If you want better mission design
Choose Shinobi: Art of Vengeance. It scores 4.5 vs 2.0 for mission design, with a 4.4 overall score.
The First Berserker: Khazan Review
Bottom Line
Choose The First Berserker: Khazan for demanding, skill-heavy action and standout boss fights. Skip it if brutal spikes, thin storytelling, reused missions, or loot-menu friction will wear you down.
Best for
Best for Soulslike and hardcore action fans who enjoy learning bosses, refining builds, and pushing through tough encounters for a high-satisfaction payoff.
Not for
Not for players who want forgiving difficulty, rich character drama, broad exploration, multiplayer, or a low-friction loot and menu experience.
Verdict
The review evidence points to an action RPG carried by combat, bosses, and presentation more than story or level structure. Reviewers repeatedly praise Khazan’s fast, precise combat, distinct weapons, strong boss encounters, and stylish cel-shaded art. The tradeoff is that the same intensity can become punishing: several reviews flag brutal early walls, stamina pressure, second-phase frustration, or uneven balance. Narrative and character depth are also inconsistent, with many calling the revenge story coherent but thin, predictable, or underdeveloped. Level and mission design divide reviewers sharply; shortcuts and exploration rewards help, but recycled side missions, boss reuse, and samey areas are common caveats.
Feature Scorecards
Summary
63 reviewed features-
Very positive 4.5-5.024 (38%)
-
Positive 3.5-4.421 (33%)
-
Neutral 2.5-3.410 (16%)
-
Negative 1.5-2.48 (13%)
Pros
-
Boss design is the strongest point of consensus, with many reviewers calling bosses excellent, memorable, fair, intuitive, and satisfying despite some reuse or harshness.
-
Combat is the product’s clearest strength: reviewers repeatedly call it fast, satisfying, deep, and among the genre’s best, with only a few reservations about stamina or consistency.
-
Fun factor is very strong overall, with many reviewers saying the game is joyful, addictive, satisfying, or peak despite difficulty.
-
Progression is broadly praised, especially boss-attempt rewards, free skill respecs, and multiple growth systems that keep failures productive.
-
Performance optimization is strongly praised, with multiple reviewers reporting pristine or highly optimized performance.
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Art direction is broadly praised for its cel-shaded, anime-inflected, gothic style, though originality concerns remain elsewhere.
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Graphics and visuals are viewed positively, with reviewers praising cel-shading, presentation, and attractive visual identity.
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Voice acting is consistently praised, especially the English performances and lead voice work.
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Controls are described as smooth, tight, responsive, and precise, helping the demanding fights feel skill-based.
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Sound design is praised for impact, weapon clashes, parry sounds, and matching the game’s brutal tone.
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Skill trees are usually praised for depth and experimentation, though some reviewers say build variety remains narrower than expected.
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Checkpoint placement is praised, especially checkpoints before bosses that reduce runback frustration.
Cons
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Side characters are a recurring weakness, often described as generic, shallow, or not meaningfully integrated.
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Live-service support looks uncertain in post-release coverage, with reports of a likely final patch and a murky future.
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Mission design is a weak spot in the harsher reviews, with complaints that missions can feel like formalities or use puzzling reset structures.
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Onboarding is uneven: tutorials can work, but some reviewers say the intro and early ramp fail to showcase or teach the best systems well.
-
Originality is mixed to weak: reviewers often call the game derivative, while still noting that it executes borrowed ideas well.
-
AI behavior is criticized where it appears, with one review calling it braindead.
Compared With Category Average
Compared with other Video Games, this product is above average in save system reliability, boss design, checkpoint system, near average in level design, difficulty balance, below average in lore depth, character development, live-service support.
Comparison summary
63 compared features-
Above average 0.4+ pts higher29 (46%)
-
Same as average within 0.3 pts16 (25%)
-
Below average 0.4+ pts lower18 (29%)
Largest category differences
| Attribute | This product | Category average | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| lore depth | 2.0 | 4.1 | -2.1 |
| character development | 2.0 | 4.0 | -2.0 |
| live-service support | 2.0 | 3.9 | -1.9 |
| save system reliability | 5.0 | 3.1 | +1.9 |
| side character depth | 2.0 | 3.8 | -1.8 |
| onboarding experience | 2.3 | 3.9 | -1.7 |
| learning curve | 2.0 | 3.5 | -1.5 |
| mission design | 2.0 | 3.5 | -1.5 |
Consider This Instead
If you want better character development
Choose Ghost of Yōtei. It scores 4.8 vs 2.0 for character development, with a 4.4 overall score.
If you want better replay value
Choose Saros. It scores 4.7 vs 3.0 for replay value, with a 4.3 overall score.
If you want better lore depth
Choose Kingdom Come: Deliverance II. It scores 4.8 vs 2.0 for lore depth, with a 4.3 overall score.
Compared in Reviews
Products reviewers directly compared with this model, grouped into quick takeaways.
Elden Ring
- Compared: boss-run quality-of-life COGconnected compares Khazan’s boss retry comfort with lessons FromSoft learned in Elden Ring.
- Worse: story clarity Digital Trends says Khazan’s story is easier to follow than Elden Ring’s cryptic lore.
- Better: early difficulty flexibility IGN says Elden Ring offers more ways to overcome an early boss than Khazan.
Nioh
- Similar: mechanical influence RPS says Khazan takes core ideas from Nioh.
- Similar: gameplay influence The reviewer says Khazan leans toward the Nioh side of Soulslike design.
Sekiro
- Similar: parry design RPS says Khazan layers Sekiro-style parrying onto Nioh-like foundations.
- Worse: defensive combat flexibility Khazan allows dodging and guarding instead of requiring constant parrying like Sekiro.
FAQ
Is The First Berserker: Khazan mostly praised or criticized?
The review set is broadly positive on combat and bosses, but mixed overall because story, level design, mission reuse, and difficulty spikes draw repeated criticism.
Is the combat the main reason to play?
Yes. Across the reviews, combat feel, responsiveness, weapon identity, and boss learning are the strongest recurring positives.
How hard is it?
Reviewers describe it as demanding and sometimes brutal. Some find the challenge fair, while others report early walls, stamina problems, or unbalanced boss pressure.
Does the story matter?
The revenge setup is clear enough and occasionally entertaining, but many reviewers say the narrative, side characters, and protagonist depth are not the main draw.
Are the levels good?
Opinions split. Some reviewers praise shortcuts, layouts, and memorable areas, while others criticize linearity, samey missions, weak exploration, or recycled side content.
Is there replay value?
There is some replay value through New Game+, weapon experimentation, boss refights, and gear systems, but reviewers also note limited build variety and repeated content.
Sample Expert Reviews We Analyzed
These are a few of the reviews included in our analysis.
Video Reviews
YouTube - Ziostorm
- Review score
- 4.1
Article Reviews
gamesradar.com
- Review score
- 2.5
cogconnected.com
- Review score
- 3.7
vice.com
- Review score
- 4.3
digitaltrends.com
- Review score
- 3.4
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