The First Berserker: Khazan Reviews

If you enjoyed Sekiro's parry-heavy combat and Nioh’s mission-based structure, The First Berserker Khazan will likely work for you. Even with few new ideas of its own and often unexciting levels, its build variety and brutal boss fights more than make this soulslike worth the effort.

The First Berserker: Khazan is a fantastic action-RPG, with impeccable combat. Despite some minor issues shortcomings, it’s one of the best of the genre.

The First Berserker: Khazan is a brutal and punishing adventure with satisfying combat and a superb art style. While it lacks variety in some areas, the original things it brings to genre are outstanding and make this one of the best games of 2025.

The First Berserker: Khazan is a brand new Souls-like set in the DNF (Dungeon & Fighter) universe that sees you playing the titular Khazan, a brooding blonde hulk of mass on a revenge quest. Seeking to right the wrongs that have been made against you and clear your name, the trying journey will see you traversing many a region, tackling gigantic bosses, using supernatural abilities and coming out bathed in blood at the end of it. Featuring an almost Nordic Viking setting with a cell-shaded ar...

The First Berserker: Khazan is a fantastic game that has some of the best bosses of any Soulslike ever created. It's a game that will test patience and demand the utmost attention from the player, or else they'll meet the game over screen time and time again. This Soulslike is absolutely brutal, and yet, it remains fair throughout its 40-hour runtime. While the levels begin to blend in with one another aesthetically and the overwhelming amount of loot can become exhausting, The First Berserker: Khazan is a welcomed addition to the subgenre and I can't wait to see what developer Neople has planned next for this new IP.

Those willing to truly master The First Berserker: Khazan will be treated to a world that is equal parts brutal and rewarding.

The First Beserker: Khazan is a brutal but impressive soulslike that makes pushing through its devastating bosses worth the effort.

The First Berserker: Khazan is an unusual Soulslike. Most Dark Souls imitators don't quite get what makes FromSoftware's formula work or they tone down the difficulty to be more approachable. Developer Neople made Khazan more demanding and, at times, even more rewarding than the games that inspired it. It's a shame the rest of Khazan didn't get that level of attention, though.

A very competent Soulslike, with excellent combat and an attractive art style – it’s just a shame it barely even tries to do anything new.

The First Berserker: Khazan is a hardcore action role-playing game. The player will become Khazan, the great general of the Pell Los Empire, who overcame death, and sets out to reveal the incidents that led to his downfall and seek vengeance on his enemies. PC version reviewed. Review copy provided by Neople for testing purposes.

When it comes to Soulslikes, few games offer as exciting of a formula as The First Berserker: Khazan so prepare for some brutal boss-slaying.

There is plenty to enjoy about The First Berserker: Khazan, but it requires you to commit to overcoming its challenges in a way most other games do not.

Soulslike games come in many flavors. Some emphasize parrying enemy attacks like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, while others completely rely on dodging them, like Black Myth: Wukong. When I played The First Berserker: Khazan, I was looking forward to seeing where its mechanics fell within the Soulslike spectrum. It turns out that it’s squarely in the middle.

The First Berserker: Khazan stands out in the crowded Soulsborne-inspired genre by delivering relentless, weighty combat and immersive world-building.

Derivative though it most certainly is, The First Berserker: Khazan is still incredibly fun to play because combat is so satisfying. The gothic anime visuals look great, and the game manages to sneak a few new and smart mechanics into the formula. The First Berserker: Khazan may be a familiar experience, but it’s probably a must-play for fans of hardcore action games and Soulslikes.

Could this surprise spinoff of a long-running beat ‘em up MMO be one of the best non-FromSoftware Souls-likes ever made? I certainly think so. Developed by Neople and published by Nexon, The First Berserker: Khazan is the year's best surprise thus far, a deliciously challenging dark fantasy action-adventure stacked with grueling bossfights and style to spare. The sharper focus on combat outweighs its exploration gameplay, but don’t mistake that for weakness; The First Berserker: Khazan exceeds expectations and honors its genre heritage with an exquisite presentation and juicy action-RPG fundamentals.

The First Berserker: Khazan is one of the toughest action games and soulslikes in recent years. It's relentlessly punishing, with challenging spectacle fights and bosses to overcome. However, each challenge you do topple leads to a sense of satisfaction that harkens back to the genre’s origins when everyone was less experienced at these games. That combat is only let down by a somewhat overwhelming story for newcomers to the Dungeon & Fighter (DNF) universe, a lack of accessibility options besides an easy difficulty, and a gear crafting system that feels unnecessary.

Souls-like Goodness

I love a good action game. Heck, I love a lot of middling action games so long as they’ve got one or two really cool things about them. The First Berserker: Khazan is definitely not a middling action game though, and has a lot of style along with a lot of substance that makes it a blast to play from start to finish, along with a gorgeous art style and some very edgy but entertaining writing.

