The First Berserker: Khazan Reviews
The First Berserker: Khazan doesn’t revolutionize the souls-like genre, but it still delivers thrilling combat, challenging encounters, and a rewarding sense of progression that will keep hardcore fans engaged from start to end. While some minor issues with camera control, AI summons, and mission variety hold it back from absolute greatness, The First Berserker: Khazan still remains a standout title in the genre. If you’re looking for a punishing yet well-crafted Souls-like that’ll test your limits, you won’t want to miss out on this.
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.
All in all, The First Berserker delivers an uncompromisingly tight combat experience that is further buoyed by an interesting, if somewhat unevenly paced, plot and a gorgeous presentation that is equal parts relentlessly grim and oppressive.
The First Berserker: Khazan is a game that most action RPG fans will likely enjoy. While it has its flaws and falls short of being a masterpiece, it delivers exactly what was expected. At the very least, it’s a solid and well-crafted title.
Review in Korean | Read full review
The First Berserker: Kahzan is a game that doesn’t mess around. It’s tough, flashy, and brimming with style, but it does have its rough patches... If you’re looking for a game that lets you live out your berserker fantasy — complete with tough-as-nails combat and jaw-dropping visuals — this one’s definitely worth the ride. Just be prepared to die... a lot.
A beginner’s introduction to difficult games, The First Berserker: Khazan has many of the accessibility options Soulslikes/Action RPG fans have cried out for, and it does it all with an excellent combat system, interesting lore and story, and some fine visuals.
The First Berserker: Khazan is an outstanding Soulslike that proves to be the ultimate hardcore action RPG of recent years. The game combines the best the genre has to offer and delivers a gripping mix of dark atmosphere, precise combat system and challenging enemies. Especially for fans of Soulslike games, The First Berserker: Khazan is an absolute must-buy.
Review in German | Read full review
The First Berserker: Kahzan features a fun combat system, an interesting world, and an enjoyable revenge tale, but tedious and overly long boss fights make what should be the most exciting part of the game too frustrating to enjoy. It's unfortunate, as the rest of the experience is a ton of fun, but when the main selling point of the genre is the weakest part of the game, it weighs down the entire experience.
The First Berserker: Khazan has a massive focus on rewarding the player’s perseverance, whatever their skill level.
There is plenty to enjoy about The First Berserker: Khazan, but it requires you to commit to overcoming its challenges in a way most other games do not.