As someone only vaguely familiar with the Dungeon Fighter Online series—aside from the excellent DNF Duel fighting game—it took me a moment to realize that The First Berserker: Khazan is actually based on the popular game series. Thankfully, The First Berserker: Khazan does an excellent job of introducing new players to its world, setting up an intriguing revenge story within what appears to be a solid soulslike action RPG.
My time with the closed beta for The First Berserker: Khazan gave me access to three areas, plus a hub world called the Crevice, which connects to the final zone of the extended demo. Starting The First Berserker initially delivered exactly what I expected: a competent Soulslike game with an anime-inspired cel-shaded aesthetic.
Thankfully, The First Berserker seems to have a little more up its sleeve. Even from this extended demo, I found myself increasingly engaged as I progressed through its treacherous, snowy peaks. Khazan’s basic gameplay loop is a familiar one, featuring interconnected medium- to large-sized zones punctuated by tough enemy encounters and challenging bosses.
“The First Berserker: Khazan does an excellent job of introducing new players to its world, setting up an intriguing revenge story within what appears to be a solid soulslike action RPG.”
Bonfire-like checkpoints make an appearance as well, taking the form of something called a Blade Nexus, a fissure of broken demonic energy that, when touched, allows the player to heal and distribute their Lacrima (soul-like currency) to level up, complete with resetting enemies and hazards in the vicinity.
Things get more interesting when it comes to The First Berserker: Khazan’s flexibility, particularly after the second boss encounter, which unlocks the skill tree tab in the main menu of the game. Unlike many other Soulslike titles, where builds tend to lock you into a specific approach or playstyle, Khazan feels much looser, allowing the player to switch between its three available weapons without worrying too much about weapon proficiency.
Not to say that blindly distributing your hard-earned Lacrima is a good idea — rather, building out your character the way you like tends to have more immediate feedback, making it easier to cater to your own playstyle as you progress through the game.
The First Berserker: Khazan also borrows from one of my favourite Soulslike titles, Sekiro, in that the game features a posterity gauge for both the player and enemy characters. Battles boil down to cleaving away at your target’s stamina or posterity meter, which staggers the enemy, allowing the player to deal massive damage.
At first, players only have access to the dual-wielding weapon class, which consists of a barbarian-like battle-axe and short sword that, in use, feels heavy but agile, making for a good starting weapon that evokes the berserker look and feel relatively well.
The heaviest of the three available weapon types that unlock shortly after defeating the first Yeti-inspired boss, the Greatsword weapon, conversely, is heavy and slow, almost too big to be called a sword. Too big, too thick, and too heavy, living up to the game’s namesake.
“The First Berserker seems to have a little more up its sleeve, and I found myself increasingly engaged as I progressed through its treacherous, snowy peaks.”
Finally, a good all-arounder and agile weapon set, the Spear weapon subset features my favourite of the three styles, offering players a fast and long-ranged attack style that I found ideal for chaining together combos and special moves.
Speaking of special attacks, The First Berserker: Khazan truly comes into its own after unlocking Skill Tree after entering the Stormpass area of the game. Skills consume energy from the spirit gauge, which can be replenished over time by defeating enemies or even just engaging in battle. The skills themselves add devasting flourishes to your attack chains and can be a great way to hack away at that last sliver of posterity/stamina of the enemy target.
Each of the three weapon classes features unique skills that can be unlocked and further strengthened, while points can also be redistributed with ease, encouraging experimentation. The First Berserker: Khazan, in general, feels less restrictive and arcadey compared to other hardcore action RPGs, ultimately making it feel fresh and engaging despite it being a mostly familair experience.
Although brief, my time with The First Berserker: Khazan was encouraging, reinforcing the notion that Neople is adamant about expanding on their popular Dungeon Fighter property into other genres that provide players with meaningful experiences regardless of their affinity with the source material.
