When Lords of the Fallen got here out in 2014, it was fascinating to see one other developer daring to imitate From Software program’s Souls formulation. However now that it’s a complete style, seeing one other big-budget soulslike simply doesn’t really feel particular anymore – even Star Wars has had a crack at it. So what’s The First Berserker: Khazan bringing to the desk? What contemporary twist or novel setting makes this soulslike stand out? To be frank, I am unable to see one. If I have been to be as reductive as potential, I might say it merely takes some core concepts from Nioh, and slaps Sekiro’s parry on high.
A few of you may learn that and suppose this anime-eyed motion RPG sounds spinoff. Others will most likely salivate with glee. Properly, each reactions make sense. There’s completely nothing unique about The First Berserker: Khazan. It may additionally be probably the most enjoyable I’ve had taking part in a soulslike in years.
You’re Basic Khazan, a once-celebrated veteran who has been framed for treason by a cowardly emperor. After the tendons in your arms are severed, you unwillingly make a pact with an enormous bloke referred to as the Blade Phantom who grants you the ability to cheat loss of life. From right here you set out on a quest to punish those that framed you and restore your title.
Yeah, it’s hardly Macbeth. The story is without doubt one of the sport’s weakest parts, a by-the-numbers story of revenge that sees you tear by means of a bunch of forgettable one-note villains and expendable allies. Worse nonetheless, nearly all of the plot is divulged by means of narrated slideshows. To offer the writers some credit score, they appear hamstrung by the truth that it is a prequel (of kinds) to Dungeon Fighter On-line, a free-to-play beat ’em up by the identical builders. However I can’t think about even diehard followers of that may discover themselves invested.
The principle story missions are simple sufficient. Combat by means of some enemies and mini-bosses, gentle some bonfires and unlock shortcuts alongside the best way, then beat the snot out of the boss on the finish. That journey is, sadly, one other of Khazan’s shortcomings – every thing up till these boss fights seems like a formality. They attempt to combine it up sometimes by introducing puzzles, however principally you’re simply going from level A to level B and killing every thing alongside the best way.
There is a sense of sameiness to enemies that will get worse the longer you go on. Combating a bunch of lizardmen was enjoyable the primary time, however by the point they featured as the first antagonists of a fourth foremost mission, I used to be actually bored of dispatching them. It’s not simply the kinds of foes that get tiring both, the best way through which they’re organized all through ranges makes the entire affair really feel tedious. I misplaced depend of the variety of instances the sport threw a cumbersome mini-boss at me, positioned a bunch of archers behind it, and referred to as it a day.
Even if you attempt to milk slightly further selection from facet missions, these principally simply really feel recycled from the primary story. A number of the maps are repurposed in fascinating methods, by including puzzles or opening up new routes that have been beforehand inaccessible. However, once more, only a few of those missions add distinctive enemies, and each one I performed simply had a reskinned model of a foremost story boss at its finish. One facet quest went out of its strategy to justify this by insisting the boss was the dual brother of the final man I fought. You’re not being slick, Khazan – I do know you simply put a helmet on the final boss mannequin and dusted your fingers.
However whereas bosses can reappear greater than you would like, they do make up for it in a single important approach: they’re absolute menaces. On high of the standard unblockable blows, there are combo strings which might be ten assaults lengthy, grabs which might be solely signified by audio cues, assaults that construct a destructive standing impact even if you block them, area-of-effect swipes that nearly fill your entire area. Khazan’s icicle yetis and hammer heaving demons throw every thing at you. Hardcore followers of the style may suppose I’m burying the lede right here, however this genuinely could be one of many hardest soulslikes I’ve performed, solely because of the boss fights.
In the end, nonetheless, they’re nonetheless honest. Khazan balances its aggressive nonsense by supplying you with an enormous bag of defensive instruments. Granted, there are solely three weapons – the Twin Wield, the Greatsword, and the Spear – which in comparison with Elden Ring may sound like an enormous limitation. However this extra intently resembles the concepts of Nioh. Each weapon kind has its personal ability tree, unlocking distinctive particular assaults, motion choices, and buffs. All three weapons really feel distinct from each other, and because of the ability tree’s regular development I by no means felt burnt out when merely sticking to the Twin Wield for almost all of my playthrough.
The cleverness is available in how you employ these blades. There are 4 alternative ways you’ll be able to counter enemies: you’ll be able to dodge, you’ll be able to guard, you’ll be able to parry, and you should utilize the counterattack ability to deflect unblockable assaults. However by timing a dodge or guard completely, you should utilize their “brink” variants. These will aid you regenerate stamina or replicate harm again at your foe.
This ends in large battles which might be satisfying in a approach that no different boss fights have felt to me since Sekiro. There’s nice satisfaction in completely reflecting a beast’s 30-second-long combo. Or parrying a hulking monstrosity and shaving off half of its stagger bar. There aren’t any tacky methods or exploits to be discovered, you merely should lock in and play an ideal sport each single time. It’s daunting, however there’s an unmatched feeling of getting to surpass a wonderfully timed and intensely deadly sport of Dance Dance Revolution.
As somebody who loves the style, I can forgive so a lot of Khazan’s defects due to this fierceness. However I can’t deny that the sport has loads of weaknesses exterior of these pitched battles. If it was a extra concise journey (a full playthrough will set you again round 80 hours), a variety of the problems I’ve talked about won’t appear to be such an enormous deal. As a substitute, it leaves me feeling conflicted. I am caught between lamenting its laborious (and infrequently rehashed) marketing campaign, whereas actually celebrating its gratifying, in-depth fight. There are some bruising boss struggle treasures buried in Khazan for any tough-knuckled soulslike followers, it’s only a disgrace you need to dig by means of mounds of uninteresting ranges and scores of samey enemies to achieve them.
This assessment is predicated on a assessment construct offered by the writer.
