The First Berserker: Khazan Review – Anger Management

The First Berserker: Khazan is an intriguing title for Dungeon and Fighter fans since it shines a light on one of the more mysterious characters in Dungeon Fighter Online, that is, Khazan himself. Though technically a prequel, it’s also an alternate retelling of the story (as evidenced by several occurrences that aren’t currently canon in DFO). However, most of you are probably eager to experience his journey after playing the demo and being pleasantly surprised by the combat and aesthetic. And that’s completely fair – just be warned that the rest of the game doesn’t rise much beyond that level.

The story of Khazan starts post-betrayal. After defeating the Berserk Dragon, Hismar, and being hailed as a hero by the Pell Los Empire, he’s suddenly tortured by the Emperor and exiled. Meanwhile, Ozma, his best friend and closest ally, has already been executed. So, for all justifiable reasons, Khazan wants revenge. In his incapacitated state, the mysterious Blade Phantom ambushes his convoy in Heinmach Pass and possesses Khazan.

"Aside from a reminder here and there that he’ll take revenge on the Emperor, there isn’t much introspection or character development. We get some flashbacks to the war against the Berserk Dragon, but for the most part, I have so little information on Khazan as a person…"

Through a few twists and turns, the duo ultimately form a pact – Khazan will borrow the Phantom’s power to take out the Emperor and his betrayers while the Phantom has a vehicle to complete tasks for his master, Charon. There’s seemingly more to the Phantom than meets the eye while Khazan must also deal with other troubling developments throughout the Empire.

I wrote several months back about how revenge paired with anger offers a unique introspection into a character’s psyche. Khazan was brutally tortured with the tendons in his limbs severed after all, and his best friend, and closest ally, was murdered. That’s some deep-seated and long-term trauma there, one that warrants closer inspection and could make for compelling drama. Furthermore, there’s plenty of contrast to offer against Khazan’s current actions of brutally slaughtering citizens of the Empire that he once swore to protect.

But there’s very little of that. Aside from a reminder here and there that he’ll take revenge on the Emperor, there isn’t much introspection or character development. We get some flashbacks to the war against the Berserk Dragon, but for the most part, I have so little information on Khazan as a person – other than he doesn’t like being betrayed – that it’s bizarre. Wasn’t the whole idea of the title to flesh him out more as a character? Instead, this feels more like Epic Medieval Fantasy Quest The Game Starring Khazan From the Dungeon and Fighter series.

It also doesn’t help that his revenge tour meanders after the first few missions, devolving into introducing other characters who also don’t develop much. There are perfunctory twists and turns, some fairly telegraphed and others that won’t be the least bit shocking to DFO players. Though it somewhat ties together all these disparate directions into a cohesive purpose and finale, it’s nowhere near meeting the expectations of Khazan cutting a bloody swathe on the path of vengeance.

The voice cast, especially Ben Starr, does their damndest to lend some gravitas and weight to these scenarios. You would think Starr would be perfect for this kind of character, especially after playing Clive from Final Fantasy 16, but his range feels oddly restricted and diminished, and that makes me care about Khazan even less. The heavily marketed “rage” appears interminably, but it’s not something that’s really inherently built upon in Khazan’s character.

"Maybe it’s because several missions occur in dank caves with muted color palettes that don’t leave much to the imagination. Maybe the locations I was looking forward to didn’t meet expectations due to the story set-up."

Considering the fantasy setting and intonations, the cast’s ability to draw you in is sufficient. Even the bit players whose horrified voices echo their grisly fates when absorbing Lacrima are worth noting. If only the rest of the plot helped keep the player engaged. While some of the dialogue is acceptable – nothing particularly special or memorable – some lines caused a double-take at how terribly written they were, and no amount of incredible voice-acting fixes that.

On some level, I blame the overall layout of the story. Once your base, The Crevice, is introduced, you venture out and complete missions. Upon returning, perhaps you’ll interact with the slowly growing pool of characters and repeat. With little memorable traits or room to grow, their real reason to exist is to provide optional missions to Khazan or become vendors. You could bother selecting different dialogue choices and hearing them out, but they rarely offer anything interesting, much less facilitate any meaningful discussion, never mind fueling some growth for Khazan.

From a gameplay perspective, the mission design – and even how new regions open up – is very similar to Nioh 1 and 2. Enter into a mission, maybe converse with one of the nothing characters who gave you the fetch quest, and move on. Both Nioh titles had the advantage of being set during a real-life historical period in Japan. Even if the transition between plot points wasn’t always smooth, you could point to different historical figures, their behavior and involvement, and ground yourself in the circumstances.

The fantasy setting of Khazan makes it much more challenging, especially for those who know nothing about Dungeon and Fighter. Heck, even fans won’t have much to go on besides recognizing the names of places and various enemy types.

Developer Neople does insert some notes and letters that attempt to offer more context on what’s happening on some levels, explaining away the corpses and/or vile experiments, but it’s not enough. Maybe it’s because several missions occur in dank caves with muted color palettes that don’t leave much to the imagination. Maybe the locations I was looking forward to didn’t meet expectations due to the story set-up. Maybe it’s just the underwhelming environmental story-telling that reinforces the straightforward mission-based structure.

"This brings us to perhaps the most positive aspect of the experience – combat. The First Berserker is a Souls-like, leaning more towards Nioh (and the sequel’s Burst Counters), and as such, you unlock abilities and chain them together with Skill Points."

