If there’s one plot system that comfortably, relentlessly drives a online game plot by itself, it’s revenge. That urge of getting again on the supply of betrayal; of exacting punishment that’s a number of orders of magnitude larger. When paired with anger, it will possibly provide a singular introspection into a personality’s psyche and the morality of their actions. In others, it’s justification for beating something and all the things in your path to a bloody pulp.
The First Berserker: Khazan presents shades of each, however there’s much more happening than meets the attention. The story follows the previous normal who after saving the Pell Los Empire from the Berserk Dragon is accused of treason. Whereas his good friend, Ozma, suffers a horrible loss of life, Khazan is mercilessly tortured, the tendons in his arms severed earlier than exile.
The story picks up throughout Khazan’s transport by way of Mount Heinmach, a mysterious pressure referred to as the Blade Phantom disrupts his escort, setting him free whereas concurrently possessing his physique. Its function is unknown – in the meanwhile, the participant should discover a method out, coping with any straggling troopers and different beasties on the mountain.
The First Berserker: Khazan relies on Nexon’s Dungeon and Fighter collection, with the sordid story of the previous hero set a whole bunch of years prior. Khazan does make some appearances by way of Dungeon Fighter On-line, however that is basically his brutal origin story.
Mentioned brutality carries over to the gameplay as nicely. The First Berserker makes no bones about its roots, taking inspiration from Darkish Souls with its shortcuts, stamina meter, mild and heavy assaults, stance breaking, bonfires (generally known as the Blade Nexus right here) and respawning enemies. Lacrima is your foreign money for leveling up, and it’s dropped upon loss of life. After all, you can too dodge – correct timing will end in a Brink Dodge.
Nevertheless, the opposite half of Khazan’s gameplay loop is like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, particularly its parrying system. The proper timing means shedding negligible stamina whereas decreasing a number of the enemy’s fortitude gauge. Deplete it fully, and you’ll execute a robust essential blow. Additionally, whereas Lacrima is used to extend stats, thus affecting the scaling of weapon harm (on high of different issues), you earn separate XP in the direction of Talent Factors for unlocking new skills, which we’ll get into later.
From the outset, it sounds simple however bizarre. What makes Sekiro work is the shortage of a stamina bar, the place messing up a parry can deplete your well being and poise, thus making subsequent parries that rather more dangerous. On this case, not timing a parry and as an alternative blocking will deplete extra stamina. Operating out leaves you quickly gorgeous, which is usually a loss of life sentence towards bosses with a number of assaults. You additionally need to account for this when attacking – get too grasping, and also you won’t have sufficient stamina to take care of the enemy’s follow-ups.
And but, after going hands-on with the closed beta for The First Berserker: Khazan, consisting of its three story chapters, I’m satisfied that it’s a stable mixture of what ought to be two opposing playstyles. The result’s a difficult Souls-like – one that will not at all times really feel honest however nonetheless gives an exhilarating rush.
After all, the earlier descriptors solely scratch the floor. The primary chapter feels fairly measured in enemy sorts and mechanics, but it teaches you the fundamentals. All of it comes into play towards the boss, Yetuga, whereas educating the participant on breaking components, avoiding (or failing to keep away from) command grabs, and standing results.
It’s chapter 2 the place the sport really comes into its personal. In Stormpass, Khazan should move three trials to exorcise the Blade Phantom, which introduces the opposite weapon sorts. The Greatsword is heavy however is adept at cleaving a number of enemies with its assaults. It additionally has a shoulder assault as its sprinting assault and a charged assault, which offers in depth harm, even when it leaves you quickly weak.
Then there’s the Spear, my favourite, possessing extra attain and sweeping assaults. Subsequent upgrades can unlock Moonlight Stance, the place a profitable mild combo ends in assaults dealing extra harm because of afterimages. It additionally applies to all assaults – utilizing ability that enables for transitioning from a heavy assault right into a stabbing mild assault and each deal extra harm because of Moonlight Stance.
Every weapon kind has attention-grabbing expertise just like the dual-wield’s charged heavy assault inflicting a wound on enemies or the Greatsword’s skill to cost mild assaults. It will get even crazier when factoring in skills like Whirlwind, which leads to Khazan taking to the skies and touchdown on enemies with a spinning assault, or Ruthless, a slashing combo that will get sooner with consecutive hits.
You may unlock expertise which end in Brink Dodges dealing extra harm on their assaults, altering fully, and even recovering stamina, providing a option to sustain the tempo with the axe and sword. Whereas a lot of the gameplay is grounded, its expertise strike a steadiness between fashionable and brutal.
If that wasn’t sufficient, The First Berserker presents a loot grind. Although the beginning Frequent armor and weapons will improve protection and a few stats, you’ll finally obtain Uncommon drops, some even belonging to Gear Units, which unlock highly effective bonuses when paired with matching objects. It’s considerably paying homage to Nioh, however that’s not the one frequent issue – finally, enemies will unleash Burst Assaults, that are unblockable, however you get the Counterattack skill. It capabilities considerably just like the Burst Counter from Nioh 2 by way of timing, however pull it off, and your entire stamina regenerates, thus permitting you to press the assault.
Then there are the opposite Spirits you may summon from chapter 3 onwards, with the Spirit of Advocacy providing help whereas the Remnant of Adversity challenges you to a struggle. Defeating the latter yields rewards just like the Lacrima of Circulation (used for summoning) and equipment, which could be a good way to farm gear units or shore up weaknesses. I haven’t even gotten to the Elite enemies, which appear able to executing Counterattacks on high of packing a punch (and higher rewards).
Nevertheless, the spotlight of the expertise is the boss fights with out query. The Blade Phantom felt like a large issue spike between its multitude of weapons, teleporting assaults, seamless transitions between all the things, and delays.
And but, it taught me a lot about altering up builds, attempting new weapons, and totally exploiting the additional time from his Fortitude-broken state to deal extra harm earlier than exacting a essential blow. These anxious about spectacle shouldn’t fear since Viper, the boss in Chapter 3, begins like a extra jacked-up model of these spear-wielding dragon warriors earlier than turning into one thing else completely. Its second section is scary but undeniably cool.
Although it’s out in early 2025, I loved a lot of my time with The First Berserker: Khazan. Its motion is undeniably crisp but punishing, however the environmental design and presentation are additionally fairly sturdy. Going from Heinmach and its steep drops to the halls of Embars’ temple to cease a dastardly system felt pure and clean. There have been numerous routes and elective areas to discover, some unearthing chests with loot and others providing Soulstones to destroy in alternate for everlasting buffs. The anime-esque artwork fashion additionally seems smooth whereas retaining the grim tone of Khazan’s journey.
Talking of vengeance, the closed beta gave the sensation of simply getting began on that path, with Khazan more likely to plunge additional into darkness when all is alleged and performed. As a lot as I just like the stoic portrayal, I’m curious to see him embrace the Berserker inside and provides in to anger. We’ll see how the complete recreation fares, however for now, The First Berserker: Khazan is already hitting all the suitable Souls-like notes.
