The First Berserker: Khazan Preview (PC)
For the purpose of this preview, we were provided access to a closed beta first look build of the game. A closed beta will be available for The First Berseker: Khazan, running from October 11th to the 20th, available on PS5 and Xbox Series X, which features the same build as this version. You can sign up for the closed beta via the The First Berserker: Khazan official website, if you wish to try your hand at the game.
The First Berserker: Khazan’s release date was revealed to the world only a couple of months ago at Gamescom. Yet, here we are in September, with a technical closed beta test that gives us free reign over the first three missions. The rapid turnaround suggests there’s a confidence from Neople and Nexon in the game’s quality months ahead of its early 2025 release date. Is that confidence vindicated based on my initial five hours spent with the action-RPG Souls-like? I’d dare to say it is.
If you’re an avid follower of the late, great Kentaro Miura’s Berserk manga, you can triple that excitement. The inspiration from the dark and often horrifying tale of Guts permeates throughout The First Berserker: Khazan. My time in the closed beta allowed me to sample a mixture of exploration, combat and one of the hardest boss battles I’ve faced so far this year. A Code Vein-styled anime aesthetic also lends itself to the Berserk comparison and gives Neople’s title its own flair.
Khazan You Handle The Heat
Awakening bloodied, beaten and bound for execution, Khazan makes a moody first impression. The early hours allude to a story about betrayal, mixed allegiances and conspiracy. There’s a mix of animated cutscenes, stills and dialogue that’s a bit more direct than FromSoftware’s titles, akin to a Nioh for example. Not a whole lot is revealed in the closed beta, but what we do know is that Khazan is out for revenge on those who have wronged him, and his revenge will pack a gory punch.
After escaping the clutches of captivity, Khazan finds himself battling an entity within his own body. Attempting to possess his mind is a rather vengeful spirit, agitating for the removal of a powerful force in the netherrealm. Both arcs throw up some compelling threads in this initial act, though it’s difficult to know quite how the direction of story is going to pan out at this stage.
Nonetheless, I was invested and drawn into the bleak world The First Berserker: Khazan has built. The Berserk references are as prominent as Guts’ rage. A titanic greatsword weapon, a malevolent entity seeking control of our protagonist’s mind, and an anti-hero hell-bent on savaging those who have wronged him. The atmosphere further matches the inspiration, with dark palettes and buckets of blood in places. I’m intrigued to see more of the narrative and as a massive Berserk fan myself, even more excited for another romp in a haunting fantasy world.
Rock The Khaz(an) Bar
Unleashing his vengeful fury is something Khazan excels at, if the closed beta is anything to go by. I played using a PS5 DualSense controller and it’s mapped exactly as you would expect of a Souls-like. Square for a light attack, triangle for a heavy, L1 to block, X to dodge, the usual fare. Khazan can charge both variants (usually after upgrading) and has skills that act as special abilities. Parries and perfect dodges are heavily incentivised, with the timing windows feeling spot-on.
The core combat feels intensely rewarding. It has that Sekiro-esque quality of nailing repeated parries with pinpoint timing. The First Berserker: Khazan is additionally heavily focused on pressure. Both you and your opponents have stamina gauges, which when depleted leave the figure vulnerable to a punishing visceral attack. Particularly in boss battles, this mechanic is essential. Perfect parries and dodges either reward back stamina or open up windows for assaults, making the pace of a fight rapid and intense.
Even when I was getting absolutely destroyed, it was thrilling to engage in the dance-like flow of parries, dodges, strikes and swipes. It’s more Bloodborne and Sekiro than Dark Souls 1, for reference. Khazan has access to a ranged javelin, which is powered by tokens acquired through combat. The variety of skills, combat options and weapons shown off in this early build already alludes to the fantastic potential the sandbox will have, and I’m very ready to see what other tools of violent revenge the game has in store.
