The First Berserker: Khazan Review
Relentlessly Difficult, Highly Rewarding
Developed by Neople and published by Nexon, The First Berserker: Khazan is a truly hardcore and amazing action RPG, with outstanding qualities in almost every dimension. As an expansion of the world from the Dungeon & Fighter (DNF) series, The First Berserker elects to tell its own diverging story about General Khazan’s fall from grace, exile, and subsequent quest for revenge. Along the way, players must battle hordes of enemies and nemeses alike, squaring off in enthralling combat encounters in a dark and harshly magnificent world. Although this oppressiveness largely elevates The First Berserker, it occasionally works to its detriment by making the pacing of its early hours feel rather slow. Nevertheless, its brutality is refreshing, with infrequent but largely fair and welcome difficulty spikes.
Taking place in the 89th year of the Pell Los Empire, The First Berserker opens with the titular General Khazan shackled and chained inside of a transport to his exile site in a distant, snowy mountain region. As a widely famous war hero known for killing the Berserk Dragon Hismar, Khazan is accused of treason against the empire in the post-war rebuilding efforts and sentenced to having tendons in both arms severed; however, by chance of fate, an avalanche occurs. Freed from captivity, Khazan is possessed by a mysterious entity from the Netherworld, the Blade Phantom, who empowers him to embark on a quest for revenge against the emperor.
Free from his chains, Khazan sets out on a path of revenge.
For players worried about The First Berserker’s connection to the DNF series – fret not, as the game is largely self-contained and easily understandable to those unfamiliar with the surrounding lore. Much of the early game sees Khazan traveling through various locales, learning of the destruction wrought in the wake of the political crisis surrounding his high-profile exile. While this initially serves as a compelling setup and premise, much of the early game focuses on the smaller minutiae of various factional breakdowns in the empire’s chaos, be it the Dragonkin or Knivesveil mercenary groups. Much of the more relevant drama and best character moments come in the game’s second half, and the beginning feels comparatively dull, with much larger gaps between major story moments. If the first half is meant for worldbuilding, the quieted pilgrimage through ruined small villages overstays its welcome far too long. This makes the game feel unevenly paced since the second half has some stunningly beautiful and moving moments that happen more often, with significantly more bearing on Khazan’s conflict.
The true shining star of The First Berserker is its combat system, which is genuinely something to behold. Inspired by the Soulslike genre, the game perfectly blends all the best elements that have colored action RPGs in recent years. Khazan can utilize three different weapon types – dual wielding, a greatsword, or a spear – each of which can utilize light, heavy, dodge, and sprint attacks. At the same time, through a skill tree, players can learn special attacks that can be used by expending the “Spirit Gauge,” which greatly extends the ability to execute combos and control the pace of fights and is a welcome inclusion that the game benefits significantly from.
Because of the wide variety of options, Khazan has a dizzying number of ways to destroy his enemies. To emerge victorious, managing stamina and exhausting the enemy’s stamina bars and poise through relentless attack leaves them open to “Brutal Attacks,” further adding to the General’s dance of death. Through a combination of timely blocks and dodges, and through the ability to parry and execute counterguards against unblockable enemy “Burst Attacks,” The First Berserker executes its core combat extremely well, both against a wide variety of enemies and the game’s boss encounters.
Khazan executing a Burst Attack on an enemy, with the usual stylistic flair and particle effects.
The First Berserker’s challenge largely comes from these boss encounters, which are extraordinarily designed, require a very high level of proficiency to defeat, and will push even seasoned action RPG fans to their limits. What makes these fights most remarkable is how each has its own identity, with some centering around the rhythmic timing of executing “Perfect Guards” against a flurry of strikes while others are akin to a patterned dance of intense dodging while avoiding or managing a variety of colorful, debilitating status effects. That said, multiple bosses in the game exhibit some seriously harsh difficulty spikes, and while they are all fair due to the bedrock of combat being as solid as it is, the expectations placed on players are daunting, amounting to a truly hardcore, limit-pushing experience that may turn off those inexperienced with action RPGs or Soulslikes.
