Played on Xbox Series X
Although Dungeon Fighter Online has a billion players, you probably haven’t even heard of it – the 2D action game is very popular only in Asian countries. Knowing this, you better understand where The First Berserker: Khazan came from and why hopes were pinned on it – the Dungeon Fighter franchise is one of the highest-grossing not only in the gaming industry, it even outperforms blockbusters like Star Wars and The Avengers in profitability. And Khazan is not a case where the owner of a large franchise allows third-party developers to create branches, as the authors of League of Legends do – the game came from the pen of the same team that has been actively supporting DFO for twenty years.
⇡#Not for the sake of the plot
Luckily, there’s no need to understand the intricacies of the Dungeon Fighter universe — Khazan is a prequel set 800 years before the events of DFO. What’s more, the protagonist Khazan doesn’t even appear in DFO. He’s simply mentioned there as a hero of legend, a great general of the empire who was betrayed and executed by the emperor — that’s where his story ends. In The First Berserker, everything is changed — Khazan is taken to execution, having his tendons cut out and being mocked in every possible way, but he is saved from death by the Ghost of the Blade, who grants the former general new powers.
Hadzan will slay many beasts
The text retelling of the story here is more interesting than what you see in the game, because the storytelling in Khazan is very bad. From the faceless protagonist to the silent bosses – everything is extremely low-budget, boring and bland. Even if the scriptwriters try to evoke emotions, they fail – for example, when you collect the souls of dead people, you hear their last words, and each time it seems like the same phrase of a screaming peasant or soldier. The videos on the engine are short, so there is no desire to skip them, but you also stop delving into what is happening pretty quickly. You can say that this is true for many soulslikes, but you expect something more solid from a game with such a backstory.
But the gameplay is almost all right, although the budget is evident here too. This is an old-school soulslike: instead of an open world, there are separate regions that you move to from the central zone. All locations are mostly linear, and the branches lead either to a dead end or to some useful things like consumables and chests with equipment. All the features of the genre are in place: opponents hit hard, there are a limited number of first aid kits, you rest at local analogues of fires, and in case of death you lose the accumulated currency.
Each region has several “bonfires”, one of which is always located in front of the boss arena.
What you fall in love with in Khazan in the first hours and why you get stuck in the game for several days is the combat system. In particular, the mechanics associated with parrying. This is the main thing you need to learn as soon as possible, otherwise problems will arise already on the second or third boss – it is difficult to gore even ordinary opponents with simple “clicking”. In battles, a lot is tied to the stamina scale, which both the protagonist and his opponents have. Regular attacks reduce stamina, and consecutive blows will also weaken the opponent, but parries “cut” the enemy scale much faster. Therefore, in fights with bosses, you need to remember their combinations of blows in order to succeed.
Interestingly, the parry system in Khazan forgives mistakes. For example, the enemy swings – you press the button to parry the blow, but miss the window. In some soulslikes, it is already impossible to parry the blow in such a situation, but here, even if after a split second you release the button and press it again immediately, the game will still count the parry – this can be understood by the purple glow of the weapon after the attack. This does not make the game cardinally easier, but it allows you to feel more confident in battle.
It’s not scary to meet two opponents, but if there are more, difficulties will begin
⇡#A little help
The First Berserker generally seems friendlier than its counterparts by FromSoftware and Team Ninja. If you are defeated by a boss, not only can you get back the lost currency without entering his arena again, but you also get a small bonus on top. That is, for failed attempts you are rewarded, which is quite unusual for the genre – like, pump up even more if it doesn’t work out. Increase health, increase the damage done, reduce the amount of stamina spent on blocks and dodges, and so on. These bonuses will not turn Kazan into a superhero who suddenly becomes much stronger on the tenth try – this is more of a psychological trick. Since you slightly improved the characteristics, then it is as if the best version of the protagonist met the boss again, and not the weakling he was half an hour ago.
And if things get really tough, the spirit of protection will come in handy – before each room with the boss there is a glowing pillar that allows you to call a warrior for help. Red energy clusters are scattered throughout the world, when interacting with them you begin a battle with the ghost – if you win, you will receive as a gift either a consumable that allows you to call that very assistant (yes, you still have to earn it!), or consumables of another type – for pumping up a temporary partner. At first, the assistant is completely useless, but over time you can increase his health, endurance and attack power, thanks to which he does not die in the first minute.
Not all locations are impressive in terms of views, but some turned out to be very beautiful and detailed.
