We don’t precisely have a scarcity of Soulslike motion games- if something, that is perhaps one of the crucial energetic and crowded genres within the business proper now. Intermittent releases from FromSoftware itself aside, a number of different studios within the business have additionally stepped ahead with efforts of their very own. Latest in line is The First Berserker: Khazan, a revenge-driven Soulslike motion RPG spinoff set within the long-running Dungeon and Fighter universe from Neople and Nexon, which is out now.
The First Berserker isn’t precisely an ideal sport. As our personal evaluation right here at GamingBolt identified (as have many others), the slick and bloody motion title is dragged down in a number of methods, fairly a number of of which really feel fairly significant- which is to say Neople’s debut within the style doesn’t precisely scale the heights of one thing like a, say, Lies of P, which many have come to simply accept as among the finest non-FromSoftware Soulslikes on the market. However although The First Berserker isn’t fairly on that degree, it’s nonetheless obtained its strengths, which, as our evaluation talked about, make it price a search for followers of Soulslikes or motion video games basically.
Let’s get these pesky flaws out of the best way first, as a result of there are a number of to be talked about, they usually’re not the form of points which you can simply sweep below the rug- that’d be an awfully bumpy rug. One of many extra outstanding ones is its story and storytelling- which could really feel like a foolish factor to be complaining about in a Soulslike at face worth, if not for the truth that it is a sport that does attempt to place a larger emphasis on conventional storytelling than has often been the case with this style through the years.
The First Berserker: Khazan is a revenge story centered on the mysterious and brooding character Khazan. The titular protagonist finds himself severely bodily mutilated, betrayed, and solid down, his service to the empire in opposition to the Berserk Dragon all however successfully forgotten, after which he decides, with the assistance of a phantasmal companion often known as the Blade Phantom, to embrace newfound supernatural powers and embark on a quest for vengeance. With a reasonably first rate setup (on paper, at the least) and a protagonist voiced by Ben Starr of Closing Fantasy 16 fame, The First Berserker: Khazan had the weather in place to inform at the least a reasonably enjoyable, if tropey, revenge motion story. It fails on all counts, with a bog-standard plot, predictable twists and turns, and a disappointingly flat protagonist.
On the gameplay entrance, The First Berserker stumbles with issues reminiscent of enemy repetition and bland facet quests, however maybe its greatest problem is its ultra-linear design philosophy and the influence that that has on exploration. The sport adopts a hub-driven linear construction like Demon’s Souls, however every space that you simply go to feels just a little too restrained. With not an excessive amount of by the use of exploration and little else to maintain you engaged past what the sport itself desires you to interact with, The First Berserker is a sport that feels significantly inclined to repetition and monotony, and certain sufficient, when you get deep sufficient into the sport, you do really feel these issues starting to set in.
Luckily, when The First Berserker: Khazan is at its greatest, it’s completely incredible. Additionally luckily, the factor that it’s best at is what it neatly focuses on initially, and the factor that will would possibly argue is probably the most essential in a sport reminiscent of this one- the fight. The fight, the problem, the sense of development, and the boss fights are what the vast majority of people come to Soulslikes for above all else, and in just about all of those areas, The First Berserker is one thing of a slam dunk. It takes bits and items from numerous different related titles on the market, borrowing from the likes of Darkish Souls, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Nioh, and even just a little bit from Black Fable: Wukong, and delivers, in the long run, a grueling and satisfying motion sport with slick and difficult fight that’s constantly enjoyable to grasp, particularly once you’re arising in opposition to its spectacular roster of boss fights.
The fight nails the entire basic components of a Sekiro-coded Soulslike system- you’ve obtained your blocks, your dodges, your parries, you’ve obtained your good dodges and excellent parries, you’ve obtained unblockable assaults (which may additionally be parried with particular, riskier parries). You have got a stamina and stagger system, the place accumulating stagger by efficiently blocking and parrying flurries of assaults will finally make your foe break their guard for a second, a second by which to deal heavy harm and dole out vicious assaults of your personal.
Aggressive parry-based fight techniques can assist ship a few of the greatest and most thrilling gameplay when finished proper, and The First Berserker: Khazan positively does it proper. Although it fails to sufficiently seize the themes of rage and vengeance in its story that it claims are so central to it, it does a superb job of imbuing its fight techniques with precisely that form of desired aggression. As you’ll think about, the sport’s enemy design helps considerably contribute to that as nicely. Regardless of how tight the mechanics are, you’re not going to have any enjoyable with them if the enemies you’re taking up don’t compel you to correctly have interaction with them, and boy does The First Berserker knock the ball out of the park on this space.
Nothing exemplifies that higher than its bosses, which we’ve already touched on. Every boss forces you to study and grasp a unique reality of gameplay and presents a face-smacking ability verify that you simply’re not going to have the ability to overcome except you concentrate – and, sure – get good. The excellently designed boss fights sport memorable visible design and, maybe far more importantly, unimaginable battle design, with distinctive movesets which can be a blast to determine and cope with, and stiff and numerous challenges which can be extremely satisfying to come back out on prime in opposition to on the finish of a harrowing battle.
Surprisingly, The First Berserker additionally provides gamers larger freedom in development than you’ll anticipate at first look, with fairly a number of choices obtainable that allow you to tailor the gameplay to your wants. Every of the three principal weapon sorts feels considerably totally different to make use of and, by extension, grasp, whereas separate and devoted ability bushes for every will even allow you to discover new choices in combat- reminiscent of relying extra on dodges if getting the parry timing proper isn’t one thing that you simply’re fully assured you’re going to have the ability to do always. There’s additionally attributes to improve, gear to minmax, ability factors to summon, allies that may be summoned, and extra. The First Berserker by no means looks like an straightforward sport (although it does have a straightforward mode, for individuals who need a comparatively extra forgiving expertise), however the shocking flexibility it gives with its development mechanics does allow you to surmount stiff challenges in several methods.
Given the sheer wealth of Soulslike video games on the market, it’s by no means straightforward to confidently advocate one over every part else except the sport in query simply occurs to be that particular. The First Berserker: Khazan is possibly not that particular – Lies of P or Nioh it isn’t – but it surely’s an aggressive, fast-paced, difficult motion sport with wonderful fight, memorable boss fights, and compelling development mechanics. It has its flaws, sure, and never essentially insignificant ones- however for style followers, it’s nonetheless nicely price testing.
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