The First Berserker: Khazan review

Do you remember the moment that Sekiro forced you to start playing by its rules? For me, I was trundling through the game like I was playing Dark Souls when I hit the Lady Butterfly boss, and suddenly there was no room for doubt: if I didn't properly learn these new combat mechanics, I wasn't going any further. It's something I've always admired about Sekiro—how it pits you against bosses that force you to engage with its systems.

It's also what I love most about The First Berserker: Khazan. Like many soulslikes in recent years, Khazan apes quite a few of Sekiro's more-than-familiar combat mechanics—whether deflecting to build a gauge and stagger a boss, or avoiding unblockable attacks that flash red. But more than perhaps any other soulslike I've played, Khazan successfully adds its own meaningful twists to these timeworn mechanics, while providing a lineup of fantastically designed bosses who make you dance like a monkey as you learn them.

Out for revenge

The First Berserker: Khazan is a cel-shaded soulslike set in the long-running Dungeon Fighter Online universe. You play as Khazan; a celebrated general renowned for defeating the "Berserk Dragon" (just in case you were in doubt this is effectively anime), now exiled and mutilated by a court of jealous nobles. Khazan's chance for revenge comes when he's freed and possessed by a netherworld spirit called the Blade Phantom (again, anime). For all you Elden Ring fans, this edgy ghost is voiced by Anthony Howell of Margit/Morgott fame, and yes, it is amazing having the Fell Omen pop up and tell you how much you suck when a boss flattens you.

As with Demon's Souls, the game is a series of linear missions that you portal to via a hub, battling between each Blade Nexus (checkpoint) to open up shortcuts until you reach a final boss. Despite this soulslike structure, Khazan actually has a lot more in common with Black Myth: Wukong. Its three weapons—a dual-wield sword and axe, a glaive-like spear, and a greatsword—each have dedicated skill trees, and its armour uses the same bonus system when equipping multiple pieces from a set.

Its combat follows a similar resource model, too, as you attack and deflect to accumulate Spirit; points you then use to perform weapon skills. Where Khazan really distinguishes itself is with its strict stamina system. Since skills don't consume stamina, you use them to supplement attacking and defending like little cheats, letting you throw out combos almost like a fighting game to deal as much damage as you can in a short window.

Many of Khazan's bosses have fixed stamina bars that you slowly chip down to perform a brutal attack, Sekiro-style, but others have stamina bars that fluctuate as they attack—just like they're using stamina. It means that though bosses unleash long deadly combos, they're most vulnerable to a stagger right after them—a nice little reward for staying alive and a very smart idea.

Deadly experiments

Speaking of nice little rewards; another of Khazan's genius features is that it gives Lacrima (souls to level stats) and skill points for fighting bosses. That's right, not beating bosses; simply fighting them. "How is that not entirely broken?" you ask. Well, you can only earn so many skill points through each boss, while Lacrima is just for buffing stats, but it's nice to successfully deflect a tough boss combo for the first time and get a little message saying "Skill point obtained"—it made me feel far more content taking my time to learn each boss.

After all, Khazan has some real difficulty spikes. Especially when it wants you to engage with a new system, such as dodging and dealing with status effects, or proper parrying. Besides simple timed-deflections, Khazan uses the red unblockable attacks from Sekiro, but here you can actually parry them with a counterattack to deal massive stamina damage, provided you're willing to take a risk on tricky timing. Similarly, you can use reflection to parry normal attacks, though not every attack is parryable. It's up to you to work out which and weave that into your strategy.

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And if you don't like parrying or deflection? Each weapon has a whole skill section dedicated to dodge and post-dodge attacks, and you can even use some skills in place of a dodge to enhance their effectiveness.

Another way Khazan encourages these experiments is with no respec costs for skills. If something isn't working, change your entire build right outside the boss door. Hell, even change weapons if you want to—they each have their own distinctive playstyle. Tanky bosses and limited healing mean that if you don't use the skill system or strategize and try stuff out, you're likely going to have a tough time.

Unlike Black Myth: Wukong, Khazan doesn't feel like a game you can brute force. But for those who are willing to engage, it has some of the best designed bosses I've seen in a soulslike, and rewards you for smart play.

Guts and grind

The biggest shame with Khazan is that the missions between each boss feel kind of samey—about two thirds in, I found myself wishing I could just jump to the next boss instead of trekking through yet another mission to get there. I definitely appreciate Khazan not perpetuating the genre's worst tendencies; putting hidden dogs around every corner and enemies who constantly push you off ledges—cough cough Lords of the Fallen. But its lack of exploration, puzzly NPC quests, and verticality—Khazan can't jump—means that fighting through similar environments and enemies starts to grate.

Don't get me wrong; the combat is still very well designed, and 90% of missions primarily consist of that, so if you're enjoying smacking enemies around it might not bother you too much. It's more that having been spoiled by all the accoutrements of the modern soulslike—elaborate NPC quests, secrets, exploration—Khazan and its no frills linear structure can feel basic at times.

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Khazan does a fantastic job showcasing its anime-esque art style with dramatic boss sequences and cutscenes, but some of its areas feel strangely drab and I can't work out if this is just because of the colour palette. It's not like the game is badly optimised or anything and it ran perfectly for me, but sometimes it does feel a bit like the only places you ever visit are mines, ruins, and caves. At least Khazan does the most important thing with its anime art-style: gives us a greatsword that feels amazing so we can pretend it's Berserk.

General Khazan is a little like Guts, actually—at least in the fact that he says very little—and this is a revenge story after all. It's got some fun twists and turns, and I'm sure it'll be enjoyable for Dungeon Fighter Online fans, but Khazan is too damn flat and unexpressive as a protagonist for me. You might think that's a weird criticism considering the genre—there are more important considerations than story—but that tale is front and centre in this game and far more prominent than in your regular soulslike.

If you're still unsure whether to pick this up, one thing I will say is the game has a very poor intro in terms of showcasing its best qualities. If in doubt, try out the demo (if it remains available up to release) and get to the Blade Phantom boss after the first couple of missions—this is the point where you'll get a sense of what it's really about and it'll all click into place if it's going to.