The First Berserker: Khazan Strives To Be More Than Just a Soulslike
Brutal bosses and a dark atmosphere merge with anime aesthetics and “lavish” combos in Nexon’s upcoming hardcore action-RPG.
Posted a month ago
Those of us who enjoy boss fights so punishing that they’re close to physically reaching out of the screen to slap the controller from our hands have been eating our punches well recently. Lies of P, Shadow of the Erdtree, Black Myth Wukong – difficult games are in violent vogue. And The First Berserker: Khazan is currently ringside. Limbering up and preparing to unleash an uppercut combo of reaction-straining bosses in 2025.
But beyond its fearsome foes, what is The First Berserker: Khazan? Fans of Elden Ring, Dark Souls, and FromSoftware’s litany of lethal video games will no doubt have taken note of Nexon’s hardcore action-RPG already. Reductive as it may be, that begs the question: is it a soulslike? At Gamescom 2024, Restart went hands on with Khazan before speaking to creative director Junho Lee and art director Kyuchul Lee about how their team defines the game, its unlikely origins, and just how brutal the gauntlet it’s preparing will prove to be.
At the opening of the game, Khazan is maimed and exiled from his homeland.
©Nexon
The first sucker punch Khazan has in store is that it’s actually a spinoff. The titular Khazan is himself a boss and summon from the Dungeon & Fighter (DNF) game universe. The First Berserker will give this once-villain a chance to share his tale of betrayal and revenge. For those new to the series, a quick look at Dungeon Fighter Online is likely to raise an eyebrow. The DNF universe’s traditional bright colors and cheerful cast are a far cry from the grim world of shadows and bloody vengeance seen in The First Berserker: Khazan. As it turns out, the game wasn’t born with its now perpetually dour expression. It was a change born of a desire to meld DNF DNA with the interests of a different playerbase.
“Previously, it was called Project BBQ,” Kyuchul says. “[Graphically,] Project BBQ was friendlier and more casual. However, we researched so much about console players in the Western market, as well as how to portray Khazan’s emotions through the graphics. We noticed that other games went for the photorealism approach. But we thought, to incorporate the Dungeon & Fighter universe and the preference of the Western market, as well as the emotions that Khazan has throughout the game, the hardcore action 3D graphics that we have in store for you are probably a good approach.”
A bear and a boar teaming up seems a touch unfair.
©Nexon
“The story really unfolds as he encounters difficulties and does these brutal battles to overcome those problems,” Junho continues. “In order to portray that and express that through the game graphics, we wanted to be realistic, have very dark tones, and use shading techniques. With the animation and cartoon rendering approach, we really wanted to reflect the dynamic actions the original Dungeon & Fighter game has.”
The dark fantasy stylings make comparisons to FromSoft’s catalog inevitable. But are they really justified? From our hands-on time, kind of. But not in the way you might think. The first section we tried was the game’s opening. After Khazan’s lacerated limbs are mended by a shadowy force, he must trudge across a snowy mountainside, battling past several armed and angry foot soldiers. There are bonfire-like checkpoints and your expected array of stats to upgrade as you build up a supply of points from taking down foes. So far, so Dark Souls. But the first instances of combat make it clear that, where the clash of blades is concerned, The First Berserker: Khazan wants you to take the Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice approach. That is to say, this is a game about parrying.
Khazan can’t dodge roll. In fact, he’s only capable of a short-distance shift to avoid an incoming axe. As detailed in a developer spotlight, Khazan’s stocky build and stubborn nature mean he’s made to face attacks head on. Tap guard at just the right time and you’ll parry a strike, receiving no damage and, crucially, reducing your enemy’s stamina meter. Empty this entirely and they’ll be temporarily stunned, and vulnerable to a powerful strike. So yes, soulslike fans will slip into Khazan’s burly skin with ease. But as Junho Lee was keen to stress, and our other play segments proved, The First Berserker: Khazan’s evolutionary path is markedly different.
“When [Khazan] starts the journey of revenge, then it might look like a soulslike game,” Junho says. “For example, after surviving, he loses everybody – friends, family, everything. He loses health, he gets tortured, his tendons get removed, and he goes into these really brutal battles. Maybe in that section of the game, the players might consider it like a soulslike game. But as they play, get new items, skills, and new abilities, and as they see Khazan grow as a character, players will actually feel the genre shift. And with all the lavish actions offered later in the game, I'm sure the players will feel like this isn't a soulslike.”
That “lavish” descriptor isn’t an overstatement. Our next two play segments saw us facing down ruthless bosses – the towering, deer-like Volbaino, and a burly but nimble bandit named Rangkus. Set later in the game, these fights filled out Khazan’s kit with a large selection of special movies and items. Unleashing many of the former saw Khazan perform outlandish aerial leaps and spins, striking his target numerous times in lengthy sequences worthy of an anime duel.
“Development of Khazan really started with the hope that more people take notice of the game, and notice of the universe, and also love it as much as we do,” says Junho. “The original Dungeon & Fighter is more of a hack-and-slash type of game. It has fast-paced actions. While developing Khazan, we thought the situation Khazan is in is may be better expressed with soulslike conventions.
“As you grow and the story progresses, you'll see some of the features that you can find in the original game, such as really refreshing and electrifying, thrilling actions, as well as combos that are available in the original game. So it speaks to people who aren't familiar with the franchise, because you have that familiar gameplay from the soulslike features, but at the same time, as they play, they're going to [think] wow, this is how actions can develop, and discover new, enjoyable elements in the game.”
Our multiple deaths within a 30-minute play session are testament to the fact that Khazan’s bosses aren’t messing around. Rangkus in particular hit hard and fast, rapidly switching between ranged and melee attacks. From our brief time with the game, the biggest lingering question is whether boss fights will actually grant windows large enough to utilize those lengthier and flashier special attacks. Without them, tougher fights are liable to devolve into cautious affairs.
Times may be grim, but at least Khazan can count on his luscious hair.
©Nexon
Khazan’s expansive toolkit looks to shift the experience away from soulslike conventions. But there’s one crucial way in which it adheres to the design philosophy of Dark Souls creator Hidetaka Miyazaki. The First Berserker: Khazan won’t include any difficulty settings. Challenge, Junho says, is crucial to conveying the narrative of survival and hard-sought revenge.
“If that process is too easy, I don't think it's going to justify even the exile,” says Junho. “So we believe that there has to be some level of difficulty for the story to make sense. The most important value in the development was the sense of achievement. But at the same time, we wanted to reach more diverse people through Khazan. Some of them may struggle, so for them to control the difficulties, we have [included] different content.”
In-built difficulty mitigation options include a large selection of items – gear and consumables you can equip to aid against a specific boss’ box of tricks. In addition, unlike in Elden Ring or Dark Souls, The First Berserker: Khazan grants experience just for hitting a boss. Even if you fall tens of times to a brick wall of an enemy, you’ll still make tangible progress toward your next skill unlock. If only Shadow of the Erdtree’s final boss was so generous. For those concerned by Khazan’s upfront message of intense struggle, Junho Lee is willing to offer one core piece of advice.
“What's really important is not to give up,” he says. “There are going to be so many challenges and there are going to be so many failures. A really important value would be getting the feedback from all your failures during the battles and knowing that, next time I go into the same battle, I can nail this and understand why I failed. We wanted to give the users a definite signal that explains why the user failed in certain battles.”
Our thanks to Junho Lee, Kyuchul Lee, and the Nexon translation team for speaking with us about The First Berserker: Khazan.
