4/5 ★ – geddycahoon's review of The First Berserker: Khazan.

Right up there with Lies of P as one of the preeminent new masocore games, Fromsoft and Team Ninja finally have some competition ready to step up to the big leagues. Developers Nexon succeeded where so so many have failed in making a soulslike (it’s really a Niohlike but let’s not muddy things too much) game that genuinely feels so snappy and responsive and just GOOD to play. The majority of things in this genre fail right out of the gate due to this. They simply are not good or polished *feeling.* within a few minutes, you can tell The First Berserker is the real deal. First Berserker’s biggest failing is its dull and dismal visual world design - this game has a good art style with its characters and overall aesthetic but the actual visual appearance of the stages themselves leaves a lot to be desired. The entire game it just looks like you’re exploring bargain bin 3D rendering program assets with a red filter over them. If you can get past that though, First Berserker has an excellent combat system to master and a genuine challenge even for hardcore genre fans. The first 20 or so hours of this game on a blind run has some of the toughest feeling bosses ever in this genre. Easy, no brainer recommend if you love these types of games , and I honestly think there’s something here even for more casual action game fans looking for something fresh and new.