As a qualifier, though, it must be stressed that The First Berserker is a game that obviously and desperately wants players to succeed, which is best exemplified in its incorporation of RPG mechanics and game design choices. Most notably, there are no boss runbacks, and the checkpoint for every single boss in the game is located immediately before their encounter. Further, players receive high amounts of Lacrima – the game’s level-up currency – for each failed boss attempt proportional to how far they made it in the fight. This encourages player growth and rewards them for successfully engaging with and learning the boss’s mechanics, allowing them to level up and grow stronger even in the face of failure, rather than wasting time grinding against standard enemies.
Everything here can be reversed and redistributed.
Additionally, at any given time, players can re-allocate their skill points into passive abilities or entirely different weapon skills at will, completely for free. The freedom to explore other options rewards experimentation and reduces frustration by allowing players to retool to the specific demands of combat. Other avenues allow players to become stronger, namely through equipment found during exploration. The gear system is largely implemented well, and players can pay Lacrima to randomly reroll their passive equipment buffs, which is often enough to give the little extra bump needed to eke out a win. Players can also stitch together whole sets of gear for even stronger buffs, and it feels especially satisfying to have the blacksmith craft that one missing gear piece to gain a special ability.
The level design and general exploration are also commendable, and despite some slightly excessive linearity in the early levels, taking a diverging path often rewards players with some useful items, a powerful piece of equipment, or a more challenging enemy encounter. Known as an Elite Enemy, these harder enemies are scattered throughout levels and die permanently upon defeat, which adds some variety and flavor if regular enemies start to feel routine. As the game opens into its second half, the levels become significantly more impressive and complex, with a flooded city and the final dungeon standing out with particularly creative explorative options and intertwining paths.
For anyone still struggling, The First Berserker offers an easy mode, which dials down damage slightly and affords more mobility and stamina. Nevertheless, it refuses to concede on its core mechanics, and even in easy mode, the game is still incredibly daunting. The intricacies of each boss fight cannot be cheated, some of which demand proficiency quickly, which can be overwhelming but ultimately highly rewarding. The story and combat beautifully synthesize to create a consistent feeling of oppression, which is further amplified by the game’s aesthetics. The Pell Los Empire is largely ruined, its society in shambles, and it shows throughout the entire experience.
Visually, The First Berserker is a decidedly dark game that also flourishes with color, charm, and energy. The various locales are often decimated, littered with bodies, and shrouded in dark magic, contributing to a distressing and tense atmosphere. The graphics have a very soft, almost cel-shaded style, which makes them pleasant to look at, but it still communicates the intended harshness. It is a treat to explore and observe the game’s various particle effects and movements, although it occasionally suffers from frame rate drops, most notably in the final dungeon, and some scattered, minor graphical oddities. While some of the early missions are grayer and more shadowy, there are always brilliant flashes of red Lacrima and colorful magic attacks which become more pronounced and frequent in the late game. As the plot reveals itself, so does the visual design, and some of the late-game bosses are gorgeously creative and inspired.
Trokka the witch, whose fight bursts with colorful flashes of blues, pinks, and purples.
The music and sound design are almost as good as the visuals. Most of the English voice acting is quite compelling, and some of the performances later in the game resonate with a profound emotional commitment of the actors to the game’s drama. The music is generally great at elevating the intensity of fights, with war drums and brass being frequent mainstays against standard enemies and a collection of bosses. However, like much of the aforementioned elements, the late-game bosses and areas contain much more variety and are generally more sonically impressive. In particular, the game’s penultimate boss has a deeply emotional and memorable opus that soars the fight’s presentation to extraordinary heights.
All in all, The First Berserker delivers an uncompromisingly tight combat experience that is further buoyed by an interesting, if somewhat unevenly paced, plot and a gorgeous presentation that is equal parts relentlessly grim and oppressive. The bosses are epic, enthralling, and even elegant at times, and even in easy mode, players are sure to get a tough but fair adventure. Its commitment to this identity is both impressive and formidable, and The First Berserker is sure to deliver thrills to players willing to meet its challenges.
Fluid, responsive, and challenging combat
Oppressive, engaging atmosphere in daunting environments
Excellent accessibility options and game design decisions
Incredible, well-designed boss fights
Unevenly paced plot that doesn't seriously pick up until the latter half
Minor performance issues in the late game
Difficulty spikes for several bosses can be discouraging
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