Otherwise, the level layouts are fine. Between knocking down ladders for shortcuts, deactivating barriers with switches and ascending to the top for an elevator that leads back to a Blade Nexus (the de facto bonfire), it’s nothing structurally different from what you’ve seen in other titles. Is that lone enemy in the room truly alone, or is there another enemy on either side of the door that will attack as soon as I enter? Classic Souls-like stuff, but also incredibly cliche.

However, the pacing feels right, and Neople does put some decent spins in places, lightly playing with verticality and environmental hazards. Levels start pretty linear early on but offer more alternate paths and optional things, like Soulstone Cores or Elite Enemies that provide more XP and gear. If only the side missions were more interesting or varied in terms of objectives. They can also feel short – I would have preferred fewer if it meant more memorable tasks and stories.

Repetition sets around the early to midway point of the story, especially when the same enemy types are reused. Get ready to fight the same Dragonkind, bandits, skeletons, soldiers, and spiders for a healthy chunk with the occasional Yeti, though things begin to freshen up from the late game onwards. That’s when some truly out-of-field monstrosities start appearing with new tactics and movesets.

This brings us to perhaps the most positive aspect of the experience – combat. The First Berserker is a Souls-like, leaning more towards Nioh (and the sequel’s Burst Counters), and as such, you unlock abilities and chain them together with Skill Points. There’s also a Sekiro-like bent focused on parrying and breaking through poise (aka Fortitude) to exhaust enemies and bosses for Brutal Attacks. The core difference is that you don’t have an inexhaustible supply of stamina for sprinting and attacking, nor is there a Ki Burst to regenerate whatever you’ve spent on attacking.

The result is a push and pull between the more traditional Souls-like aspects and the parts that want to embrace the unga-bunga. It’s as intriguing as it is severe because the reward for properly parrying attacks is that you won’t lose that precious stamina needed for attacking. It’s a system where merely blocking feels inadequate, but this smoothens past the initial stages. Once you start gaining some levels, discovering higher tiers of gear, unlocking passives, and mastering your weapon of choice, Khazan’s combat starts to settle into a groove that keeps challenging you.

"The loot also isn’t too exciting, providing stat increases most of the time. Set bonuses can be something to build towards, though they’re once again stat bonuses, with only a handful offering truly unique abilities."

For example, you eventually have to deal with punishing status attacks that keep building regardless of those fancy parrying skills. That’s when dodging starts to shine, especially when unlocking passives like Moonlight Stance, which deals damage in the direction you Brink Dodge. Transitioning between attacks and skills, assuming you have the Spirit Points, also feels good. Even Phantom Form, which is absolutely awful when you first get it, comes into its own, even though it forces some different thinking beyond “Rage Mode.”

It’s a shame, then, that you’re forced to focus on a single weapon due to how stat scaling works. Initially, resetting your stats is difficult because the required item doesn’t drop, and you won’t unlock the recipe to craft it until much later in the game. While each weapon offers its share of nuance and tactics, sticking with a single type for so long inevitably adds to the repetition.

Thankfully, The First Berserker doesn’t skimp on its main boss fights. The showdown with Viper, which starts as an elegant dance, transitions into a brutal second phase with an overwhelming air, especially when things go dark, and only the glow of its eyes hints at oncoming attacks. Then there’s Maluca, barely above your average Elite bandit before busting out the nitoryu and Judgment Cut End for an SSStylish display of damage. Sure, some bosses can feel slightly over-kitted, but even the scant few who feel similar in their overall strategy have various nuances.

Not every boss fight is perfect – there’s one that looks simply incredible yet is completely bungled by the targeting, and the sheer number of threats with grab attacks is undeniably irritating. I also was disappointed after fighting my first Phantom – a spin on the stellar Blade Phantom battle – and not similarly facing the others, instead finding items to unlock them. Then again, I haven’t discovered them all, so perhaps other killer encounters await, but the side missions otherwise offer regular foes turned into bosses.

The First Berserker is also primarily a loot-driven game. You’ll receive tons of loot, making crafting feel pointless for a significant portion of the game since something higher-level or higher rarity will likely drop shortly after. The loot also isn’t too exciting, providing stat increases most of the time. Set bonuses can be something to build towards, though they’re once again stat bonuses, with only a handful offering truly unique abilities. In the end, your playstyle is determined by the weapon type and skills beyond anything else, making the loot feel two-dimensional.

"I wouldn’t consider it anywhere near the genre’s best, but Neople delivers a decent action RPG better than several of its nearest competitors. Some may be left wanting more while others dig in like it’s Souls-like comfort food before eventually moving on."

As for the presentation, I quite like how Neople has handled the anime stylings of Khazan, which look sleek but have this grunginess. The muted colors and lighting in some environments make it difficult to admire all the details, and there’s definitely some visual overload in places.

Nevertheless, it’s a strong balance between macabre and sleek, and the animations are extremely clean, save for a bit of jerkiness when Khazan has to step one foot down from a slope. The music is also fairly underrated – at times, it feels like the orchestrals make up for the lack of weight in the narrative, adding to the dark fantasy atmosphere in the process.

Despite several of my misgivings with The First Berserker: Khazan, it isn’t a bad game and Souls-like action RPG fans, especially those experienced with the Nioh series, will find a healthy amount of content. Beyond its combat, several of the boss fights, and the presentation, it feels lacking in a soul – formulaic in many places, repetitive in others, and downright disappointing with the overall plot and Khazan’s characterization (especially since it’s a “What if” scenario to the established Dungeon and Fighter canon).

I wouldn’t consider it anywhere near the genre’s best, but Neople delivers a decent action RPG better than several of its nearest competitors. Some may be left wanting more while others dig in like it’s Souls-like comfort food before eventually moving on.

This game was reviewed on PlayStation 5.