GO BERSERK

Reap bloody Soulslike vengeance in THE FIRST BERSERKER: KHAZAN

- By Sean Martin

Do you remember the moment that Sekiro forced you to start playing by its rules? For me, I was trundling through the game like I was playing Dark Souls when I hit the Lady Butterfly boss, and suddenly there was no room for doubt: if I didn't properly learn these new combat mechanics, I wasn't going any further. It's something I've always admired about Sekiro - how it pits you against bosses that force you to engage with its systems.

As with many Soulslikes in recent years, Khazan apes quite a few of Sekiro's more-than-familiar combat mechanics - whether deflecting to build a gauge and stagger a boss, or avoiding unblockable attacks that flash red. But more than perhaps any other Soulslike I've played, Khazan successfully adds its own twists to these timeworn mechanics, while providing a lineup of fantastically designed bosses who make you dance like a monkey as you learn them.

Like Demon's Souls,