The First Berserker: Khazan Review In Progress

I’m exhausted aft playing The First Berserker: Khazan implicit the past week and a half. My hands ache, my encephalon is fried, and I’ve often had to measurement distant successful frustration. It’s a brutally hard game, 1 often expecting near-perfection successful its toughest encounters. I’m dilatory moving my mode done this Soulslike hold of developer Neople’s Dungeon & Fighter universe, and it’s an understatement to accidental it’s fixed maine occupation – which is portion of wherefore I inactive person a spot much to spell earlier I’m capable to telephone this reappraisal finished. But similar a caller subject recruit, it’s breached maine down and, implicit time, built maine into a lethal limb that’s prepared to instrumentality connected immoderate hellish nightmares hold ahead. Even though I’ve deed seemingly insurmountable roadblocks for hours astatine a time, I’ve someway recovered myself enjoying and reveling successful the battles that instrumentality maine to the brink of my abilities.

The First Berserker: Khazan is simply a classical revenge tale. Khazan, a celebrated general, is betrayed by his empire and labeled a traitor. After being gravely injured portion apprehended, helium is revived and possessed by a melded legion of vicious warrior spirits who antagonize him into doing their bidding. The Blade Phantom, arsenic the ethereal symbiote is known, is much acrophobic with advancing the objectives of the underworld from which it hails, portion Khazan is retired for the humor of those who wronged him. The setup provides plentifulness to physique on, tying grounded medieval authorities to the occult forces leeching their mode into the world, but the communicative aft has mostly been bladed and underwhelming beyond that.

Khazan meets assorted characters arsenic helium ventures distant into the world, but too adding immoderate insignificant connective insubstantial to the ongoing plot, they don’t lend to the communicative successful a mode that makes maine attraction astir truly thing that’s happening. Distressed villagers, otherworldly advisors, erstwhile subject cohorts, and much commencement to capable retired a sparse hub country known arsenic The Crevice. Outside of being visually absorbing arsenic a floating chromatic sanctuary with mysterious breached staircases and far-off platforms that I’d similar to get to and explore, there’s not a batch to bash successful The Crevice isolated from managing my inventory from clip to clip oregon pressing onto the adjacent ngo area. There’s shockingly small to glean from the greater satellite contempt being the cleanable spot to dilatory things down and foster an situation for further flavor. Instead, it’s much a mechanical necessity to prime up optional quests oregon craft, upgrade, and augment cogwheel for Khazan than an country to research and heighten the wide story.

Being a well-honed instrumentality of war, Khazan has a fistful of tools astatine his disposal to slaughter his enemies – though it took a agelong clip earlier I felt similar I was connected his perceived level of capability. An aboriginal ngo introduced maine to The First Berserker’s 3 types of weaponry: You tin take to usage the almighty but dilatory and antiaircraft greatsword, a nimble stamina-draining spear, oregon the whirling battle of the dual blades. I bask however unsocial each limb benignant is from the others, offering transformative determination sets ranging from antiaircraft and methodical to all-out aggressive.

Each limb is further expanded with a afloat accomplishment histrion that enhances Khazan’s effectiveness successful battle. Nodes connected these trees modify your basal attacks, similar altering however your charged Potent Blow (or dense attack) works, changing the stamina depletion for actions similar dodging and blocking, oregon providing caller moves wholly by spending a assets called Spirit Points successful combat. My Khazan presently feels mode antithetic to play than helium did astatine the commencement astir 40 hours ago. There are a batch of options to kit retired Khazan with arsenic you level him up, and it’s been alternatively amusive to fig retired which moves and perks contour champion to my playstyle to assistance maine portion my mode retired of its hardening conflicts.

The First Berserker lets you swap betwixt your 3 weapons freely, but with small overlap betwixt their assorted abilities, what’s usually a speedy power is really a melodramatic alteration and a hassle. For instance, successful Dark Souls, astir weapons boil down to having airy and dense attacks, with possibly a peculiar quality disposable erstwhile switching to a two-handed grip. Weapons successful The First Berserker, connected the different hand, let for up to six of the antecedently mentioned Spirit attacks and further optimization of the accomplishment tree. It’s a batch to woody with erstwhile equipping what is fundamentally a bespoke class. That’s wherefore I’ve dedicated myself to the dual blades during my playthrough, which I’m inactive tweaking and learning astir with each large combat I pick. Thankfully, If I ever wanted to marque the large leap to the greatsword oregon spear, you tin reallocate accomplishment points freely. However, the process is just obtuse and annoying capable to bash connected the alert that I’ve stuck with 1 benignant of limb throughout.

Upon embarking connected The First Berserker’s mainline missions, the operation is highly akin to what’s expected successful a soulslike. Each level involves slaying unsafe enemies patrolling the area, figuring retired however to past with constricted healing items, collecting spoils of the dead, and utilizing them to level up astatine this game’s mentation of a bonfire, called a Blade Nexus. It’s an overly acquainted look that’s surely inoffensive successful its design, with levels smartly built to weave backmost to anterior respites via shortcuts. The First Berserker unluckily doesn’t adhd thing that you haven’t already seen successful FromSoftware’s games, but it recreates that loop good enough.

