The First Berserker: Khazan Reviews
The First Berserker: Khazan stands out in the crowded Soulsborne-inspired genre by delivering relentless, weighty combat and immersive world-building.
The First Berserker: Khazan nails its combat and presentation fundamentals but skimps on the narrative, loot and Khazan himself. Not terrible, but it could have been so much more.
The game offers intense boss fights, rewarding progression, and a satisfying loop of loot and upgrades. With fluid combat, strategic poise management, and accessible systems, it provides both a tough challenge for veterans and an approachable experience for newcomers. A must-play for fans of hardcore, Soulslike action RPGs.
The First Berserker: Khazan is a solid action game that draws inspiration from Souls-like mechanics while incorporating the fast-paced combat and stamina management of titles like Nioh. The result is a battle system that retains the tension of Souls-likes but also delivers the satisfying fluidity of traditional action games.
Review in Chinese | Read full review
Everything about The First Berserker: Khazan is entirely competent. It's a fun and well put-together Soulslike that would serve well as someone's first dip into the genre, especially if the stereotype of high difficulty usually frightens them off. At the same time, Khazan doesn't do anything particularly new that makes it stand out from the crowd. This isn't necessarily a problem, especially if you're a fan of the DFO universe, but it means you need to be in the right mood and mindset to play Khazan.
The First Berserker: Khazan is yet another great action RPG that, although it uses concepts from the soulslike formula, is still able to deliver intense and satisfying combat to make it unique. Some decisions in the art direction make its visuals a little repetitive in the final stretch of the campaign, but overall it is a game easily recommended for fans of the genre.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Heavily inspired by Demon's Souls and Nioh, The First Berserker: Khazan may lack depth in its narrative and feel somewhat uninspired in terms of level design, but it still leaves a mark thanks to its great combat system and some fantastic boss fights. Despite a few excessive difficulty spikes, it remains enjoyable for the most part.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The First Berserker: Khazam and its brutal action combat will be a real challenge for you, and manages to deliver a very enjoyable gameplay experience. Although with some bumps in the road, it is a game that manages to earn his spot in the genre with a challenging proposal and with some very interesting ideas
Review in Spanish | Read full review
The First Berserker: Khazan definitely feels old-school in its approach but its vast assortment of super-tough bosses and oodles of extras that are great fun to master make it stand out as an excellent Soulslike. Plus, you can wear goofy jars on your head! 🩸
A brutally difficult yet very rewarding action game that excels in its fighting mechanics. Although the narrative is not perfect, the exciting boss battles and satisfying skill development in The First Berserker: Khazan makes it a must-try for genre enthusiasts.
Mixing the challenges of souls, some RPG layers and a story of pure revenge and violence, something evidenced by the great combats, The First Berserker: Khazan is a title that can please Elden Ring fans and also God of War fans (new or old, it doesn't matter). It is democratic, offering two difficulty levels (normal and easy), it is not as desperate as its bigger brothers and it is a title that gets straight to the point, without many twists and turns, without much storytelling.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Delivering an interesting story, beautiful graphics, improvements to the "soulslike" genre formula, epic bosses and a robust combat system, The First Berserker: Khazan offers a solid experience for action game lovers, being one of the best games of the genre in recent years.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
The First Berserker: Khazan is a competent soulslike, featuring a unique universe full of personality. It hits the nail on the head with the core mechanics of a game of this genre, featuring brutal and dynamic battles that manage to maintain that much desired fine line between sharp difficulty and fun. Although a little more innovation and variety could elevate the title to unmissable status, it is undeniable that we have here a great action RPG, especially for fans of the genre.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
The First Berserker: Khazan is frustrating – not necessarily because it's really hard. By far, it’s at its best when it wavers in its dogged quest to imitate the Souls games, yielding a distinct combat system that truly stands on its own.
While the weight of its combat isn't matched by its story, The First Berserker: Khazan offers plenty of challenging thrills for fans of Soulslike games.
The First Berserker: Khazan delivers fast, punishing combat and challenging boss fights that reward mastery. If you’re a Soulslike fan looking for a tough, skill-based experience, this one is worth your time—just be ready for a fight.
The First Berserker: Khazan is an enjoyable title for a specific group of people. The combat is tight and responsive, just what you want for a skill-based game such as a Souls-like. The story is decent, although I would have liked to have a bit more background information about the empire that Khazan served and any actual information on what kind of person Khazan is, but maybe that's for another time. The game's presentation is unique with the cel-shading, but it works well. To top it all off, The First Berserker: Khazan runs great on the Steam Deck. We can't push the visuals too hard, but we do get a decent-looking game at 60 FPS, and we can lower the frame rate to gain some battery life if we choose.
However, generic side missions, enemy types, and environments, as well as the controls that aren't quite as straightforward as its predecessor "Sekiro," hold the game back. Nevertheless, fans of challenging action RPGs can expect an early highlight in the relatively young gaming year of 2025.
Review in German | Read full review
The First Berserker: Khazan is a masterclass in action combat, delivering thrilling boss fights, diverse level design, and tight mechanics that rival the genre’s best. While the narrative and side characters falter in depth, the fluid progression, customizable skill trees, and satisfying difficulty curve make this a standout soul-like experience—even for players unfamiliar with the Dungeon Fighter Online universe.
Nexon’s The First Berserker: Khazan is another great entry into the soulslike canon.