Neople’s The First Berserker: Khazan is the latest Soulslike in what’s quickly becoming a crowded subgenre, but the title is catching on with fans thanks to how well it embraces some important fundamentals. The core of The First Berserker: Khazan‘s gameplay loop is its visceral combat and rich progression, which offers up a significant challenge to even the most hardened Souls veterans while also following through on the satisfying power and learning curves that serve as the backbone of the subgenre’s infamous difficulty. But one area where Khazan bucks tradition is with its inclusion of an “Easy” mode, though it’s not without its caveats.
The First Berserker: Khazan isn’t the first, but rather the latest Soulslike to offer players a degree of accessibility through its difficulty options. In addition to the standard Normal mode, there is an Easy mode that players can opt for, though it’s worth pointing out that this mode is still quite challenging. The key differences between the Easy and Normal modes for The First Berserker: Khazan mostly boil down to how the game handles stat distribution and scaling, as well as how the game’s ending is approached. For anyone who might be holding off on The First Berserker: Khazan thanks to an aversion to Soulslikes, the game’s Easy mode might be one of the better on-ramps to the genre.
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The Differences Between The First Berserker: Khazan’s Easy and Normal Modes
While players can switch to Easy mode in The First Berserker: Khazan if they’re feeling the pressure of the substantial challenge the game serves up, it’s worth noting that this mode will still ask a lot from players. The main differences between Easy and Normal mode are statistical, including changes to how resistant Khazan is to various elements, the weight limit for equipping sturdier (but heavier) gear, and the amount of damage dealt versus damage received. Even with all these statistics shifted in the player’s favor, The First Berserker: Khazan‘s bosses will put players through their paces, making it one of the better on-ramps to really see what Soulslikes are all about. Switching to Easy mode will result in the following changes:
- Khazan deals more damage to enemies
- Khazan receives less damage from enemies
- Resistances to the game’s various elements are increased
- Stamina recharges faster, and Khazan deals more stamina damage to enemies on Brink Guard
- Weight limit is increased, allowing for Khazan to equip heavier gear at a lower penalty to mobility
Enemies and bosses in The First Berserker: Khazan will still maintain their same movesets and aggression on Easy mode, but switching to this lower difficulty tier essentially provides Khazan with more survivability while also giving him more power to take down enemies quickly.
Things to Know Before Selecting Easy Mode in The First Berserker: Khazan
Notably, switching to Easy mode in The First Berserker: Khazan does provide a more reasonable on-ramp to the game’s challenge, but it does come with some significant concessions. First, selecting Easy mode is an irreversible choice. Players will begin The First Berserker: Khazan on Normal mode and can switch to Easy mode at any point, but they cannot switch back to Normal mode without starting a new game. Second, selecting Easy mode locks players out of the game’s true ending as well as a small handful of achievements/trophies in The First Berserker: Khazan. But, considering how much The First Berserker: Khazan emphasizes repeat playthroughs, one could always play through the game initially on Easy and then increase the difficulty after they feel confident in learning the game’s mechanics.
The subject of difficulty in Soulslikes and Soulsborne games has been one of the main topics of discourse in the subgenre since the arrival of Dark Souls in 2011, and developers are continually finding new and novel ways to provide players with a more accessible difficulty curve as the subgenre has increased in popularity. While it’s not without a few noteworthy concessions, the approach that The First Berserker: Khazan takes to an Easy mode is one of the better ones among Soulslikes, providing players with an experience that will still teach them the fundamentals without beating them into submission.
- Released
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March 27, 2025
- Developer(s)
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Neople