults like in Black Myth: Wukong and timing them completely lets Khazan inflict fast counterattacks. This makes The First Berserker’s fight really feel like the very best of each worlds, however that comes with a serious draw back.
Bosses and enemies are very aggressive like in Bloodborne and Lies of P, usually attacking in chains with a number of hits. Stamina doesn’t get better quick sufficient to maintain up with these fixed hits, although. I usually felt that my stance stored getting damaged. Sekiro didn’t have a stamina bar for dodging, which is what made its parrying mechanics really feel honest. Even with stat upgrades that boosted Khazan’s stamina restoration charge, it didn’t really feel prefer it was sufficient to resist fixed onslaught of assaults.
Even although I used to be always getting my butt kicked, not less than I used to be making a smidge of progress every time.
Thankfully, there’s some flexibility with Khazan’s talent tree. Of his three obtainable weapons, the twin wield sword and axe, the greatsword, and the spear, I felt that the spear match my playstyle the very best with its lengthy attain and broad assault vary. I used to be in a position to put talent factors into particular spear methods in addition to upgrading my counterattacks to present myself much more defensive choices. Skills factors will be returned and reinvested at no further value, which provides to the system’s versatility.
One standout function that The First Berserker has is that it provides gamers Lacrima (this recreation’s model of expertise factors) upon dying in a boss battle. Like in lots of different Soulslike video games, I spent hours making an attempt to defeat sure bosses, however made no progress. Depending on how shut I used to be to defeating the boss, I earned extra Lacrima. It’s virtually a mini roguelite system: Even although I used to be always getting my butt kicked, not less than I used to be making a smidge of progress every time.
Nexon
Khazan can name on an ally for assist throughout boss battles, and it really works equally to Lies of P. By preventing copies of himself discovered at random spots in ranges, Khazan can earn a consumable known as a Shard of Advocacy to summon allies. Allies inflicting further injury or being distractions is useful, however the AI isn’t very useful. In one explicit combat, I fought a boss that might create areas of fireside that always drained HP. My ally merely wouldn’t transfer out of the fireplace, resulting in its early demise. Another boss had an assault that might draw me in, however might be simply averted by working or dodging backwards. My ally by no means did that and died at that time of the combat each single time.
Tying the power to summon allies to a consumable is irritating, particularly when making an attempt to farm for them. Sometimes it doesn’t really feel value it contemplating how simply allies can die. I really feel like I’d be higher off preventing the boss alone more often than not.
Growing pains
While the fight is combined, The First Berserker’s degree design is high notch, stuffed with accessible shortcuts to make attending to bosses simpler. Lowering drawbridges, discovering keys to locked doorways, and activating elevators all felt immensely satisfying after preventing my method by way of hordes of monsters.
Whenever Khazan goes to a brand new degree, he begins a mission. Players progress by way of the degrees and dungeons as standard, unlocking save factors alongside the best way like every regular Soulslike recreation. However, Khazan can’t warp between any of them. That isn’t inherently an issue, nevertheless it’s compounded with one extremely baffling mission construction resolution: If you need to go to a brand new degree, the whole progress of the present degree is reset.
While the save factors unlocked will nonetheless be obtainable, each single door and puzzle must be executed once more. This stifles backtracking and exploration. There was one explicit degree and save level that I discovered that was good for farming Shards of Advocacy. However, as soon as I left the extent to do a aspect mission in one other degree, I used to be unable to rapidly entry that very same space once more and must undergo the whole dungeon as soon as extra simply to take action. Farming for the consumable was annoying sufficient, however having to redo the dungeon to succeed in that very same level was even worse.
Nexon
Equipment like weapons and armor are dropped by enemies or present in chests, and The First Berserker’s loot system is without doubt one of the most manageable I’ve performed in current reminiscence. It doesn’t overwhelm gamers with new drops each 5 seconds like different Soulslike video games, resembling Nioh, do, and there are many methods of utilizing previous tools you don’t put on anymore. You can merely promote them for gold, or dismantle it to earn some Lacrima to go in the direction of rising Khazan’s stats. Additionally, previous tools will be consumed to alter the attributes of different tools or improve their degree. The course of is extremely streamlined and I by no means felt like my previous tools was going to waste.
The First Berserker: Khazan actually examined my persistence, much more so than different Soulslike video games. It virtually made me need to snap my controller in half at instances. But as powerful as its bosses have been, its methods are simple to know. Even with some questionable design selections within the mission construction and points with the best way stamina is dealt with, the sport’s versatile fight made me need to see the journey by way of. Khazan could be the first Berserker, however I wasn’t far behind myself; I will need to have caught Khazan Syndrome the best way I used to be shedding my thoughts enjoying this recreation.
The First Berserker: Khazan was examined on Xbox Series X.