Khazan: The Soulslike That Perfected the Genre and Ruined All Others for Me!

Initially, Khazan caught me off guard as I didn’t fully grasp what to anticipate. However, this game excels by combining the finest aspects of top-tier Soulslikes into a demanding and immersive adventure. Although it may not be entirely perfect, it has significantly refined the art form of the genre in numerous ways. It doesn’t necessarily introduce groundbreaking or original elements for a Soulslike game. Instead, what makes Khazan feel so distinctive are the aspects it takes from various titles within the Soulslike genre.

When considering The First Berserker: Khazan on its own, it exhibits a well-structured gameplay experience. The loot and crafting system, along with the challenging boss mechanics, compulsory combos and skills, encourage players to master the game’s intricacies rather than finding them frustratingly punishing as in some other games. In my perspective, what truly distinguishes First Berserker: Khazan is its crafting and loot system, the boss fight incentives through challenges, a more lenient “Souls”-like approach, and the harmonious balance between boss difficulty and player advancement – elements borrowed from similar games in the genre.

Khazan’s Crafting & Loot Make Changing Builds Simple

Crafting Sets Are Streamlined For Changing Builds

In essence, Khazan modifies the fundamental idea of scavenging and enhancing equipment, a key aspect in Soulslikes, by organizing gear into sets and offering numerous craft set alternatives. The game’s crafting mechanism fosters creativity as it invites players to experiment with various sets and devise unique strategies for each of the three weapons. Unlike other games within the genre that provide a vast selection of weapons and armor, Khazan’s crafting sets make the process more manageable and less tedious when deciding on an optimal build for any specific weapon.

In The First Berserker: Khazan, defeating various bosses will result in acquiring an abundance of additional items. These can be utilized at the Blacksmith for breaking down unwanted gear, which can later be used to craft weapons or armor from specific sets that you choose. To create these sets, you’ll need blueprints or scrolls, which enable you to produce those items whenever desired. Each boss drop contains a unique material that corresponds with a particular crafting set. If your aim is to achieve the highest level of a certain set, you must return and replay those bosses to collect the materials necessary.

With supervisors like Bringkus, this approach becomes essential. Although it’s not revolutionary or overly complicated, the system is user-friendly and simple to understand. Mastering Khazan doesn’t involve any hidden secrets; instead, it requires practice and understanding of how things function. Part of that process includes locating the top crafting sets and maintaining your equipment upgrades as necessary.

Losing XP Isn’t Quite As Terrifying In First Berserker

Boss Challenges Incentivize Repeated Attempts

In the Soulslike genre, including Khazan and Lies of P, there’s a characteristic challenge where you could potentially lose experience points (XP). However, unlike games such as Elden Ring, when you perish within boss arenas in Khazan, your Lacrima – which serves as XP – can be collected outside the arena doors instead of having to re-enter and retrieve it. This feature makes progressing through Khazan less tedious and more enjoyable.

You won’t feel compelled to hunt down numerous minor foes in order to progress, since Khazan offers a distinct boss challenge system that grants experience and skill points just for engaging with bosses and executing various attacks, blocks, or evasions effectively. This is an aspect that all Soulslike games should adopt because it eliminates the monotonous process of leveling up to confront a boss. Instead, you can gather experience as you learn each boss’s tactics, encouraging you to tackle bosses that you might typically shy away from.

Khazan’s Boss Difficulty Is Cranked To The Max But Isn’t Unfair

Soulslike Bosses Are Infamously Tough, But Khazan’s Are Rewarding

In the game “The First Berserker: Khazan“, much like other Soulslike games, difficulty is a central theme that it doesn’t back away from. It offers tough challenges, requiring exceptional skill and near-perfection from the player to progress further. Unlike certain games that burden you with insurmountable odds or convoluted mechanics, “Khazan” crafts bosses with discernible move sets that can be mastered through practice. In my opinion, every boss in “Khazan” appears impossible until, all of a sudden, an understanding dawns. After defeating a boss, the skills gained prove invaluable for future battles.

In essence, what truly makes “Khazan” captivating is its dedication to preserving the features cherished by fans of the genre: challenging yet fair battles, intricate mechanics that inspire discovery, and a persistent sensation of personal growth as a player. It’s not merely about enduring the world; it’s about dominating it, and “Khazan” excels at making your dominance feel deserved. Regardless if you’re an experienced Soulslike gamer or newcomer to the genre, “The First Berserker: Khazan” delivers a finely-tuned experience that encourages continuous improvement with each encounter.

2025-04-07 08:28