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NEXON and Neople have announced that their action game The First Berserker: Khazan will receive a demo on January 16, 2025, at 10 AM ET/ 7 AM PT. The demo will be available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Steam.

Unlike the beta test, no end date is scheduled for this demo, so prospective players can decide when to try out the game.

Demo Details​

• Availability: January 16, 2025, starting at 10 AM ET.
• Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam.
• No End Date: Players can try out the demo at their leisure.

The First Berserker: Khazan Demo Arrives January 16, 2025

Dive into the action with The First Berserker: Khazan demo, launching January 16, 2025, for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Steam. Experience hardcore combat mechanics, stamina-based gameplay, and weapon customization before the full release.

noisypixel.net

 

[Gonzito]

Am I the only a bit tired of these Souls clones? It's getting old for me personally

 

[FalsettoVibe]

Awesome. Can't wait to try it out.

 

[ssringo]

Nice. I've been interested in this one but not entirely sold on it.

 

[adamsapple]

Am I the only a bit tired of these Souls clones? It's getting old for me personally

But this one looks like an anime

 

[Drake]

Game play looks cool not a huge fan of the art style, or maybe its just the color palette that's turning me off.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Am I the only a bit tired of these Souls clones? It's getting old for me personally

Yes, a lot. Wish we could get more variety in action games. Specially tired of bosses with 5 minute long move sets. Mom says it's my turn to attack!

 

[ClanOfNone]

Am I the only a bit tired of these Souls clones? It's getting old for me personally

If it’s crap it’ll go in the bin, but there have already been some great Souls clones and I’m always hungry for more.
Remnant 2, Lies of P, and Lords of the Fallen were all pretty good. LotF in particular, which released in a fairly mediocre state, but thanks to a ton of post launch support has really turned a corner.

 

[ClanOfNone]

Yes, a lot. Wish we could get more variety in action games. Specially tired of bosses with 5 minute long move sets. Mom says it's my turn to attack!

THIS is my biggest complaint about the genre. Too many bosses become a memorization/endurance test, and then they throw on multiple forms/stages too boot.
Losing to a challenging boss half a dozen times can be fun and exciting. Losing to a boss 30+ times has me reaching for the power button.

 

[TintoConCasera]

THIS is my biggest complaint about the genre. Too many bosses become a memorization/endurance test,

Yep, and this has been a problem in later games. Dark Souls bosses were slower and let you react and even beat them first try if you played good. Bosses in Elden Ring attack so fast that beating some bosses in first try seems impossible to me.

and then they throw on multiple forms/stages too boot.

Yeah that's a bit tiresome. I thought it cool as a surprise in some bosses, but if every boss does it then there's no surprise and it feels less hype and more like a chore.

Losing to a challenging boss half a dozen times can be fun and exciting. Losing to a boss 30+ times has me reaching for the power button.

I wish those games had more gimmick bosses like the ones in Zelda games. Let me beat a boss with brains and not just with skills.

 

[Bartski]

Likely the same content as the public beta was, so I'm looking forward to see if they changed anything about what was hella wrong about it

 

[Fbh]

Am I the only a bit tired of these Souls clones? It's getting old for me personally

I'm not necessarily tired of the souls formula. But I wish we'd get more variety in terms of setting and art style.
It doesn't always have to be dark fantasy with a depressing tone and muted colors scheme where you fight brutal bosses to generic epic music.

Like IMO one of the most fun and original games we've gotten in the genre recently was Another Crab's Treasure

Because oh hey it's actually colorful and cartoony, and it has a fun and unique setting that's smartly incorporated into the gameplay (with the shell swapping) and a lighthearted tone with a lot of humor.

 

[GymWolf]

Yep, and this has been a problem in later games. Dark Souls bosses were slower and let you react and even beat them first try if you played good. Bosses in Elden Ring attack so fast that beating some bosses in first try seems impossible to me.


Yeah that's a bit tiresome. I thought it cool as a surprise in some bosses, but if every boss does it then there's no surprise and it feels less hype and more like a chore.


I wish those games had more gimmick bosses like the ones in Zelda games. Let me beat a boss with brains and not just with skills.

