Review of “The First Berserker: Khazan”

After diving into The First Berserker: Khazan, I’ve emerged both depleted and exhilarated. This challenging game from Neople’s Dungeon & Fighter universe demands relentless precision, leaving my fingers sore and my brain completely taxed. Its demanding nature feels like a drill sergeant, tearing me down initially only to rebuild me into a hardened warrior, ready to face its nightmares. Despite the many times I faced seemingly unbeatable odds and found myself stepping away in frustration, there was a strange joy in the battles that pushed me to my limits.

The narrative of The First Berserker: Khazan follows a classic revenge storyline. Khazan, once a revered general, finds himself betrayed, deemed a traitor, and grievously wounded. In a twist of fate, he’s resurrected and possessed by a group of fierce warrior spirits known as the Blade Phantom, driving him towards their own dark goals. Although this setup offers a rich blend of medieval politics and creeping supernatural forces, the story that follows is somewhat shallow and lacks depth.

In gameplay, rather than exploring vast, open worlds, Khazan’s journey is divided into distinct missions, with a hub area called The Crevice serving as a base between missions. Admittedly, while The Crevice is visually captivating with its floating stones and fractured stairways, it primarily serves as a logistic point for inventory management rather than offering any significant world-building or narrative progression. It’s more about acquiring optional quests and upgrading gear than exploring deeper storylines.

As a battle-hardened warrior, Khazan wields a variety of weapons, though mastering them takes time. Early on, you’re introduced to the game’s three weapon types: the power-packed but slow greatsword, the quick stamina-draining spear, and the aggressive dual blades. Each weapon type is distinct, presenting unique move sets that cater to different fighting styles.

Over time, each weapon’s skill tree can be unlocked, enhancing Khazan’s battle prowess. These skill trees allow for modification of attacks, changing stamina usage, and introducing new moves that utilize Spirit Points. By the end of the game’s approximate 85-hour journey, my iteration of Khazan had changed significantly from where he started, shaped by countless hours of experimentation and refinement.

While Khazan’s arsenal allows for weapon swapping, each transition feels more like a complete transformation than a quick switch. Unlike Dark Souls, where weapons generally provide light and heavy attacks, The First Berserker layers complexity with Spirit attacks and intricate skill trees. This complexity led me to specialize in dual blades, tweaking their abilities with each battle. Though reallocating skill points is an option, doing so can be cumbersome, discouraging on-the-fly changes.

Every mission in The First Berserker plays out in a familiar Soulslike structure: navigate areas teeming with foes, conserve limited healing items, collect valuables, and eventually level up at the Blade Nexus. The game lacks exciting optional areas or surprise bosses, making exploration feel linear and straightforward.

The real challenge awaits at the end of each mission, where formidable bosses stand as gatekeepers. These battles can be grueling roadblocks, requiring significant strategy shifts and perseverance. One such early encounter with a soul manifestation tested my patience, demanding changes in tactics and gear adjustments to topple it. Another, a fierce goat demon equipped with fire-laden weaponry, compelled me to rethink and refine my approach multiple times.

Indeed, the bosses are punishingly difficult, particularly in the early stages, often swallowing hours of perseverance. The smaller foes foreshadow the larger-than-life bosses, offering only a taste of what’s to come. In contrast, Elden Ring’s Margit allows players to outgrow challenges with strategic preparation—something not as easily achievable in The First Berserker.

Despite the initial toil, the boss battles morphed into the highlight of my experience. Each fight became an intricate dance of learning enemy patterns, timing dodges, and perfecting strategies. Once a source of dread, these encounters evolved into a gratifying challenge as I gleaned new insights with each attempt. Each setback turned into a lesson, each restart an opportunity for triumph.

Neople has introduced helpful features to ease the harshness: repeated boss attempts reward you with Lacrima, aiding level advancements and enhancing your odds in consecutive trials. Additionally, skill points accrue from battling, offering new tactical options that might just tilt a seemingly impossible fight in your favor.

As the campaign progressed, optimizing Khazan’s equipment became critical. The right combination of weapons, armor, and accessories grants beneficial stat boosts and set bonuses, subtly nudging players toward tailored playstyles. Though these enhancements don’t drastically alter gameplay, they do offer tactical edges vital in combat.

Side quests, available post-mission, offer opportunities for growth and gear upgrades, revisiting and remixing previous levels with added challenges. While these tasks provide narrative snippets of Khazan’s complex backstory, they also enrich the world with context that the main plot sometimes lacks.

Upon completing the game, a New Game+ mode unlocks, introducing an array of new elemental weapons, perfect for spurring innovative strategies. Though I wish these varied effects were available earlier, they add a fresh layer to post-game exploration and challenge.

With The First Berserker: Khazan, I faced trials that tested my resolve, crafting moments of deep frustration into profound satisfaction. It’s a brutal, rewarding experience, and every hard-won victory felt like a testament to perseverance and skill. The journey from disheartenment to delight made every moment in Khazan’s world, both harsh and invigorating, truly unforgettable.