Soulslike fans will find the idea of summoning assistants to be nonsense, but judging by the number of mechanics associated with them, the developers want you to use this option. And some bosses are a pain to deal with if you try to defeat them on your own. The enemies in The First Berserker are not only very tough, but also varied: sometimes the second stage will suddenly start when you barely beat the first with zero first aid kits, or the enemy will impose negative effects. The list of their skills gradually increases – the one who simply beat you with his fists, in the middle of the fight will suddenly take out a weapon or start teleporting. You defeat someone relatively quickly, with someone you mess around with all evening – in terms of balance, not everything is ideal, since some bosses have a lot of health, and fights with them are a little tiring.
But overall, boss battles turned out to be very spectacular and fun, and this is the main thing for a soulslike. They are especially great as you unlock new mechanics and get a better understanding of the old ones. For example, you start paying more attention to consumables that grant bonuses in battle – in most games I ignore them, but here the bosses are so strong and tenacious that refusing bonus elemental damage seems strange. Or you collect armor sets, looking not only at the defense indicators, but also at the bonus parameters that open up when using full sets (sometimes there are very significant bonuses that significantly increase endurance or damage to certain types of opponents). It’s a pity that there is a lot of junk, but still it’s not a waterfall, like in the Nioh series. And when you unlock the blacksmith and start messing around with finding the ideal parameters, the game becomes even more interesting.
As you progress through the central location, more and more opportunities appear.
Outside of boss battles, the game isn’t as impressive, but the process of clearing locations isn’t tedious either. There are enough small branches to keep the regions from feeling too linear – sometimes you don’t even know which way to go to avoid running into a story scene and missing something. The only disappointing thing is how often the game reuses bosses, presenting it as new content. Side quests, for example, ask you to fight almost exact copies of opponents you’ve already defeated. Sometimes you run into these clones in the next region – these are weakened versions that die noticeably faster, which spoils the impression of victory.
The lack of content, as you might expect, should also be felt due to the small number of types of weapons – but this is not the case at all. The First Berserker really only has three equipment options: dual weapons, a spear, and a heavy sword, inspired by either the anime “Berserk” or Final Fantasy VII. But they are all as different as possible. The spear is the easiest to use – with it, you can inflict damage to enemies at a fairly large distance. And the character swings dual weapons much more actively, but with it you need to approach enemies much closer, so the chance of getting hit significantly increases. The hardest to get used to is the heavy sword, which is not something you swing right away, but over time you find its advantages in it. Each weapon is associated with a separate large upgrade tree, opening up special moves and passive bonuses, so it makes sense to focus on one type of equipment, and then try another in the case of a second playthrough.
There are videos on the engine, but the story is mostly told through static images.
It is worth mentioning separately the so-called easy mode, which causes some confusion. If you think that switching to it will make the game a one-button action game, then oh how wrong you are. The differences are actually insignificant – yes, enemies do less damage and do not “burn” your stamina as quickly, but active parries, dodges and other techniques are still necessary. Bosses that seem incredibly difficult in normal mode will be just as invincible in easy mode if you do not understand the mechanics. And this is even good, but the main disadvantage is that when you select easy difficulty, you can no longer switch back to normal. A very strange decision, but it is what it is.
***
The First Berserker: Khazan is not a new word in the genre, but it has some interesting ideas like bonuses that you get if you get stuck on one boss for a long time. In some ways, the game even seems outdated – visually and in terms of the plot, it generally resembles the action games of the PS3 era, remembered for the gameplay, and not for the “visuals” and narrative. The gameplay of Khazan really leaves a vivid impression, and it has significantly more pluses than minuses. There is even a desire to see a sequel, or even several sequels, in which the shortcomings will be corrected and the developers will be given a more solid budget – they clearly understand what the audience of action and soulslikes wants.
Advantages:
- Excellent combat system that rewards you for using all of its capabilities;
- A very nice parrying system that turns out to be deeper than it seems at first glance;
- The presence of (even if minor) bonuses for those who get stuck on the same boss for a long time;
- Various bosses with interesting mechanics.
Disadvantages:
- Uninteresting plot with a boring protagonist;
- Previously defeated bosses are scattered around the world and side quests without measure;
- Some bosses are too resilient.
Graphic arts
With the help of cel-shading they tried to hide the outdated graphics, but the project still visually resembles a game from the PS3 era.
Sound
The only thing that will be remembered is the sound effect when parrying – how juicy it sounds!
Single player game
Interest in the plot will be lost immediately, but the gameplay will involve you more and more. The combat system is pleasant, the bosses are varied, and the extensive leveling options will not let you get bored – the game becomes more and more exciting with each hour, and the shortcomings do not spoil the overall impression.
Estimated time of completion
About 40 hours for the story and another 15 for clearing out side quests and other optional content.
Collective game
Not foreseen.
General impression
A fun and memorable soulslike that attracts attention with pleasant innovations and captivates thanks to a gorgeous combat system.
Rating: 8.0 / 10
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