With the Souls series, FromSoftware has created a trend that isn’t going to disappear anytime soon, as every developer seems intent on offering their own take on the formula, to varying results. Among the games inspired by the popular series by the Japanese studio is The First Berserker: Khazan by Neople, a game that is aiming at the upper echelon of Soulslikes, taking many of the lessons provided by the Souls series to heart to offer a well-crafted experience that has the potential of becoming one of the best ever seen to date.
During Gamescom 2024, I had the chance to try out The First Berserker: Khazan, playing through a 30-minute long demo that culminated with an intense boss battle. The demo started right from the beginning of the adventure when the disgraced military general Khazan, voiced by Ben Starr, the voice of Final Fantasy XVI protagonist Clive Rosfield, was released from the cage he was being transported in. Following his release, the long-haired warrior acquires a mysterious sword that had been calling out to him, filling him with the power required to make it out of the danger-filled snow mountain he is in. Sadly, this was all the story that was featured in the demo so it’s hard to say where it will be going, but the personable character design definitely made these short sequences memorable enough.
As soon as I took control of Khazan, the experience felt instantly familiar. In pretty much every way, playing The First Berserker: Khazan felt like playing an entry in the Souls series, featuring a stamina-based combat system with a focus on proper positioning with a touch of Sekiro with the parry system, which seems to have become an obligatory feature at this point for this type of game. Nevertheless, having the same mechanics doesn’t make a Soulslike as good as its illustrious inspiration, as many are the elements that must be done right to make the experience satisfying. And in this regard, I feel Neople is doing an excellent job. Khazan is highly mobile, his attacks feel heavy and powerful, the controls are smooth and I never found myself thinking that my defeat was caused by mechanical clunkiness.
What I think Neople got right the best in The First Berserker: Khazan is level design. The mountain featured a complex design with multiple paths, but it never felt confusing. On the contrary, each path flowed naturally into one another and always included something that made exploring them worthwhile, whether it was an item, a unique enemy encounter, or some new hazard used to prepare the player for what may be hiding ahead on the main path. Enemy placement was often challenging but fair for the most part. Enemy design was also competent, which made multi-enemy battles tense and satisfying. Bosses’ design also seems to be on point, as the challenging mini-boss and the main ice bear boss of the area were difficult to take down, something that should please the hardcore Souls series crowd quite a bit. The latter, in particular, had an extensive moveset that made it really challenging, especially with the limited time I had to try out the demo.
Even though my time with The First Berserker: Khazan was short, I thoroughly enjoyed what I played, so much so that I found it to be among the best games I tried out during Gamescom. With the solid gameplay and level design showcased in the demo, I have some really high hopes for the game. Hopefully, they won’t be disappointed when the game launches sometime next year on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S.
