The First Berserker Khazan Review

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Title: The First Berserker Khazan

Release: March 27, 2025

Platform: PS5 PC Xbox X|S

Developer: Neople

Publisher: NEXON

Genre: Action RPG

ESRB: M

Reviewed on: PC

Time Played: 60 Hours

Intro:

Imagine being one of the greatest warriors your empire has ever seen—only to be chained, beaten, and discarded like a broken tool. Then imagine narrowly surviving an avalanche meant to kill you… and discovering that the world still needs your strength. First Berserker: Khazan throws you into a relentless souls-like experience where betrayal burns hot and vengeance burns hotter. But it’s not just about brute strength—it’s about learning your limits, mastering your tools, and making every perfect parry feel like a personal victory. If you enjoy action that is punishing, stylish, and just a little unhinged, then choose your weapon and follow me into the fray.

Where it starts

The great general Khazan, loved by many and a formidable force on the battlefield, has been betrayed by his own Emperor. After enduring torture and shame, Khazan is transported to a distant land when an avalanche crashes onto his cage, freeing him and introducing him to a being from another world. With his newfound freedom and unlikely companion, he now has the means to embark on a long journey of vengeance.

Can the kids watch

You won’t find mature language in the game; however, you will discover awesome violence and some blood splatter in combat. The entire game revolves around Khazan beating enemies down with his weapons, and some enemies can be frightening depending on the audience. So, if the kiddos wanted to watch, it depends on the level of violence you’re comfortable showing them to determine whether they should stay or not.

Blade Phantom

The Blade Phantom is from the Netherworld, tasked with solving a problem occurring in the physical realm. However, he can’t do anything without a corporeal body. Thinking Khazan would make the perfect vessel, the Blade Phantom sets out to take over his body, but Khazan turns out to be far too tough for the Blade Phantom to possess. After coming to an understanding, they decide to help each other meet their own goals.

Lacrima

With the Blade Phantom’s help, Khazan can detect and utilize Lacrima, a substance created by the memories of the dead and used by phantoms to increase their strength. It can be found on dead bodies and after defeating enemies. Lacrima is required to increase your level, and unlike other souls-likes, it won’t double as your currency when dealing with vendors.

Choose Your Weapon

There are only three different weapon types you can use in the game: the dual wield, a fierce axe and sword combo that lets you spin around the battlefield while destroying your foes; the spear, my personal favorite, which offers amazing speed and good reach for fighting; and finally, the greatsword, which has a slow attack but delivers very high damage upon connection. The game’s design is user-friendly, allowing you to test everything out and find what works for you.

Finding the Perfect Set

Along with your weapon, you need to decide on the best gear set to complement your fighting style. Armor and jewelry can be obtained in sets, providing special bonuses depending on how much of the set you have equipped. There are numerous sets for you to discover; some are ideal for specific weapons while others excel in fighting particular enemies.

Handling Combat

Nearly the entirety of the game will be spent in combat. Mastering the art of attacks, blocks, and dodges will be necessary to make it through. As well as leveling up and discovering new skills and abilities to use. Damaging your foes stamina enough will stagger them, giving you an excellent opportunity to throw in a combo and give them a brutal attack.

Timing is Everything

A perfect dodge or block is a brink dodge or block, offering great benefits depending on your build. Some attacks won’t be blockable and must be countered with a button combo at the perfect time, dealing significant damage when executed correctly. The best defensive ability you have is reflection. Just before an enemy strikes, you can parry it, stunning them for as long as you can hit them. This gives you ample time to unleash a devastating combo until their stamina is depleted, putting them in a stagger state for even more damage with a brutal attack.

Skill Tree

Everything in combat will yield some experience for skill points. There is a skill tree for every weapon type and a shared tree for all-around skills. The skills gained can be passive improvements or abilities that require spirit points to use in combat. Your skill level will be locked behind reaching specific story points, so you won’t be able to grind it to mastery early. Thankfully, the game gives you the option to remove points and allocate them wherever you want, whenever you want, allowing you to mix and match to your heart’s content.

The Crevice

The Crevice is where all the useful NPCs gather. You can travel to the Crevice from any Blade Nexus found in the game. There, you can craft gear at the blacksmith, change gear affixes, or make your favorite pieces consume higher-level gear to keep their stats in line with your level and pick up side quests by starting conversations. It may be a safe place between missions; however, it still has its own risks, so you need to stay alert for dangerous situations.

