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.

What’s even better? No previous knowledge of international hit Dungeon Fighter Online is required to enjoy it, though the lore-referencing narrative seemingly draws from a deep unseen well. I have little experience with DFO myself, though I recall its emergence as a popular MMO-lite which has since eclipsed most other properties in of sheer profit. Those origins speak to a baked-in audience primed for The First Berserker: Khazan, but I predict the release will expand it ten-fold as Western players encounter its world.

The Souls-like genre is an arena littered with best intentions and darkened under developer FromSoftware’s shadow, with all praise due to those who stand triumphant after the smoke clears. The First Berserker: Khazan fully understood the assignment, alchemizing multiple aspects of From’s catalog and adding unique twists and modifications to the grind throughout, resulting in a gorgeous anime-tinged adventure that carefully evokes its inspirations while earning its own identity.

A Betrayed War Hero Fights Back

The First Berserker Khazan's Narrative Is A Surprising Strength

Once a Great General of the Pell Los Empire, the newly-disgraced Khazan faces exile to a wintry mountainside, a maimed prisoner in a cart braced by guards for the long trek ahead. A sudden avalanche frees him before a demonic Netherworld demigod known as the Blade Phantom appears, imbuing Khazan with renewed strength as its host, now empowered to track down those responsible for his sorry fate.

The First Berserker: Khazan’s narrative never overwhelms the experience, but provides excellent foundation for the game’s setting, a war-torn drama that mixes dark fantasy with elements of sci-fi and occult horror. Cinematic interludes make deft use of sepia-toned stills that inject greater detail and personality into the growing cast, many of whom eventually collect at The Crevice, an interdimensional hub that serves as Khazan’s base of operations.

Ben Starr of Final Fantasy XVI fame lends his rock salt baritone to the lead role – easily recognizable but no less compelling in this guise – and s a sharp ing cast of emotional, melodramatically overwrought performances. The game’s initial angry hours fittingly recall some of manga Berserk’s fury, but so do the quieter and more intimate moments in the evolving narrative. Don’t expect the mad Pepe Silvia depths of From’s epistolary worldbuilding, but Khazan’s story is worthily multifaceted, confidently developing and earning each plot twist.

Fiery Combat With Parries And Counters Aplenty

The First Berserker: Khazan's Action Is Finely Tuned, With Limited Weapon Types & Plenty of Gear Bonuses

From its early hours, The First Berserker: Khazan is a feisty combat-focused action-RPG that rewards technical skill over simple level-grinding and gear, teaching the player what’s expected of them before ramping up to the next hurdle. Souls vets may scoff at its gentle intro but, from the point of the Blade Phantom bossfight forward, the kid gloves largely come off.

Sekiro fans will most appreciate the game’s parry-oriented approach, which employs that same juicy when catching every swing in a learned combo before responding with the full breadth of your stamina. There’s even an effective stand-in for the Mikiri Counter here, which turns otherwise unblockable power strikes into a sudden opening.

Level-grinders beware, as The First Berserker: Khazan caps skill points to main quest completion. You can still level up Khazan's attributes anytime with Lacrima, but precious skill point accumulation is always gated by bosses.

At first, I it to finding the shortage of weapon types disappointing, as The First Berserker: Khazan possesses but three: a duel-wielded sword-and-axe for speed, a massive Guts-inspired greatsword, and a spear. However, each has their own bespoke skill tree, combo set, and individual nuances, and that’s before digging into the game’s expansive gear attribute system and many varied set bonuses.

This system echoes the precise, sometimes boiled-down design, aspects which contrast greatly with the near-infinite player expression and buildcrafting available in something like Elden Ring. Clotheshorses will rejoice, though, as The First Berserker: Khazan contains hundreds of beautiful pieces of equipment to seek out and choose from. A range of full- and partial-set bonuses can spark choice paralysis, but this complexity is one of several aspects that demonstrate the game’s available depth.

Darkly Beautiful Environments To Explore

Levels in The First Berserker: Khazan Are Diverse & Packed With Visual Detail

From that snowy landscape, on through the underworld, then to corrupted temples, towns, and beyond, The First Berserker: Khazan never strays far from a lovely vista or skybox to ogle. The animated style of the character design doesn't skimp on any detail, and the impressive breadth of its world goes well beyond the hub-based format.

There are numerous tips of the hat to the Soulsborne games, whether it’s diving into a hazardous dungeon trap a la Sen’s Fortress or traversing perilous balconies to enter a huge castle keep (and I’ll avoid other contained references to retain that sense of discovery). Journeying on and into distant structures is as satisfying as ever, just as it is to marvel at the obsessive detail in the carved doors and statuary once you arrive. Within a genre that bloomed out of From’s strict design standards, Khazan is one of few examples to match that studio’s visual splendor and artistry.

