After playing the game for a good amount of time, I can finally give my thoughts on The First Berserker: Khazan, and HOLY MOLY IS THIS GAME GOOD!

• Runs great out of the box, good graphical settings and great use of upscaling tech. I'm running the game on high settings with DLSS quality and I'm not experiencing any frame dips. A plus that it runs on DX11, though this is starting to become redundant. It helps that the game is also on Unreal Engine 4 as well. Respect to Neople for still using it, goes a long way for mid-end + lower end PCs
  
  
• Story is good so far, doesn't wow me in any sense, but the idea of the game taking place in a universe I know nothing about (Dungeon Fighter Online) has got me intrigued, so much so that I'm listening to all of the dialogue. As a typical souls-like player, we usually don't have time for this. I've made an exception here. Khazan and the Blade Phantom also have mean chemistry as well
  
  
• Gameplay is akin to Sekiro and Nioh, Sekiro for that sweet, sweet parrying, which I'd argue sounds better here! It seems like it's more forgiving, as there's no animation delay and the window seems to be a bit longer than Sekiro's, making it easy to pick up and an extremely viable way to play. It's akin to Nioh because of the way the missions are designed, where you travel to different regions and gather gear (it's like Demon's Souls for those who've played in terms of travelling). Combat is solid, ARPG elements work well and set pieces provide players with many options and playstyles
  
  
• 3 weapon types - Guts Greatsword, Barbarian dual-wield and Draupnir spear, each offering their own attacks and combos. All unique, none of them are similar to each other and have different speeds and adjustments. I'm personally running the greatsword becauser it's chad
  
  
• Simple and easy to follow skill tree. Game has heaps of progression systems - Khazan himself with Lacrima or "souls," which you use to spend on attributes (scaling is a thing as well), mastery, where hitting and killing enemies with any weapon will grant mastery XP and points, which you just slot into the tree. Every weapon has its own tree, alongside a "general" tree for general buffs. Damage buffs which you get by finding these red soulstones, and these yellow things you can use to upgrade summons (yes, they exist.)
  
  
• Boss battles... are COMP. Not much else to say, I won't spoil it, but they're really good. Subjective as well, if that's an indicator of good boss design. Another plus is being able to go straight to the boss if you die without needing to watch the cutscene over and over again. WE NEED THIS FEATURE IN EVERY SOULS-LIKE GAME GOING FORWARD! (You can turn the cutscenes on in the game's settings if you wish)
  
  
• Game looks beautiful, love the cel-shade approach they went for here, feels like I'm playing an anime, especially during boss fights. I'm not the biggest anime person myself, but I can definitely see what they were going for here
  
  
• VFX are crazy, especially the gore. It's nuts
  
  
• Crafting is always a welcome addition in these games, makes acquiring gear a lot easier, especially when you're chasing a specific set of gear
  
  
• XP forgiveness system - Because of how mastery works, you don't get punished for losing mastery XP as opposed to souls, so if you die to a boss over and over, you can still earn XP from fighting the boss since you can earn XP by hitting them. Super good
  
  
• EASY MODE! I am NOT playing this game on easy mode (normal is the way), but there is indeed an easy mode for those who want to make the game easier. It's available at the start of the game after you die a few times, but once you commit to it, you're in it for the long run. Don't think I'll ever try it, but it just being there makes this game an excellent recommendation to those who are new to souls-likes, especially with it being melee-oriented. Haven't seen anyone hate on it, good on you guys!
  
  
• I need the blade phantom's armor IRL

• Repetitive - Neople likes to recycle enemies, bosses and locations, more so the bosses, which as of my current playtime, is starting to become noticeable, which can be monotonous and boring for some. Thankfully they add an extra mechanic to spice it up, but I don't like it when devs just copypasta bosses and put a new coat of paint on them. The combat makes up for all of this though, at least for me
  
  
• Game stutters every now and then, not to where it breaks the game though. I've only had one crash so far, but Neople are already aware of those issues, something that'll get patched in due time, either by tomorrow or over the coming weeks
  
  
• Stamina being consumed outside of combat - It'd be more smoother and fun to move around without my stamina going down halfway and then fighting my next enemy with only half. Just think it ruins the flow a bit

The First Berserker: Khazan is a great game for both new and veteran souls-like players. Think of it as another Lies of P success, because that's what Neople have done here: Create a fantastic game that can be made easy, has tons of progression, different weapon types, sick gameplay and a great art style that fits the DNF aesthetic so well. Will we get a DLC for this game like Lies of P? Only time will tell. GREAT GAME!

I finally got around to playing this for the first time and let me just say, what a masterpiece this game is. Not only did id Software take a risk and steer away from their typical game design, but also create a game that's scary, action-packed and fantastic at the same time.

Weapons felt great, with the exception of the shotgun because of that freaking spread (point-blank is the best way to go with this bad boy) and I LOVE THE PLASMA GUN! This is by far, the best iteration of the plasma gun out of ALL the games. Maybe The Dark Ages will bring us something sick, but the VFX, SFX and animations on this thing are top notch. I purposely shot a bullet every now and then just so I can hear that amazing charge sound whenever the cell goes in. It's like the M1 Garand ping, but the futuristic version.

Level design is top notch from top to bottom, didn't encounter any issues and the tight spaces play well with its survival horror theme. Didn't mind the whole read PDAs to get codes and what not, majority of the time they give you the code in the same room you found it in, which is nice

I've seen a lot of complaints about the handheld flashlight, which is changed in the BFG edition, but personally, I loved it. It created moments where I'd pull it out in dark areas to either scan my surroundings or scavenge for supplies, knowing that I won't have a weapon out while I'm doing it. The swap out time isn't that bad either. I'm not sure why this is such a big deal for some people, it adds more to the tension

Movement is another topic, but is built to be a lot slower and more methodical because of the level design. I learnt mid-game that you can sprint and fire at the same time, handy for fighting the big demons whenever you encounter one of them

Game looked incredible back then, still does now. Granted, it lacks certain resolutions, which can thankfully be fixed by downloading a source port (dhewm3 is what I used and is regarded as the best port, keeps everything vanilla as well). I also downloaded D3HDP, a high-quality texture pack that upscales and increases and resolution on everything without changing the look and feel of the game

Wider mod availability, a LOT more than what the BFG edition offers. For those wanting more out of this game, mod the OG version. God will thank you

I freaking enjoyed this game way more than I thought I would, and absolutely recommend it to anyone who wants a good old-fashioned horror FPS. I hope that after Dark Ages, id considers going back to this style of game. Did I forget to mention this game came out the same year as Half-Life 2 and Halo 2?