Berserk is a masterpiece.
The critically acclaimed manga, written by Kentaro Miura (rest his soul) and first published in 1989, broke new ground and introduced readers to a punishingly brutal style of story telling. Readers are used to the hero saving the day, but with Berserk, the hero just gets his ass kicked, his girl stolen, and his ass kicked some more. It feels like a challenge just picking up the next issue sometimes. If you made it to the end of the 2nd arc “The Golden Age”, you know what I mean.
Dark Souls is a masterpiece.
The critically acclaimed video game series, created by Hidetaka Miyazaki and FromSoftware, started in 2011 and has since produced some of the highest-quality games ever made. Bloodborne? Banger. Dark Souls III? Banger. Sekiro? Banger. Elden Ring? Banger. Known for their punishing, brutal style of game play. Gamers are used to dying and restarting a particular section or checkpoint, but with Souls games, the player just gets their ass kicked, their EXP stolen, and their ass kicked some more. It feels like a challenge just loading up your savefile sometimes. If you made it to Ornstein and Smough, or Rom, or The Nameless King, you know what I mean.
The First Berserker: Khazan, developed by Neople and published by Nexon, is an action fantasy RPG releasing sometime in 2025 on Steam, Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. Me and the team were lucky to get some closed beta codes to try it out.
After 3 hours, I can confirm it has punishing, brutal gameplay. I got used to getting my ass kicked, having my EXP stolen, and getting my ass kicked some more. It felt like a challenge just to respawn and head back into those combat encounters. If you found that damn bear, you know what I mean.
Wait a minute.. did I really just copy and paste that from the previous 2 paragraphs? Well yeah I did, and that feeling sums up my time with The First Berserker: Khazan.
It’s another Souls-like. They aren’t subtle about it, so we shouldn’t be either.
Brutal difficulty? It’s there.
Losing experience upon death? It’s there (although you do keep a small sum).
Infuriatingly useless items you find in the map? They’re there.
A dark and bloody visual setting? It has it.
What I liked?
The combat is pretty much Sekiro and Stellar Blade without a jump button. It’s got a parry, and it’s got a dodge button, and enemies often use long attack chains. Parrying all the hits in a combo creates an opening, and there is also a very satisfying stagger mechanic that deals huge damage. The combat is much snappier and quicker paced than a Fromsoft title, and during the first boss I felt like I was playing Sekiro.
The visuals are phenomenal. Neople have hit a home run with this cel-shading anime art style that looks absolutely stunning. The hit effects are bloody, and this makes the boss fights feel even more intense and gory. Much like Breath of the Wild and its cel-shaded art style, this game will still look good in 10 years.
This game will still look good in 10 years
What I didn’t like?
They missed the mark with the level designs. FromSoftware and other Souls-likes usually have a very complicated. Metroidvania level design and are easy to get lost in. Not so much with this one. Very linear levels that are usually a corridor loop with a shortcut you can unlock to make running to the next boss quicker. Still looks pretty though.
Overall, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Lies of P, Stellar Blade, Black Myth: Wukong The First Berserker: Khazan is a fun time, and I enjoyed my time with it immensely. I can’t emphasise enough how gorgeous this game looks, but I’m not sure if that will be enough for this game to stand above its predecessors.
First time comments are moderated.