Khazan — A Promising Yet Imperfect Soulslike Experience

It’s been a while since we’ve dived into a Soulslike title here, but today, I’m excited to review The First Berserker: Khazan on PC. Produced by Nexon — a company primarily known for its success in Asian markets — Khazan marks Nexon’s first major foray into the Souls genre, traditionally recognized for beat-em-ups and fighting games like those in the Dungeon & Fighter (DNF) universe. Fortunately, you don’t need any prior experience with DNF games to enjoy Khazan.

Innovative Elements in Gameplay

At its core, Khazan retains the punishing difficulty and tactical combat that Souls fans love, but introduces distinct design choices that differentiate it from titles by FromSoftware. Whatever its unique combat mechanics like Reflection &

Players can choose from three weapon types:

• Dual wield: A balanced and versatile option.

• Two-handed sword: A heavy-hitting but slow choice.

• Spear: A fast, agile weapon for quick engagements.

Each weapon has its own skill tree, unlocking special attacks, combos, charged moves, and passive abilities like increased stamina when dodging or blocking. Combat feels deeply customizable, making weapon mastery a rewarding pursuit.

Notably, the blocking mechanic in Khazan is more forgiving than in typical Souls games. Perfectly timed blocks negate stamina penalties, encouraging players to adopt a defensive strategy without severe punishment.

Additionally, Khazan can utilize a javelin for ranged attacks — a unique twist considering the absence of bows or guns. Over time, players unlock the Phantom Form, a powerful transformation used during intense battles, granting temporary invulnerability and unique move sets.

Loot and Progression: Deeply Rewarding Systems

One of Khazan‘s standout features is its loot system. Weapons and armor can be be repurposed in few different ways

• Sold for gold at the vendor

• Broken down for Lacrima (to boost base stats)

• Destroyed in exchange for Better stats in current weapons and armour (if high enough item level)

• Or transformed into crafting materials

This versatility ensures that every piece of loot contributes to meaningful character progression and grinding is just fundamentally worth your time. Plus, armour sets offer special bonuses, such as increased dodge rates or enhanced dual-wield skills, making even early-game gear viable in late stages.

World and Level Design: Limited Scope, Repetitive Zones

Unlike many modern Soulslikes, Khazan is not an open-world game. Missions are zone-based, with side quests often taking place on mirrored or slightly altered versions of main mission maps (e.g., a daytime map becoming a night version).

While the game starts strong with snowy mountains, dungeons, and castles, visual fatigue sets in as many environments blur together. Later levels lean heavily into labyrinthine designs without the aid of maps or compasses, making navigation frustrating at times. I feel like we could have used like a Jungle level and other just very different looking zones to take break from this bleak dark brown style that is repeated level after level.

Expect to invest ~35 hours for just the main story, or 50–55 hours if completing all side quests. Certain boss fights can be brutally difficult, even on the lowest difficulty setting. Players are encouraged (and sometimes forced) to tackle side quests to level up and prepare. Also there is NG+ incase you want more stuff to do.

Audio and Voice Acting: Mixed Results

On the audio front, Khazan disappoints. The soundtrack is largely forgettable, with the main menu theme being the only semi-memorable track — a sharp contrast to Nexon’s otherwise strong reputation for game music, as seen with titles like Stellar Blade.

Voice acting, however, is solid. English dubbing is well-performed, especially in the 2D cutscenes and occasional 3D dialogue sequences. Not every interaction is voiced, but the key scenes deliver emotional impact when needed.

Story: A Weak Link in an Otherwise Strong Chain

The narrative is where Khazan truly falters. The plot centers around Khazan, a betrayed hero who becomes fused with a blood phantom as he seeks revenge against a corrupt kingdom. Unfortunately, the story is predictable from the opening cinematic which is spoiling majority of already major plotlines and twists, and side characters receive little development before being unceremoniously killed off.

World-building is shallow, with filler missions padding the runtime rather than enhancing the lore. Souls games typically emphasize atmosphere over direct storytelling, but even by those standards, Khazan‘s narrative feels rushed and uninspired from story perspective. Not even the decent English cast can save the story with their performances…

Final Verdict

Despite its shortcomings in music, storytelling, and visual variety, The First Berserker: Khazan shines where it matters most — gameplay. Its fast, fluid combat, meaningful loot progression, and forgiving-but-challenging systems make it a refreshing entry into the Soulslike genre.

Pros:

• Dynamic, rewarding combat.

• Excellent loot and gear systems.

• Strong English voice acting.

• Graphically nice looking and well optimized (didn’t run into any crashes or bugs on my playthrough)

Cons:

• Forgettable soundtrack.

• Predictable, incredibly weak story.

• Visual repetition and t

• Overly long runtime with some filler content.

So our final scoring for Khazan (PC) version is strong 8/10