Game Information
Game Title: The First Berserker: Khazan
Platforms:
- PC (Mar 27, 2025)
- PlayStation 5 (Mar 27, 2025)
- Xbox Series X/S (Mar 27, 2025)
Trailer:
Review Aggregator:
OpenCritic - 79 average - 74% recommended - 33 reviews
Critic Reviews
But Why Tho? - Eddie De Santiago - 7 / 10
There is plenty to enjoy about The First Berserker: Khazan, but it requires you to commit to overcoming its challenges in a way most other games do not.
CGMagazine - Justin Wood - 9 / 10
The First Berserker: Khazan stands out in the crowded Soulsborne-inspired genre by delivering relentless, weighty combat and immersive world-building.
ComingSoon.net - Tyler Treese - 8.5 / 10
Nexon’s The First Berserker: Khazan is another great entry into the soulslike canon.
Digital Trends - George Yang - 3.5 / 5
The First Berserker: Khazan has some of the most balanced defensive and offensive combat systems I’ve experienced in a Soulslike game, as well as some rich progression. However, some frustrating boss mechanics, braindead AI, and puzzling mission structure hold it back from reaching its full potential.
Fextralife - Tyr - 9 / 10
The First Berserker: Khazan is a brilliant blend of the Soulslike and Hack and Slash genres, offering some of the best combat in recent gaming years and an incredibly polished product. While it does have some shortcomings in its story, replayability, and occasionally borrows too heavily from past titles, if you live for action games such as Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice or Devil May Cry 5, this game will likely be your Game of the Year so far and a title we can recommend at full price.
Final Weapon - Alex Patterson - 4 / 5
The First Berserker: Khazan is the best Soulslike I’ve played since Lies of P. The game can sometimes overstay its welcome, but the excellent combat, boss fights, and stellar presentation more than makeup for that. If you’re hungry for a new hardcore action RPG, Khazan is the game to pick up.
GAMES.CH - Sven Raabe - German - 88%
However, generic side missions, enemy types, and environments, as well as the controls that aren’t quite as straightforward as its predecessor “Sekiro,” hold the game back. Nevertheless, fans of challenging action RPGs can expect an early highlight in the relatively young gaming year of 2025.
GamingBolt - Ravi Sinha - 7 / 10
The First Berserker: Khazan nails its combat and presentation fundamentals but skimps on the narrative, loot and Khazan himself. Not terrible, but it could have been so much more.
Hardcore Gamer - Adam Beck - 3.5 / 5
Neople brings us The First Berserker: Khazan, an anime-inspired soulslike that tries to stand out in a crowded market.
Hey Poor Player - Shane Boyle - 4.5 / 5
The First Berserker: Khazan is a brutal, beautiful delight. Its elegant parry system, demonic boss battles, and flexible yet approachable take on character development have come together to create a package that may pull directly from many sources in the genre but ultimately delivers a standout experience that easily stands amongst the stiffest competition the genre has to offer. Its early hours may suffer from linearity, and its parry-heavy combat system may not sit well with everyone, but if you’re up for the challenge and willing to adapt to how The First Berserker: Khazan requires you to play, then you’re in for an absolute treat.
IGN Spain - Mario Seijas - Spanish - 7 / 10
The First Berserker: Khazam and its brutal action combat will be a real challenge for you, and manages to deliver a very enjoyable gameplay experience. Although with some bumps in the road, it is a game that manages to earn his spot in the genre with a challenging proposal and with some very interesting ideas
Loot Level Chill - Mick Fraser - 9 / 10
The First Berserker: Khazan has a massive focus on rewarding the player’s perseverance, whatever their skill level.
MonsterVine - James Carr - 3.5 / 5
The First Berserker: Kahzan features a fun combat system, an interesting world, and an enjoyable revenge tale, but tedious and overly long boss fights make what should be the most exciting part of the game too frustrating to enjoy. It’s unfortunate, as the rest of the experience is a ton of fun, but when the main selling point of the genre is the weakest part of the game, it weighs down the entire experience.