Utilizing Memories

While traversing a level, you may discover small notes or engage in conversations with characters you encounter. All of these contribute to Khazan’s memories, transforming into vengeance points if you collect them all. The vengeance points can be utilized to enhance stamina damage, attack damage, and damage multipliers. You can also reset the points at any time to determine the best configuration for your play style.

Repeating Missions

Whenever you return to a previous mission from the Crevice, it will reset the area, meaning that any unlocked shortcuts and defeated bosses will reappear. However, your collectibles will remain in your possession. Some bosses drop specific set gear or even special materials required to craft gear, so if you have your eye on a particular set, you’ll need to farm bosses a few times to gather everything necessary to create it, or hope for favorable gear drops.

Unique Souls-Like

You will find many of the mechanics that you would expect from a souls-like game in this title, with a few additions- some great, others not so much. During boss fights, depending on how far you progress, you will receive some Lacrima upon a failed attempt, so you’re always gaining experience, even if a boss takes hours to defeat. I love the idea of not becoming stagnant while stuck on a boss fight. Teleporting between Blade Nexuses wasn’t so nice; having to travel back to the crevice just to reach another spot in a level felt like unnecessary travel.

Final Thoughts

I would love to hear any thoughts or questions you have about the game or my review, so leave me a message in the comments below. While you do that, let’s move on to my final thoughts and ratings.

First, Berserker had a wild start, and I was surprised by how difficult I found it. I died a lot at the beginning, slowly figuring out the stamina mechanics and what kind of build I wanted to pursue. By the end, I was totally enamored with this game. I loved the graphic design behind the world and characters; it was gorgeous and stood out while playing. Between the differing environments and enemies, it was an eye-pleasing journey.

Even better than the graphics was the gameplay mechanics. I fell in love with the reflection mechanic. It acts almost like a parry mechanic, and I spent all of my time in boss fights figuring out my timing and getting it to work for me. Between that and the beautiful speed of the spear combos I was a force to be reckoned with. I really liked the ability to play with my skill points on a whim to narrow down what skills worked best for me, after some trial and error I was able to hone my fighting style to feel really good. I even played with my main stats a lot, although that required an in game item that I could buy only so many times, until I got the recipe to create it.

The story was ever-present throughout First Berserker: a mission of betrayal, discovery, and revenge. It is full of sad tales through side missions, which build upon the story and illustrate the disastrous effects visited upon the land following Khazan’s initial betrayal. While I did not find anything profound about the story, it definitely fits the themes of the world and performs its role splendidly.

Like most souls-like games, there is an option for a new game plus after the credits roll, giving you the chance to experience the game at a higher level with tougher enemies and rarer loot to discover. All the collectibles obtained during your first playthrough remain in your possession, so there is no need to track them down again. That aspect bummed me out a little; I collected everything I needed on my first run, so my only goal in playing through again was defeating boss after boss. It’s nice to have small distractions like hunting down collectibles while playing, but nevertheless, it was still enjoyable to return and demolish early bosses that had given me a hard time in my first playthrough.

I loved this game; it’s definitely going on my list of top five souls-like games. Learning to use the spear and stunning bosses with a reflection, followed by quick combos that deal a lot of damage, was so much fun. I really like how this game made me feel like a quick badass on the battlefield. The ability to reflect nearly every attack from any enemy feels amazing. This was a phenomenal game!

And with that, let’s put it all into numbers and place this game on a shelf.

The visuals were great, I loved the style and design of everything, that’s getting a 5.

The story wasn’t bad, it fit the theme and I wasn’t left scratching my head when all was said and done, I’ll give it a 3

The Gameplay was amazing. With the ability to change nearly every stat and ability whenever I wanted made for a fun experience learning everything. That’s another 5

There was a decent amount of replayability for the game. Between achievement hunting and making different choices in a new game plus, it has a lot to offer. That’s a 4

I had so much fun. Even when a boss was wiping the floor with my body, I loved learning new skills and eventually beating everything. This is a definite 5.

Earning First Berserker Khazan an average score of 4.4 out of 5. Placing it on my Special Reserve. If you enjoy a good souls-like game, you will definitely want to check this out. It had its difficult moments, but even those were so fun to figure out and overcome. Out of the plethora of boss fights in this game, there were only two that I found annoying and didn’t care for.