Brutal, Beautiful, and Unforgiving – The First Berserker: Khazan Delivers

The First Berserker: Khazan instantly caught my eye with its trailers and gameplay footage. While it looked visually impressive, I wasn’t fully sold on this souls-like experience at first. I figured I’d wait for a sale rather than grabbing it at launch. However, once they announced a free demo, my interest skyrocketed. Offering a demo shows confidence in the product, and I had to see for myself whether The First Berserker: Khazan was worth the hype.

Seeing that it was free, I decided to give it a try. The system requirements were quite reasonable compared to the crazy specs needed for recent AAA releases. The recommended specs required a GeForce RTX 2070 or Radeon RX 5700XT, and an Intel Core i7-6700K or AMD Ryzen 5 3600 to hit 60fps at 1080p. At around 30GB, the download size wasn’t too bad either. So, I decided to stream my playthrough live on my YouTube channel on January 21, 2025.

The demo took around 2-3 hours to complete, and I genuinely enjoyed every bit of it. Initially, I had concerns about the combat speed since it looked slow in videos. When I started playing, I was a bit frustrated because the stamina bar seemed large, but every action consumed a massive amount of stamina. Getting hit while having no stamina resulted in a stun, which took some time to get used to. My previous souls-like experiences included Black Myth: Wukong (i know i know, many don’t consider this a souls like) and Lies of P, both of which I absolutely loved.

Weapon Variety in The First Berserker: Khazan – Finding the Right Fit

As I progressed, I found the story bits engaging and enjoyed the anime-like style mixed with realistic world design. The weapon variety was interesting—there were three different types:

• Dual-wield swords – Personally, I hated these because their range was almost nonexistent.
• A long staff-type weapon – This became my favorite due to its reach and smooth combat flow.
• A heavy sword – My second favorite weapon, offering strong attacks and good impact.

The game also had a mechanic where you could throw spears, which would regenerate over time as you landed attacks. These spears were surprisingly powerful and added another layer of strategy to fights.

Level Design & Exploration – What Sets It Apart?

In terms of level design, I really liked how the anime-styled characters contrasted with the semi-realistic world. The maps were slightly open with rewarding exploration elements. There were some well-placed shortcuts that made backtracking for bosses easy and non-frustrating.

Boss Battles & Difficulty – How Tough Is The First Berserker: Khazan?

The demo wasn’t overly difficult, except for the final boss—the demon who takes control of Khazan. That fight was a significant challenge, but apart from that, I didn’t die much. By the end of the demo, I was really enjoying the combat, especially since the progression system and abilities were well-balanced.

One of the standout features was the skill tree, which was weapon-based and allowed on-the-fly resets with no restrictions. This gave players the freedom to experiment without being locked into a specific build, which I really appreciated.

Optimization & Performance – How Well Does It Run?

Performance-wise, the demo was well-optimized. There were a few minor hiccups, but nothing game-breaking. Given how polished the demo was, I have confidence that the full release will be technically sound.

Final Thoughts – Is The First Berserker: Khazan Worth Buying?

After playing the demo, I’m fully sold on The First Berserker: Khazan. I initially planned to wait for a sale, but now I think the game is worth its full price. The combat, skill system, and overall design impressed me, and seeing the variety of maps and bosses teased in trailers makes me even more excited for the full release. The parry system was another highlight—it felt incredibly satisfying and rewarding. If I had the money right now, I’d buy it at full price without hesitation.

For anyone who enjoys hardcore action RPGs, The First Berserker: Khazan is shaping up to be an excellent addition to the genre. If the full game maintains the quality of the demo, it’s going to be something truly special.

The First Berserker: Khazan is set to release on March 27, 2025, and will be available on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

Steam Link: The First Berserker: Khazan

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