Noisy Pixel - Bailey Seemangal - 9 / 10
The First Berserker: Khazan is a masterclass in action combat, delivering thrilling boss fights, diverse level design, and tight mechanics that rival the genre’s best. While the narrative and side characters falter in depth, the fluid progression, customizable skill trees, and satisfying difficulty curve make this a standout soul-like experience—even for players unfamiliar with the Dungeon Fighter Online universe.
PC Gamer - Sean Martin - 80 / 100
Despite somewhat samey missions and a flat protagonist, Khazan’s combat and boss design are some of the best I’ve seen in a soulslike.
Push Square - Issy van der Velde - 6 / 10
Ultimately, The First Berserker: Khazan is a good time. Its aesthetic differentiates it from the plethora of ARPG Souls-likes we’ve become used to, and its brilliant boss fights are engaging enough to entice you through levels that start to feel boring around the mid-way point of the game. But its lacklustre story and bloated, inconsistent mechanics hinder what could have been a better game if it were more refined.
Quest Daily - Tom Greer - 8 / 10
The First Berserker: Kahzan is a game that doesn’t mess around. It’s tough, flashy, and brimming with style, but it does have its rough patches… If you’re looking for a game that lets you live out your berserker fantasy — complete with tough-as-nails combat and jaw-dropping visuals — this one’s definitely worth the ride. Just be prepared to die… a lot.
RPG Site - Josh Torres - 6 / 10
Neople and Nexon’s Soulslike-inspired action RPG set in the DNF universe sadly misses the mark on many of its components with a dull color palette that masks its lovely art style, sluggish combat flow due to its restrictive stamina system, and just doesn’t distinguish itself from its many contemporary competitors.
Rock, Paper, Shotgun - Lewis Parker - Unscored
A hack ‘n’ slash soulslike with an uninspiring plot and tedious level design but its satisfying combat and tough boss fights might make it worth trying.
The Outerhaven Productions - Erica Alatorre - 5 / 5
The game offers intense boss fights, rewarding progression, and a satisfying loop of loot and upgrades. With fluid combat, strategic poise management, and accessible systems, it provides both a tough challenge for veterans and an approachable experience for newcomers. A must-play for fans of hardcore, Soulslike action RPGs.
TheSixthAxis - Jason Coles - 8 / 10
The First Berserker: Khazan is a great action game that’s not reinventing anything by any means, but is consistently fun to play. The visuals are lovely, the action is a lot of fun thanks to ever-evolving skill trees, and the boss designs are great too. If you’re after a Soulslike challenge, it can fit that bill in some ways, but it should also have a broader appeal thanks to the easy mode and more.
Thumb Wars - Luke Addison - 4 / 5
A beginner’s introduction to difficult games, The First Berserker: Khazan has many of the accessibility options Soulslikes/Action RPG fans have cried out for, and it does it all with an excellent combat system, interesting lore and story, and some fine visuals.
VG247 - Connor Makar - 4 / 5
Khazan is the perfect example of a game that’s more than its individual components. The game does re-use a lot, but the gooey core of the game is so engaging, so fun, that you don’t really care.
Worth Playing - Chris “Atom” DeAngelus - 8 / 10
Everything about The First Berserker: Khazan is entirely competent. It’s a fun and well put-together Soulslike that would serve well as someone’s first dip into the genre, especially if the stereotype of high difficulty usually frightens them off. At the same time, Khazan doesn’t do anything particularly new that makes it stand out from the crowd. This isn’t necessarily a problem, especially if you’re a fan of the DFO universe, but it means you need to be in the right mood and mindset to play Khazan.
XboxEra - Jesse Norris - 8.7 / 10
The First Berserker: Khazan is an excellent action-focused Soulslike. A few minor quibbles and a predictable story aren’t enough to hold back one of the most brutally difficult games we’ve ever played.