Best-in-genre combat
Mentioned in ~1 in 2 positive reviews
“One of the best combat systems I’ve ever played — very fair, challenging, and incredibly satisfying.”
Steam review · 116.4 h played ↗
The First Berserker: Khazan
Worth buying? What 300 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 300 Steam reviews actually say.
Very Positive · 86%Very Positive · 86%Neople2025Souls-like · Hack and Slash · Action RPG
$59.99
Open on Steam ↗US Steam price, checked 5 h ago
The verdict
A fast, combo-heavy Nioh-style soulslike with standout combat and bosses, but repetitive linear levels and spongy boss health. Skip it if you want exploration or enemy variety.
Great for
Nioh and Sekiro fans who want fast parry-and-combo combat and big boss fights
Main risk
Levels and enemies between bosses are repetitive, and bosses have huge health pools
What changed in the last 30 days
103 recent reviews
Recent positive reviews praise the combat and bosses, many also lamenting the studio closure. Negative recent ones centre on repetitive levels and some stutter. No clear single cause.
103 recent reviews
What players love
Memorable, well-designed bosses
Mentioned in ~1 in 3 positive reviews
“The highlight of the game cleary are the boss encounters, there are maybe 1-2 "meh" ones the rest is top tier”
Steam review · 52 h played ↗
Great art style and visuals
Mentioned in ~1 in 3 positive reviews
“they created this beautiful dark, almost illustrated 3d style that gives the game its own identity”
Steam review · 24 h played ↗
Deep build and skill customization
Mentioned in ~1 in 6 positive reviews
“being able to respec your skill points for free”
Steam review · 54.1 h played ↗
Great soundtrack
Mentioned in ~1 in 10 positive reviews
“The music is phenomenal.”
Steam review · 53.4 h played ↗
What players complain about
Repetitive, dull level design
Mentioned in ~1 in 4 negative reviews
“Its level design and environments were absurdly dry, dull, bleak, long, and all look the same.”
Steam review · 8.2 h played ↗
Bosses have too much health
Mentioned in ~1 in 7 negative reviews
“Yes, bosses have WAY TOO MUCH HP.”
Steam review · 45.6 h played ↗
Reused bosses and maps in side missions
Mentioned in ~1 in 8 negative reviews
“Side missions that are just huge time wasters where you just retread old levels”
Steam review · 15.4 h played ↗
Denuvo update hurt performance
Mentioned in ~1 in 12 negative reviews
“they "UPDATE" it with DRM that completely destroys perfomance.”
Steam review · 32.9 h played ↗
Boss status effects and stamina regen
Mentioned in ~1 in 12 negative reviews
“ranged bullet hells that cause status effects that basically end the fight if you aren't lucky enough to have the curative”
Steam review · 65.3 h played ↗
Studio closure, no future content
Mentioned in ~1 in 38 negative reviews
“the entire dev team was disbanded by the company that's still running, so there'll be no DLC”
Steam review · 54.4 h played ↗
System requirements
From the Steam store page
Steam Deck: VerifiedController support70 GB
Minimum
OSWindows 10 64bit 22H2
ProcessorIntel Core i3-6300 or AMD Ryzen 3 1200
Memory12 GB RAM
GraphicsGeForce GTX 970 or Radeon RX 580 or Arc A580
Storage70 GB available space
Recommended
OSWindows 11 21H2
ProcessorIntel Core i7-6700K or AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Memory16 GB RAM
GraphicsGeForce RTX 2070 or Radeon RX 5700XT or Arc A750
Storage70 GB available space
OSWindows 10 64bit 22H2
ProcessorIntel Core i3-6300 or AMD Ryzen 3 1200
Memory12 GB RAM
GraphicsGeForce GTX 970 or Radeon RX 580 or Arc A580
Storage70 GB available space
More games to check
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− Directional parry and clunky controls
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Mixed · 58%
+ Graphics hold up well for 2014
− Slow, clunky, unresponsive combat
analyzed 5 d ago
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Mostly Positive · 77%
+ Striking art direction and atmosphere
− Crashes and game-breaking bugs
analyzed 5 d ago
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