You’ll Need Guts
Now, let’s talk about those boss battles. Souls-likes tend to be judged most notably on the gauntlet of colossal foes you must overcome on your path to victory. The First Berserker: Khazan has this element nailed down, if the three I faced so far are anything to go by. The first two took me a handful of tries each, relatively manageable but with a solid difficulty curve as the fight progressed to have me evaluating my approach.
They were good fun, a challenging back-and-forth which felt like a fair learning curve for the early portion of a game like this. Then I faced the third boss, the final one of the playtest. I’d spent about three hours in the beta to reach it, then proceeded to lose half of that time just fighting this metric piece of diabolical horrendousness. I mean that in a complimentary way – the design of the fight, the arena and the spectacle are phenomenal – it just hits like a truck and savages you at every turn.
It’s a testament to how great the design of the bosses are, that even when repeating it dozens of times, I never became angry or disheartened. In fact, by the time I did beat the final one of the test, I was able to do it solo. I’d mastered the parry timing and through perseverance, I didn’t even need the available summon. For those of the “git gud” crowd, you can safely ignore the summon (which requires a consumable to activate) and they certainly won’t be beating the boss for you.
Multi-stage encounters in these bosses appear to be expected, if these three are anything to go by. If Neople can keep up the standard of quality and variety they’ve shown here, then the full game promises to be a real treat. Albeit some controllers may quiver at the prospect of being smashed.
The First of Many Skills
Finally, there are some smaller changes in gear, skills and environmental exploration that are worth touching on from the beta. Weapon-wise, there were three to try out – a greatsword, dual-wield blades and a spear. All have their own abilities, skill tree, animation timings and speed of use. Personally, I liked the dual blades, but there are already signs of build diversity that’ll focus on the quality of a smaller pool of weapons, than a wide ocean like say, Elden Ring.
You earn skill points in The First Berserker: Khazan a little differently too. Instead of static XP gains or binary upgrading, points are earned by using each combat mechanic. Practicing parries, landing charged heavies, and launching your javelin will all lead to skill points being added to your pool. These can then be spread across weapon-specific trees which are expansive and full of interesting options, or more general passive buffs. You can deselect skills at any time to plug the point somewhere else, which a great way of allowing players to diversify and experiment with playstyles on the fly.
Which I did. After getting humbled in that final encounter a few times, I solidified all of my skill points into dual-blades and maximised my potential with them. A great system, complimented by gear which works according to level and sets. While I couldn’t find a full set in the closed test, it’s safe to assume there’s going to be a number of them. I’m not certain how the levelling is going to be just yet, but I did notice plucking for the highest numbered value armour instead of really thinking about my build, which tends to be a problem with numbers driven gear systems.
The First Berserker, With More to Come
It’s probably worth mentioning, having come off the back of Elden Ring: Shadow of The Erdtree, that The First Berserker: Khazan feels like a more linear-based experience. From the mission structure setup to the smaller, more condensed level design, this is a far cry from an open world or even hub-focused Souls-like. There are plenty of optional paths to have a gander in, items to loot and tough enemies to uncover, but it’s all very self-contained.
I didn’t get to see enough of the hub world to really make much of a judgement of this at this stage. I acquired plenty of gold and gear during my five hours with the closed test, so I think it’s safe to assume there’ll probably be vendors of sorts that’ll be acquired during Khazan’s journey. Overall, it was nice to have a more linear, focused path, which allowed me to focus on and process the punchy combat and darker story themes.
All of which has left me with a massive sense of anticipation for the full release. The closed beta test hasn’t just whetted the appetite for some demonic, bloodied slaughter, it’s positively enraged it. I simply can’t wait to get my hands on more weapons to wreak utter devastation upon this world and smash my head against wall after wall of brutal boss encounters. Neople has done a fantastic job with what they’ve curated so far, and if you’re a fan of Souls-likes or dark fantasy worlds, you need this on your radar like Guts needs his Dragonslayer.
The First Berserker: Khazan will be available in early 2025 on PC (preview platform), PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X.
Developer: Neople
Publisher: Nexon
Disclaimer: In order to complete this preview, we were provided with a promotional preview build of the game.
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