The soundtrack goes even further, filled with sumptuous themes and motifs that grant increased context and emotion to each environment, sometimes even integrating into the gameplay itself, reminiscent of Returnal’s Echoing Ruins. Weapon clangs and ability effects sound queasily perfect, forming around the rhythmic muscle memory required for the game’s fiercest encounters.

Bosses Aplenty, From Duels To Demons

One of The First Berserker: Khazan's Best Qualities Is Superb Boss Balance & Design

You will die to the game’s bosses, early and often. Some tower above you and casually control the space, others meet Khazan at eye-level in dazzling duels with flashy combos and mix-ups and multiple phases. Almost every bossfight manifests that ineffable perfection of a great Souls-like final exam in how impossible they seem before being deconstructed and understood, or how each evokes deafening bravado and weary dignity in equal measure.

The signs and tells for each attack reveal themselves over time, and mastery soon layers over mastery. The First Berserker: Khazan’s animations are such that a muscle twitch or shoulder shiver betrays a foe's intentions, and the game's difficulty consistently evolves in step with your own increased aptitude and observance.

I love a good duel boss a la Lady Maria in Bloodborne or Artorias in Dark Souls and, evidently, so do the fine folks at Neople. Some boss fights and elite mobs in this game evoke that intelligence and brutality, and I’ve rarely found another game with difficulty-scaling as precisely tuned as this. Overall, though, The First Berserker: Khazan doesn’t feature the hardest Souls-like combat, nor the most complicated, but sits in a comfortable and appetizing middle ground. Perseverance and experience overcome what feels impossible; keep that in mind when you run into Maluca.

Honoring & Improving On A Legacy of Souls-Likes

The First Berserker: Khazan Knows & Respects Where It Comes "From"

Countless smart ideas and embellishments to the standard formula abound in The First Berserker: Khazan. Take, for instance, how lost souls after death to a boss – known here as Lacrima – magically materialize before the boss door every time, dispensing with the mad dashes for bloodstains on subsequent attempts. There are no obtuse character quests to decipher, but unlockable side missions return you to completed levels that offer additional narrative beats, set pieces, and reconfigured boss encounters, often within entirely new environments as well.

There are chest rewards of varying quality to find, blacksmithing and item augmentation, and even achievements that grant sizable in-game rewards, like defeating a tough elite under special conditions. A full skill tree system offers modular configuration for different weapons and abilities, and it’s fun to rework upgrades and move sets on-the-fly that adapt to a new encounter.

I spent approximately 77 hours playing through The First Berserker: Khazan, completing all bonus missions and obtaining most achievements. Total time to beat will vary dependent on which bosses get you stuck and for how long, but note that this is a substantive game overall.

While the game contains no multiplayer at all – which makes the lack of a pause function a curious design choice, but alas – you can summon a Spirit of Advocacy as a phantom AI companion to help with bosses. The Spirit can even be upgraded with a currency obtained via optional duels that randomly appear in each area, presented as a sort of ersatz AI Black Phantom to call at will. I can’t say the Spirit was always helpful, but it’s a grindy plan B option, a possible distraction for the boss when you’re feeling stuck.

Lastly, The First Berserker: Khazan features that most idiosyncratic Souls-like aspect: a sense of humor. There are countless clever traps, ambushes, and trick scenarios designed to fool you, catch you unaware, trip you up when down to your last hit point. That mischievous air is a lesser-discussed element of From’s games, but it’s crucial and rare, a playful secret ingredient that contrasts the often grim fantasy drama, and Neople should be commended for recognizing it as such. After some of those deaths, you just have to laugh.

The First Berserker: Khazan Is An Evocative Must-Play Souls-like That Exceeds Expectations

Quite Simply One of the Best Souls-likes in Years

The First Berserker: Khazan is equally crucial and rare all on its own, a memorably vibrant and characterful Souls-like experience. The curiosity evident in its design, the beauty of its visual presentation and thematic concepts, and the viciously satisfying boss fights all combine to form one of the finest Souls-likes in years, and possibly the best one developed by any studio other than From.

The First Berserker: Khazan is a perfect game that achieves everything it sets out to. While I do wish for more weapon types and an open-world, not having these doesn't take away from the core experience at hand, which is nothing short of perfection.

The First Berserker: Khazan isn’t reaching for that manifestation of Souls. Instead, it's a dark fantasy anime adventure with a beginning, middle, and end, pitting you against bosses I’d proudly position next to the finest found in the niche. Whether or not you thought Elden Ring’s enormity overwhelming, set aside some time and money to experience what Neople have created here. The First Berserker: Khazan isn't the first of its kind by any measure, but it's one of the best.

ScreenRant was provided a digital PC code for the purpose of this review.