We dont exactly have a shortage of Soulslike action games- if anything, that might be one of the most active and crowded genres in the industry right now. Intermittent releases from FromSoftware itself apart, several other studios in the industry have also stepped forward with efforts of their own. Newest in line is The First Berserker: Khazan,a revenge-driven Soulslike action RPG spinoff set in the long-runningDungeon and Fighteruniverse from Neople and Nexon, which is out now.The First Berserkerisnt exactly a perfect game. As our own review here at GamingBolt pointed out (as have many others), the slick and bloody action title is dragged down in several ways, quite a few of which feel quite significant- which is to say Neoples debut in the genre doesnt exactly scale the heights of something like a, say,Lies of P,which many have come to accept as one of the best non-FromSoftware Soulslikes out there. But thoughThe First Berserkerisnt quite on that level, its still got its strengths, which, as our review mentioned, make it worth a look for fans of Soulslikes or action games in general.Lets get those pesky flaws out of the way first, because therearea few to be talked about, and theyre not the sort of issues that you can easily sweep under the rug- thatd be an awfully bumpy rug. One of the more prominent ones is its story and storytelling- which might feel like a silly thing to be complaining about in a Soulslike at face value, if not for the fact that this is a game thatdoestry to place a greater emphasis on traditional storytelling than has usually been the case with this genre over the years.The First Berserker: Khazanis a revenge tale focused on the mysterious and brooding character Khazan. The titular protagonist finds himself severely physically mutilated, betrayed, and cast down, his service to the empire against the Berserk Dragon all but effectively forgotten, after which he decides, with the help of a phantasmal companion known as the Blade Phantom, to embrace newfound supernatural powers and embark on a quest for vengeance. With a fairly decent setup (on paper, at least) and a protagonist voiced by Ben Starr ofFinal Fantasy 16fame,The First Berserker: Khazanhad the elements in place to tell at least a fairly fun, if tropey, revenge action story.It fails on all counts, with a bog-standard plot, predictable twists and turns, and a disappointingly flat protagonist.On the gameplay front, The First Berserkerstumbles with things such as enemy repetition and bland side quests, but perhaps its biggest issue is its ultra-linear design philosophy and the impact that that has on exploration. The game adopts a hub-driven linear structure likeDemons Souls, but each area that you visit feels a little too restrained. With not too much by way of exploration and little else to keep you engaged beyond what the game itself wants you to engage with,The First Berserkeris a game that feels particularly susceptible to repetition and monotony, and sure enough, once you get deep enough into the game, you do feel those things beginning to set in.Fortunately, when The First Berserker: Khazanis at its best, it is absolutely fantastic. Also fortunately, the thing that it is best at is what it smartly focuses on first and foremost, and the thing that may might argue is the most crucial in a game such as this one- the combat. The combat, the challenge, the sense of progression, and the boss fights are what the majority of folk come to Soulslikes for above all else, and in pretty much all of these areas,The First Berserkeris something of a slam dunk. It takes bits and pieces from a number of other similar titles out there, borrowing from the likes ofDark Souls, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Nioh,and even a little bit fromBlack Myth: Wukong, and delivers, in the end, a grueling and satisfying action game with slick and challenging combat that is consistently fun to master, especially when youre coming up against its spectacular roster of boss fights.The combat nails all of the fundamental elements of aSekiro-codedSoulslike system- youve got your blocks, your dodges, your parries, youve got your perfect dodges and perfect parries, youve got unblockable attacks (which canalsobe parried with special, riskier parries). You have a stamina and stagger system, where accumulating stagger by successfully blocking and parrying flurries of attacks will eventually make your foe break their guard for a moment, a moment in which to deal heavy damage and dole out vicious attacks of your own.Aggressive parry-based combat systems can help deliver some of the best and most thrilling gameplay when done right, andThe First Berserker: Khazandefinitely does it right. Though it fails to sufficiently capture the themes of rage and vengeance in its story that it claims are so central to it, it does an excellent job of imbuing its combat systems with exactly that sort of desired aggression. As you would imagine, the games enemy design helps significantly contribute to that as well. No matter how tight the mechanics are, youre not going to have any fun with them if the enemies youre taking on dont compel you to properly engage with them, and boy doesThe First Berserkerknock the ball out of the park in this area.Nothing exemplifies that better than its bosses, which weve already touched on. Each boss forces you to learn and master a different fact of gameplay and presents a face-smacking skill check that youre not going to be able to overcome unless youpay attention and, yes get good. The excellently designed boss fights sport memorable visual design and, perhaps much more importantly, incredible fight design, with unique movesets that are a blast to figure out and deal with, and stiff and diverse challenges that are incredibly satisfying to come out on top against at the end of a harrowing fight.Surprisingly,The First Berserkeralso gives players greater freedom in progression than you would expect at first glance, with quite a few options available that let you tailor the gameplay to your needs. Each of the three main weapon types feels significantly different to use and, by extension, master, while separate and dedicated skill trees for each will also let you explore new options in combat- such as relying more on dodges if getting the parry timing right isnt something that youre completely confident youre going to be able to do at all times. Theres also attributes to upgrade, gear to minmax, skill points to summon, allies that can be summoned, and more.The First Berserkernever feels like aneasygame (though itdoeshave an easy mode, for those who want a relatively more forgiving experience), but the surprising flexibility it offers with its progression mechanics does let you surmount stiff challenges in different ways.Given the sheer wealth of Soulslike games out there, its never easy to confidently recommend one over everything else unless the game in question just happens to bethatspecial.The First Berserker: Khazanis maybe notthatspecial Lies of PorNiohit is not but its an aggressive, fast-paced, challenging action game with excellent combat, memorable boss fights, and compelling progression mechanics. It has its flaws, yes, and not necessarily insignificant ones- but for genre fans, its still well worth checking out.Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.