If there’s one subgenre that has taken off over the last decade more than any other, it’s Souslike. These are games in the action-RPG bracket that have a strong focus on difficulty, variety in their combat and environmental storytelling. FromSoftware has been the king of the genre, producing some of the most memorable and well-crafted RPGs on the market, but there have been quite a few other properties that have taken inspiration and made a name for themselves. Nioh, Lies of P, Remnant and Black Myth: Wukong are just some examples that took the formula and created their own unique experience with it.

The First Berserker: Khazan has a massive focus on rewarding the player’s perseverance, whatever their skill level.

Dungeon & Fighter, or Dungeon Fighter Online, is one of the most played video games of all time, having managed to even surpass massively popular games like League of Legends in terms of gross revenues at times, but it is not a well-known game in the West. Starting with the fighting game DNF Duel, Korean developer Neople, however, has decided to try and bring in more people to their franchise with multiple titles set in the Dungeon & Fighter Universe, such as The First Berserker: Khazan, an extremely competent action role-playing heavily inspired by the first few entries in FromSoftware's Souls series and Team NINJA's most recent ARPGs like the Nioh series and Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin.

Despite somewhat samey missions and a flat protagonist, Khazan's combat and boss design are some of the best I've seen in a soulslike.

Neople and Nexon's Soulslike-inspired action RPG set in the DNF universe sadly misses the mark on many of its components with a dull color palette that masks its lovely art style, sluggish combat flow due to its restrictive stamina system, and just doesn't distinguish itself from its many contemporary competitors.

Though not reinventing the Soulslike wheel, The First Beserker is a thoroughly enjoyable game in its own right. A challenging adventure with enough combat variety to suit your playstyle.

As someone who loves the genre, I can forgive so many of Khazan’s defects because of this fierceness. But I can’t deny that the game has plenty of weaknesses outside of those pitched battles. If it was a more concise adventure (a full playthrough will set you back around 80 hours), a lot of the issues I’ve mentioned might not seem like such a big deal. Instead, it leaves me feeling conflicted. I'm caught between lamenting its laborious (and often rehashed) campaign, while truly celebrat...

The First Berserker: Khanzan misses the mark when it comes to difficulty, creating spongey boss fights that take far too long, regardless of how good you get. These tanky fights weigh down an otherwise great experience, with a reactive and fun combat experience that asks you to maximize your perfect blocks and dodges, along with a fun if shallow narrative that provides just enough interest to see it to its conclusion, despite the tedious boss fights.

After being unfairly tried for treason and escaping a brutal fate, General Khazan sets out on a vengeful rampage across the empire. Players will need to take on a hardcore combat experience that is as relentlessly challenging as it is satisfying to master.

While it may not be a masterclass of the genre, The First Berserker: Khazan is a thrill that improves the more you play. It has unique mechanics that differentiate it from other soulslikes, while never losing sight of what it sets out to be. While the story may not be the most entrancing, there's certainly enough there to compel players to get to the end, no matter how many controllers or keyboards lost their lives in the process.

The First Berserker: Khazan is greatness from nothingness personified. Neople has done what so many have tried to do in the past. If TFB Khazan is not on your map, then, well, you need a new map. From brutal yet manageable combat to fantastic level and monster designs, Khazan aims high and hits every target it finds.

With blisteringly fast paced combat and visceral gameplay, The First Berserker: Khazan is a masterclass in the hardcore action RPG genre. Unrelenting bosses, vivid and varied environments, and fair-but-challenging foes come together with engaging mechanics to create an unforgettable journey of vengeance.

The First Berserker: Khazan is a stylish action RPG that borrows equally from Souls-likes and looter shooters. Set in the world of Dungeon Fighter Online, this single-player spin-off delves into the past, 800 years before the events of the popular beat-'em-up, but you don't need to have played the original to enjoy this new journey.

The First Berserker: Khazan nails its combat and presentation fundamentals but skimps on the narrative, loot and Khazan himself. Not terrible, but it could have been so much more.

It's hard as nails and has some balance issues that perhaps need to be addressed, but on the whole The First Berserker: Khazan is an impressive Soulslike that's very easy to recommend whether you're familiar with the Dungeon Fighter Online series or not.

The First Berserker Khazan Review - a love letter to going all out, made for lovers of good bloody action.

The First Berserker: Khazan delights with its heavy-hitting combat and unusual approach to character progression

The First Berserker: Khazan is the best Soulslike I've played since Lies of P. The game can sometimes overstay its welcome, but the excellent combat, boss fights, and stellar presentation more than make up for that. If you're hungry for a new hardcore action RPG, Khazan is the game to pick up.

First Berserker: Khazan isn't exactly overflowing with originality, but it offers an exciting, rewarding Soulslike experience with weighty combat and challenging bosses. Fans of the genre shouldn't hesitate to pick it up, but those turned off by the high difficulty in Soulslikes hoping that Easy mode would be their way in may want to try the demo first.

The First Berserker: Khazan is a brutal, yet satisfying experience with fluid combat and a good skill system, plus it runs great on Steam Deck.

Elbows its way into a crowded room admirably.