The First Berserker: Khazan Review (Jimmy)
This game is absolutely awesome. I enjoy games like Elden Ring, Dark Souls or Lies of P etc.
It takes all the good parts from those game and take away the annoying parts (like long runbacks etc.).
What I really enjoy about it:
- it is not open world. It is kind of "Mission based" starting from a gathering hub.
- Not a whole lot of trash mobs or traps. Everything is carefully considered (not too much to be annoying, but enough for you to keep attention on the screen)
- There is always a checkpoint before the Boss of each mission. The runbacks are literally 2 seconds.
- When you lose a bossfight, you gain ressources based on how low you got the boss (For example, when you died in the first 10 seconds you get 100 souls. If you die after reaching phase 2 and nearly killing the boss, you get 5000 souls) This way you can still gain levels when trying the boss instead of farming souls from trash. You get rewarded the further you get at the boss. The souls you lose are also always in front of the boss arena. So you don't need to enter to get it.
- Gameplay is insanely cool. It is similar to Lies of P. Parrying sound is VERY juicy when you hit it right.
- You gain skill points while fighting (guarding, attacking etc.). So the more you play the game and fight bosses, you increase your player power level. Gain skills and souls.
- You can ALWAYS change your skill points. There are no drawbacks or ressources needed for it. So if you put points into greatsword and want to switch to dualwield, you can change the skill points to the other weapon
- Not a lot of weapons (3 types). But the weapon variety comes from each skill tree. VERY GOOD
- flawless performance. 120 locked FPS at 4k Ultra settings on a 4080 super and 7800x3d
What I did not like
- Stamina is very scarce. If you run out of stamina, you get exhausted. The most deaths I had where due to stamina running out. It is annoying at the start. But once you get the hang of it, it gets better. You get stamina when hitting parrys or perfect evades. Some skillpoints also give stamina.
- Pre-purchase or deluxe armour is kind of very good. It is not cosmetic, it is actual armour with actual stats. At the start it is good to use. But in my opinion not so overpowered that you could say it can carry you. It helps at the start until you get combat down
- Cinematics sometimes don't have audio. I think this is a bug, but they will probably fix it very soon. They are very quick on their feet.
Conclusion:
GREAT Game if you enjoy souls-like Games like Lies of P, but without annoying run-backs and without punishing mechanics like losing ressources when failing a boss. This game encourages you to get better and rewards you for trying.
I have never experienced a game like this. It feels so good to play. Gameplay feels just perfect.
My recommendation for anyone who wants to experience some top tier gameplay and want to improve themselve without punishing mechanics.