New soulslike The First Berserker: Khazan launches in full today, but its advanced access release has already proved a success for developer Neople. Currently, the game sits at number four on the Steam top sellers list, and user reviews from players who paid for a chance to play early sit at 94% positive. Creative director Junho Lee thanks the community for its response, calling it “an incredible source of motivation” while also addressing a first round of balance changes that have just rolled out ahead of its full release.
“To our surprise, many more players joined us during early access than we had anticipated, and we are deeply grateful to all of you,” the director of The First Berserker: Khazan writes in a new blog. While Lee expresses thanks for the positive feedback, he also notes “the honest and constructive feedback” offered by those already playing the new anime soulslike and emphasizes that the team is “committed to continuing development and delivering even better experiences through ongoing updates and improvements.”
That begins with today’s pre-launch balance update. “At the core of The First Berserker: Khazan lies the value of challenge and the sense of accomplishment that comes with overcoming it,” Lee explains. The first round of adjustments come from playtests, the demo, and the initial advanced-access period, and include changes for several boss fights and two weapon types.
Two of the most challenging encounters have been nerfed. Lee notes that Viper, who has earned a reputation as a “newbie crusher,” is being made slightly easier. While many players reported “a thrilling satisfaction” about “what comes next if the third boss is this challenging,” he says “the required skill level to face Viper was significantly higher than the proficiency players had developed up to that point.” The other nerf goes to a later fight, Maluca: new players found the battle “more than twice as challenging” as the preceding one.
Lee reassures players that Neople has “ensured that the core values of challenge and accomplishment remain intact” and that you should still expect “a significant challenge” from both fights. Alongside this, several boss fights have been made harder, in cases where they “delivered too little sense of accomplishment, even when players overcame them successfully.” These haven’t been named to avoid potential spoilers, however.
On the weapon side of things, the greatsword’s ‘Brutal Attack’ skill has been given more damage to allow players “the satisfaction of landing a powerful, heavy-hitting blow” when enemies are exhausted. Lee notes that true weapon masters will still be able to gain “significantly higher damage” with well-timed combo strings. The Spear’s ‘Phantom: Heatwave’ has been nerfed slightly, with increased spirit and stamina costs to make it harder to spam its automatic brink guards to stave off all incoming attacks indefinitely. “When used efficiently, the skill still performs at a very high level,” Lee says.
While challenge is core to Khazan’s design philosophy, Lee remarks that he wants as many people as possible to enjoy the game. To help with this, the ‘easy mode’ setting has been adjusted so players will take less health and stamina damage, and deal more in return to enemies. This will particularly help players who like a defensive, guard-based playstyle, he says. “Even small decisions like these can have a significant impact on the overall player experience,” Lee notes. “We hope these enhancements allow more players to enjoy the game without compromising the core challenge and satisfaction that Khazan is built around.”
This first balance update is out now, but Lee concludes by adding that Neople is currently working on additional improvements that require more time to implement, some of which should arrive by next week. The team is also preparing a free DLC update that is currently scheduled for May, so look for details on that nearer to the time. “Although we’ve reached the major milestone of official launch, our development journey is still very much underway.”
If you can’t get enough high-octane intensity, the best action games are the place to be. Alternatively, take a stroll through the best single-player games in 2025.
You can follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides. We’ve also got a vibrant community Discord server, where you can chat about this story with members of the team and fellow readers.