The bosses in the past 2 zelda were super basic and stupidly easy tho, that is not the example to follow at all for good boss fights.

 

[R6Rider]

I agree on the statements about lots of "souls" style bosses. Honestly the bosses in SotE itself were tiring.

I also recently replayed DS2, and going from SotE to DS2 is comical.
Doing another DS3 run now and there is a giant gap from DS1 and DS2 bosses to BB and DS3 bosses (and then with ER obviously).

Haven't played the new Lords of the Fallen yet, but Lies of P is fantastic. Overall has really good boss fights too.

 

[TintoConCasera]

The bosses in the past 2 zelda were super basic and stupidly easy tho, that is not the example to follow at all for good boss fights.

Didn't play TOTK that much but yeah the bosses in BOTW were shit.

 

[GymWolf]

I agree on the statements about lots of "souls" style bosses. Honestly the bosses in SotE itself were tiring.

I also recently replayed DS2, and going from SotE to DS2 is comical.
Doing another DS3 run now and there is a giant gap from DS1 and DS2 bosses to BB and DS3 bosses (and then with ER obviously).

Haven't played the new Lords of the Fallen yet, but Lies of P is fantastic. Overall has really good boss fights too.

Fallen bosses were a vit on the easy side at launch but i think they buffed them with patches.

Lies of p had great boss fights but they are clearly on the same type of latest fromsoft games, a lot of combos, fast attacks, retarded attacks to fuck up your parry time etc.

 

[GymWolf]

Didn't play TOTK that much but yeah the bosses in BOTW were shit.

Slightly better in tokt but super, super easy.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

Woo Hoo!!!

 

[R6Rider]

Lies of p had great boss fights but they are clearly on the same type of latest fromsoft games, a lot of combos, fast attacks, retarded attacks to fuck up your parry time etc.

They are definitely on the later From style side of bosses, although when it comes to their erratic movements it at least somewhat makes sense as they are machines and move how a puppet would.

I also feel like the boss fights actually allow you to use most of the combat mechanics in LoP (your arms, the blocking which can actually break boss weapons, etc.) while in ER and SotE good luck using certain tools at your disposal.

 

[Bartski]

the game looks great, but features one particularly dreadful mechanic that ruins the combat system. I'm curious if they're willing to at the very least re-tune it. On the other hand, I did raise it a couple of times on twitter and only got shat on to "git gud" lol.

 

[Hayabusabruh]

Played the closed beta test. Freaking loved it.

 

[Lux77]

This demo is really good.

 

[coachmcguirk91]

Finished the demo. Really solid. I will wait on reviews. So far, in terms of quality, I would put it between Nioh and Strangers of Paradise

But I'm just happy it's not a Dark Souls clone like Lies of P or Lords of the Fallen. People say they are sick of "Souls Games", but outside of Team Ninja, there are not a ton of faster paced action games with skill trees and good replayability

 

[coachmcguirk91]

Finished the demo. Really solid. I will wait on reviews. So far, in terms of quality, I would put it between Nioh and Strangers of Paradise

But I'm just happy it's not a Dark Souls clone like Lies of P or Lords of the Fallen. People say they are sick of "Souls Games", but outside of Team Ninja, there are not a ton of faster paced action games with skill trees and good replayability

 

[R6Rider]

Just got past the yeti boss.

It's okay...

Good:
Looks good
Lots of options/settings
Decent parry system

Bad:
Dodge timing feels completely fucked half the time.
It uses the shitty loot system that Nioh uses.
Doing a charged attack won't interrupt a basic weak enemies attack, which feels awful.
It's early, but the levels are too bland and linear.
The stats you can level up are lackluster in how they work (seemingly, the only info is from which stats go up with a level). It's basically, health, attack, stamina, and then 3 or 4 combinations of various block or dodge percentages.

 

[havoc00]

Anyone else give it a try?

 

[Hayabusabruh]

Parry timing is perfect. You can actually time it by site instead of learning some weird window where you have to time it way before you actually should. Day 1 easy.