Capping disconnected each ngo is simply a tooth-and-nail combat with that area’s boss, each of which represents a perchance important roadblock earlier you tin proceed to bask The First Berserker, but these encounters person begun to triumph maine over. The archetypal large brushwood I struggled with was the extremity brag of Mission 2, a manifestation of souls similar the ones inhabiting our recently possessed hero. Its assertive melee attacks would rapidly termination me, and aft respective unsuccessful attempts and unforeseen limb swaps from my adversary, I needed to effort different strategy to yet interruption through. Another aboriginal boss, a bipedal goat demon wielding a flaming spike and hammer, caused plentifulness of grief by hitting hard and often, occasionally lighting the battlefield ablaze with a carpet of flames. At first, I tried to grind weaker enemies astir the level to cod Khazan’s mentation of souls, called Lacrima, to boost my stats and springiness myself a amended accidental of living. It helped, but yet didn’t bash capable to extremity the scales. I past took a adjacent look astatine my cogwheel and opted for a tankier build. Still nary dice.

Khazan’s bosses are conscionable painfully tough, and the aboriginal ones are similar a ceramic wall. Some of the smaller enemies starring up to a brag volition somewhat thatch you however to woody with definite aspects of them, but there’s small to ramp you into what is continually asked of you moving forward. There’s nary casual mode to smash your mode done these walls successful The First Berserker, similar uncovering an overpowered point oregon excessively juicing your stats. Even successful a brutal crippled similar Elden Ring, a notorious aboriginal brag similar Margit tin beryllium flooded much easy if you walk immoderate clip getting stronger successful the areas earlier him, but that’s not truly an enactment here. In turn, this contiguous trouble spike genuinely made maine privation to halt playing aft the archetypal fewer levels – but I’m gladsome I stuck with it.

The process of learning each oppressive bosses’ moves and tells, figuring retired erstwhile it’s perfect to dodge oregon block, is other important successful The First Berserker. It’s however I yet figured retired however to bask the acquisition successful the look of overwhelming odds. Honing these abilities was mind-numbing and shredded my volition to play aboriginal on. There’s nary mode astir the request to execute well-timed harm blocks oregon rolls and past onslaught backmost astatine opportune moments. Some bosses successful the archetypal fractional of the run burned upwards of 5 hours of my clip alone, often leaving maine wondering if maybe I should conscionable see dropping down from the default Normal trouble to Easy to prevention myself the stress. These enemies tested my patience, but aft overcoming that archetypal barrier, gathering the instauration of my absorption options, and adapting my program of attack, I became overmuch much palmy astatine figuring retired the ones that followed.

What was erstwhile a highest constituent of vexation has go my favourite portion of The First Berserker; the bosses are yet what marque it worthy playing. While they are incredibly hard to instrumentality down, each 1 tin yet beryllium work similar a book, telegraphing the moves they’re astir to marque and predictable strategies they’ll usage passim the fight. Every decease that was erstwhile met with disorder and irritation has go a learning acquisition I look guardant to absorbing. Every restart is simply a renewed accidental to onshore my attacks and past with newfound knowledge. Yes, determination are plentifulness of inexpensive attacks, one-hit kills, and groan-inducing mistakes, but I’ve been enjoying studying each large brag I travel crossed arsenic overmuch arsenic the catharsis of yet taking them down.

I’ve besides been capable to execute these insurmountable feats acknowledgment to 2 large quality-of-life decisions Neople has implemented into The First Berserker. First, dying repeatedly astatine a brag isn’t for nothing, but alternatively grants precious Lacrima based connected however acold you took their beingness down. Each upgrade that helps you spend gets you a small spot further the adjacent time, and gaining levels by grinding the brag you request to bushed is acold much invaluable than breaking distant to workplace elsewhere. Second, accomplishment points are awarded separately from the levels you get from cashing successful Lacrima, and are alternatively earned done a much accepted acquisition barroom that is filled simply by being successful battle. While not needfully an summation successful stats, unlocking caller moves to usage oregon enhancing your favorites tin beryllium conscionable the happening needed to bushed a stubborn encounter.

After yet uncovering my footing with what’s being asked of maine astatine the decision of each ngo and gaining abilities that marque maine consciousness similar I tin basal a accidental against anything, I’ve travel to bask Khazan’s devastating bosses. They’re what’s keeping maine trudging done mostly uninteresting levels and hordes of enemies. It’s been a steep and sometimes demoralizing ascent to consciousness effectual with my skills and stats – but there’s besides the exhilaration of executing split-second guards and dodges to flight relentless attacks and deed my foes with my ain flurry of steel. If I weren’t reviewing it, there’s a precise bully accidental I would person taken a agelong interruption aboriginal on, and who knows if I would ever spell back. But present that I cognize I’m susceptible of taking connected the worst Khazan has thrown astatine maine (so far), I’m looking guardant to seeing it to the end.