You know, there’s a lot to be said for difficulty options. I’m not here to have that particular conversation today – you know the one. Yeah, that one. But I will say that having options that include certain people that don’t exclude certain other people is always a good thing. Always. It’s one of the reasons I enjoyed The First Berserker: Khazan so much. On the standard setting it’s a very tough game. On the easier setting, it’s still tough, but feels more manageable. It’s not a big drop, but it’s noticeable, and I still came up against multiple bosses that turned me into sandwich paste. I’m telling you this for the sake of disclosure, so if you’re the type of person who won’t read a review by someone who isn’t hardcore, you can pop off now and find some YouTuber who’s completed Khazan with a Rock Band mic while tied to a chair or something.
The First Berserker: Khazan is a Soulslike of the first order, featuring all the trappings of such bar none, but with a lot of its own ideas thrown into the mix. It takes place in the Pel Los Empire: the setting for the Dungeons & Fighters universe, which is like a Korean DnD. It’s pretty huge in the East, with around eight million recorded players. I’m not overly familiar with the setting, and Khazan doesn’t waste any time explaining it. Despite its world being steeped in lore, Khazan’s developers insist on telling the story through big events and flavour text. Cutscenes are flashy and explosive, every character who holds a weapon is a badass, and adversaries can only converse in thinly veiled threats like two fast food employees who quietly hate one another.
What story there is is well delivered though. The ubiquitous Ben Starr (he of Final Fantasy XVI fame) voices General Khazan, a fallen hero betrayed by his Emperor and his closest allies. Left for dead on the side of an ice-cloaked mountain, he awakens fuelled by rage and vengeance, and soon makes a deal with a phantom that was set to possess his corpse. The phantom needs a body, and Khazan needs power – working together is the best way to get everyone what they want.
What follows begins as a fairly straightforward Soulslike that feels like a direct midpoint between Sekiro, Nioh, and Dark Souls classic. Dying will cause Khazan to drop his upgrade currency, called Lacrima, and resurrect at a Blade Nexus, the gateway through which phantoms can travel between the physical world and the Netherworld. On either difficulty level, The First Berserker: Khazan is fair to the player, as dying to a boss will drop your Lacrima outside the boss door – and you’ll earn bonus Lacrima based on how much damage you did. On a two-phase boss this rewards a sizeable chunk if you get through phase one before death, so you can steadily accrue Lacrima and thus level up even when you’re failing.
You’ll also continue to earn Skill Points simply by using your weapon, or activating perfect dodges or parries, referred to as Brink moves. Pulling these off builds a separate meter which rewards you with points to spend in four Skill Trees. Most pertain to your choice of weapon (Axe and Sword, Greatsword, Spear, etc), while there’s also a common tree that awards buffs and boosts.
Skills come in passive or active flavours, with the former boosting a stat or attribute and the latter unlocking a skill you can map to a button combination. These skills, as well as a ranged weapon called the Javelin draw from Khazan’s Spirit Points, which again are earned by landing hits on the enemy. It puts the focus on playing offensively, forcing you to engage with the enemy as much as you can. Landing enough hits or Brink moves will stagger an enemy, allowing you to initiate a Brutal attack that deals heavy damage and refills your stamina.
As with most Soulslikes, stamina-management is key to success in Khazan. Brink parries don’t take your health away, and allow for powerful counterattacks, while Brink dodges grant you a spectral state with added i-frames and devastating combo options. Each method is viable, and you won’t be punished for specialising in either or both.
Before long you’ll also start unlocking Phantom companions who will grant you buffs as long as you have them equipped. You’ll usually need to complete a bonus mission to unlock them, which tend to become available when you clear a mission. Like Nioh 2, Khazan is not open-world, and each time you advance the story significantly you’ll unlock a new portal in the Crevice, a kind of hub that exists in both the mortal world and the Netherworld. Here you’ll gather a cadre of NPCs as you progress the story, who will offer various services and even give you side missions.
One of them will also open a Codex, which is where you’ll find the bulk of the lore. There’s a ton of it, too, as well as a variety of challenges you can complete for extra goodies. The First Berserker: Khazan is a game built on rewarding the player. On the lower difficulty you’ll miss out on certain trophies or achievements, but you’ll still reap the loot. It’s colour coded for your convenience, and most armour and weapons come in sets that convey bonuses for every additional piece equipped. Bosses drop unique gear, too, which encourages you to farm them for drops.
Although there’s no multiplayer, Khazan litters certain areas with Phantoms of Adversity, red phantoms you can challenge for the chance to earn a Lacrima of Circulation, which allows you to summon said Phantom before major boss encounters. They die pretty quickly, but you can upgrade them with the same tokens at the Crevice. Khazan layers its upgrade and reward mechanics quite heavily, but it means that you’ll never feel like you aren’t getting better or moving forward, even when you’re stuck.
And you likely will get stuck occasionally. It’s a hard game, with steep difficulty curves at boss encounters. It’s incredibly fluid though, and handling Khazan in combat is incredibly satisfying. I opted to use the Spear for large parts, mixed with whatever elemental spirit I could apply to it for bosses, and it’s super fast and rewarding. The enemy mix is solid, too, with a decent variety of trash mobs and a handful of powerful elites thrown into every mission. The Blade Nexus spots are never too widespread, and there are shortcuts and side paths everywhere.
Besides a few AI glitches that caused a few bosses to act a bit off, the performance on PS5 is solid. I never really noticed any frame drops, and the textures are always in place. It looks incredible, too, thanks to the Anime art-style and the visual design of each level. It kept me constantly wanting to explore, to find new secrets and gear – and I even smashed through some of the bosses more than once thanks to the bonus missions.
With relatively small areas, you can blast through it surprisingly quickly if you find the right rhythm, but I did feel the need to go and grind to raise my stat levels a few times. That’s hardly a complaint though, given the options afforded to you. My only real complaint is that I wanted a more coherent story and less growly posturing – but even that feels like a very minor complaint.
The First Berserker: Khazan is a great time, even if it is tough. With systems built on systems it may seem a little convoluted at times, and I often forgot which NPC offered which service as there are just so many, but that sounds like a “me” problem. Ultimately, what begins as a fairly standard Soulslike soon evolves into more than that, with a massive focus on rewarding the player’s perseverance, whatever their skill level.