 

[Valt7786]

The dodge needs to either extend how far you travel with it or give it some extra iframes, it doesn't feel great as it is. Parry is great though.

 

[Sentenza]

I tried the demo up to yeti boss (which I didn't beat yet in my first two attempts, so not sure if there's more).

I know that these games sometimes need to take their time before they hook you, but I can't honestly say I was particularly impressed so far.

 

[_Idea_of_Evil_]

I've played through the demo twice so far. The game is a day 1 for me. The art direction is excellent, and the combat feels tight and responsive. Khazan reminds me of Darksiders through its art and presentation. The combat still retains some essence of Darksiders, but also has a Nioh/Wo Long flavor. I like it a lot.

 

[Denton]

Am I the only a bit tired of these Souls clones? It's getting old for me personally

Bloodborne was my last one (after DS1, DS2, LOTF), I have been tired of them for a decade and the love still ain't coming back.

 

[xenosys]

Played through Mission One yesterday and some of Mission Two.

It's an anime souls-like so it had all the usual trappings you'd expect from an ARPG in the same mould, but one of the things I didn't like was the abundance of useless gear you picked up throughout. A little like Nioh but not 'quite' as egregious.

The combat was responsive. Parries and strikes felt like they had impact.

I played it on a 4090/7950x and didn't experience the stuttering that some others have. I had it set to 4K/Max/DLAA with Frame Gen On and it stuck at a solid, self-enforced 120FPS, so can't really complain in that regard.

I'm getting a little souls-like fatigue at the moment, so probably not a day one for me, but I'll pick it up when it goes on sale at some point later this year.

 

[april6e]

Wasn't really impressed with the demo so I'm out. I do see there being a cult following of players who will enjoy the game however. Game runs well (I played it post patch), graphics are nice, gameplay is solid. There isn't really anything wrong with the game per say but unless they were hiding gameplay systems later in the game, it just feels like yet another vanilla ice cream Soulslike.

Combat feels slightly clunky. Even with lock on, I would constantly whiff enemies despite being right next to them. The main character feels like they have T-rex arms with the starter weapon as it barely has any reach? Your build variety at the start is non-existent (one of the core pillars of the Souls games are the fact that they let you choose a variety of different builds to start with) and the game almost copy and pastes the Souls stats and equipment system which is completely overdone in 2025.

 

[IAmRei]

everything is soulslike now
and i'm bit tired with it...

maybe too much saturated there

 

[GymWolf]

Finished the demo. Really solid. I will wait on reviews. So far, in terms of quality, I would put it between Nioh and Strangers of Paradise

But I'm just happy it's not a Dark Souls clone like Lies of P or Lords of the Fallen. People say they are sick of "Souls Games", but outside of Team Ninja, there are not a ton of faster paced action games with skill trees and good replayability

Wait, this is not a soulslike? It really look like it.

 

[_Idea_of_Evil_]

Wait, this is not a soulslike? It really look like it.

It definitely is a Soulslike, but it's less FromSoftware and more Team Ninja (Nioh/Wo Long). The combat is fast and fluid, very parry focused too. There's a skill tree too.

The stat allocation is also very simple and straightforward. Not sure how varied character builds are going to be based on the demo.

 

[Hohenheim]

Feels kinda like a "Temu-Nioh".

 

[coachmcguirk91]

I replayed the demo. I click with this combat system better than any other action game, at least to start a game. I think it just comes down to whether you enjoy games that require a lot parrying. The Parry window is pretty generous too. It feels like a combination of Nioh and Sekiro

My only real concern is being limited to 3 weapons and not being able to switch weapons on the fly

 

[near]

Got up to the first boss Yetuga, beat him and stopped there. I like the art direction and combat seems enjoyable enough. Level design has been pretty much a corridor so far. Story is non-existent with a serviceable plot to carry you through. Seems like a decent game to play on a steep discount, nothing really interesting about its design.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

What’s the point in adding an easy mode if I can’t turn it on from the start? I can’t even get past the first big brute guy let alone beat the first mission. Gonna pass. I have enough frustrating souls games already.

Edit: got past that guy. We’ll see if I can do the first mission.