the first berserker: khazan boss fight

The First Berserker: Khazan Desperate Fans Can’t Help But Cause Stellar Blade-like Issues

The First Berserker: Khazan is almost here, and thanks to a free-to-play demo, fans can experience the first two missions in all their glory. Featuring hard-hitting combat, an anime style that you’ll never tire of, and a story of revenge that’d have John Wick blushing, you’ll soon be wondering where Neople’s Dungeon Fighter Online-extending game has been all these years.

However, the demo is going to cause the studio a headache if things don’t change, much the same as was caused last year by Stellar Blade’s own pre-release demo.

Fans Can’t Get Enough of The First Berserker: Khazan

Just last year, Stellar Blade studio ShiftUp took an unusual decision in releasing a demo for gamers to enjoy before the full release of the game. Seen as a marketing relic of the past, it was even more surprising when the studio announced that the progress would carry over to the main gam.

the first berserker: khazan features a returning protagonist from the Dungeon Fighter Online universe.
The First Berserker: Khazan is a bloody affair. Image Credit: Neople.

This would prove to be part of the game’s success story but also forced the studio to step in and beg players to stop playing the demo, as some had as much as 50 hours on the demo alone, taking power leveling to a new level, and resulting in the full game being a cakewalk for those players.

Now, it looks like The First Berserker: Khazan may be falling into the same trap, although predictably, fans don’t seem to mind. With a prerelease demo all of its own, some fans are taking the opportunity to play the first two missions as much as possible.

Discussions around the demo far surpassed this one example, with others saying they had even more than the 42 hours shown above, others admitting they’ve “never invested so much time in a demo before”, and some understandably arguing that demo abusers will “fly through that mf… is it even gonna be fun?”.

Set in Neople’s own Dungeon Fighter Online universe, players will be taking control of Khazan, a Great General falsely accused of treason. Sentenced to death and ‘luckily’ surviving, we’ll be undergoing a tale of revenge that’ll push players to the edge of sanity, both in-game and in real life, with difficulty being front and center. However, the developers were adamant against the Soulslike comparisons.

From difficulty settings to checkpoints and a linear level design, it looks less like a Soulslike and more like an old-school RPG, but we’ll have to wait and see how the full experience plays. In the meantime, we’ll be abusing the demo of The First Berserker: Khazan the same as everybody else.

The First Berserker: Khazan release date is March 27th, 2025, and will be available on PS5, Xbox Series X|,S and PC.

For more Thumb Wars Gaming coverage, see how The Blood of Dawnwalker’s most divisive feature could be its best, or everything you need to know about The Last of Us Part 3.

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