Khazan’s Challenge Rivals That of Elden Ring

If you’re on the hunt for a fresh single-player Action RPG that’s reminiscent of Elden Ring, you might want to take a closer look at The First Berserker: Khazan, a new Soulslike entry by Neople. It’s crucial to understand the level of challenge it poses and how it stacks up against the experience offered by Elden Ring.

While The First Berserker: Khazan introduces a bit more flexibility in terms of difficulty, it still poses a challenge akin to Elden Ring’s contentious Shadow Of The Erdtree DLC. However, what’s interesting about The First Berserker: Khazan is its layered progression systems, which provide players with opportunities to gradually overcome its intimidating difficulty spike.

When comparing it to Elden Ring’s base game and its DLC, The First Berserker: Khazan’s bosses are on par with those found in Shadow of the Erdtree. Elden Ring’s gameplay is far from straightforward, given the myriad of weapons and spells players can use, which often results in finding a particular style that consistently works. Conversely, The First Berserker: Khazan might have a more limited arsenal, but mastering an array of combat skills—both offensive and defensive—becomes crucial to succeeding against its formidable foes.

Unless players quickly learn to effectively mix offense with defense and seize their moments for counterattacks, they’ll find that the significant enemies and bosses in The First Berserker: Khazan provide a challenge similar to that of Elden Ring’s daunting DLC.

As tough as these battles may be, the game provides a generous framework of progression systems. In The First Berserker: Khazan, Lacrima serves a role similar to that of Runes in Elden Ring, with both acting as currency for enhancing player attributes. You will, of course, still face the risk of losing these if you fall in battle unless you retrieve them. However, Khazan eases this by leaving Lacrima outside the boss arena, often supplemented by rewards for the damage dealt to bosses, thus allowing for progress even in failure.

Beyond the basic attribute upgrades familiar from Soulslike games, players can tap into other permanent progression opportunities in Khazan, such as weapon and armor enhancements and character ability trees. Although the game starts off just as challenging as Elden Ring’s most grueling moments, once players utilize these systems to bolster their skills and expand their resources, the obstacles ahead become more manageable.

If you’re curious about exploring these systems, take some time to engage in the quests both main and side. They offer growth and a way to expand your abilities, making your journey through The First Berserker: Khazan not just a struggle but an adventure of learning and adaptation.