Looking forward to The First Berserker: Khazan later this month. I played through the demo and really enjoyed it. I've been on a bit of a Souls-like binge this year, so I've gone ahead and pre-ordered.
I’ve played the demo 3 times now and have also pre ordered the game. I’m literally counting the days to the early release (5/6 days to go). The combat feels incredible, like a cross between Sekiro and Nioh. The combat flows and feels much quicker once you’ve added a few skills. Dodge and parry are both feasible ways to play this game so you’re not forced in to a particular play style. And the 2nd boss fight was incredible, as good as some of Sekiro’s boss fights. I’m so impressed by these first 2 levels I’ve needed a game to help ween me off of Nioh 2, which I’ve been playing for months now, and this seems to be the perfect replacement. As an added bonus, the controller layout is almost the same so it was really easy for me to pick up
Completely agree. The parry felt really satisfying. Demo had a good variety of weapon types and gear, which is something I always like to have in games of this type. That giant ice-monkey boss was a near-perfect first boss; It had a very readable move set and the damage it inflicted was pretty fair. If the other bosses are of a similar standard then it's gonna be amazing. Outside of the demo, I haven't read too much about the game, but I hope there's some good endgame and new game plus stuff.
Reviews look respectable, looking forward to playing a game that's set in the alternate locality. Sounds like it's nowhere near as deep or as open world as fallout but that's the sort of game that appeals to me at the moment with limited time, I can't remember the last time I've completed the main story of a large game outside of stuff like a CoD campaign.
this game is incredible dude, I can’t recommend it highly enough. The combat feels like a sweet spot between Sekiro and Nioh, and the boss fights are best I’ve played in any game if I’m being honest.
I've played around five hours so far and it's pretty good. What weapon are you using? Seem to be in the minority but I've been enjoying the spear.
Dual wield and it’s the tits. Based on the amount of posts I’ve seen on Reddit spear seems to be the most popular choice with its range and speed, and the skills seem to be dodge based. 1 of the many things I love about this game is you’re never tied in to a weapon or the skills, as you can just respect them whenever. That said I’m gonna master dual wield then do spear in NG+ Have you got to the 3rd boss yet? They’ve nerfed this boss mid week but I got to it pre nerf. Took me 2 hours and is just an incredible fight, but really tough this early. Far harder than any other early boss in any soulslike I’ve played
What's the name of the third boss? I like dual wielding too. I'll probably try that if I ever fancy a change. Great sword is in third spot for me.
Viper. Players cried so much during early release they nerfed him and a boss called Maluka after 2 days, but buffed about 6 bosses. I’d imagine he’s still pretty challenging. Maluka most certainly is, he’s taken an hour and a half of my evening tonight. The real challenge in this game is the bosses. dual wield has a really nice balance of speed and power. Good for aggressive play styles. You have skills that can quickly close distance, and reposition you so you can keep the pressure on. I haven’t really tried the other weapons yet so can’t compare them
Ah, cool. Last boss I beat was Blade Phantom or something. I've been playing AC: Shadows and the original Resident Evil over the weekend so haven't played much. Gonna beat those and then my focus is on Khazan. I'll have another look at dual wielding when I next play then.
Bought Khazan after enjoying the demo and @Jonny Ninja raving about it. Incredible game. Stuck on Viper at the moment. Great fight so far, even though its very challenging. You think you're doing good against him at first then he just destroys you I'd say it feels about as tough as someone like Malekith so far. Easily a GOTY contender though for me. Running the Spear at the moment. The combat is just perfection.
I absolutely love this game dude. This is like an amalgamation of 2 of my all time favourite games (Sekiro and Nioh 2) but the combat and boss fights feel better than both. I’ve just beaten the 12th boss last night. He beat my arse for nearly an hour before I even saw his second phase. Took a break and it was another 45 mins till he Finally went down. The first thing I did after beating him was go back and fight him again. unlike say Melania, where all I feel is relief after beating her, and anxiety before I fight her. Viper feels like a late game from software boss, but it is a great fight, and each battle is a learning curve getting you a little closer to beating the boss. The boss fights all feel like puzzles that you have to figure out and they’re all incredible, very tough but absolutely fair. Don’t expect to be running through any boss within a couple of tries. Viper (and the 7th boss) took me longer to beat than any other boss so far. They’ve are no cheap or easy fights A couple of tips, you need to get good at counter attacking their perilous attacks, and don’t sleep on reflection. These will make most of the boss fights far easier. You need to time the counter attack just as the enemy weapon is about to hit you, like a brink guard. They’re mostly easy to time and all bosses use them. Reflection timing is like parrying in Elden Ring, you need to throw it out early so your weapon connects with theirs so it’s ideal for slow attacks with a winde up. You don’t need to use this skill to beat the game but it can delete an enemy stamina bar in one hit, so imo it is well worth learning what attacks can be reflected, and the timings to hit them. You also unlock skills later that can extend the I frames of reflection so making it easier to hit
If you don't mind me saying it makes me laugh how patient you are when fighting bosses and you'll dedicate whatever time it takes to defeat them. I'm not the best at combat I don't know if it is because I am partially sighted or I am close to pushing late forties and I don't have the reflexes anymore or both. I fought an alligator boss on South of Midnight and I beat him but one of the achievements is to beat him without taking damage and I tried 2/3 times and couldn't do it or get anywhere near so I just gave up and moved on with the game and it'll be the same with the other bosses as much as i'd love to 100% the game. I just know you'd be able to do it easily and unlike me wouldn't even be remotely deterred by failing a few times.
I think it’s possibly a mental disorder!! I’m more stubborn/bloody minded than patient if I’m being honest, but it feels worth it when you finally beat a boss, that seemed almost impossible an hour or 2 before. The longest I’ve taken to beat any boss in a soulslike is probably Melania in Elden Ring. She took me 3 hours + to beat solo but it’s not unusual to hear gamers being stuck for days, weeks, even months on a tough boss. I’m definitely not that dedicated and I’d give up of it just became frustrating With soulslike games I don’t think reflexes are that important. I’m older than you, my reflexes are still pretty good (for a 50 year old) but I’d wager that most 25 year olds have sharper reflexes than me. In these games it’s more important to be familiar(ish) with the enemies attacks, and finding a rhythm, as most tough boss fights in these games have a rhythm to their attacks. Having good timing is better than having quick reflex’s imo The downside is these games have completely ruined my enjoyment of normal games. Playing bloodborne for the 1st time (about 4 years ago) has completely changed the type of games I’ve played since. I pick games based mostly on challenge now, and that never used to be the case. And due to this I’m probably missing out in so many good games
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is out next week. Anyone else planning on picking this one up? If you've not seen it yet it's a game by a small French studio, heavily inspired by older JRPGs. Their studio seems to be a good mix of new devs as well as those with AAA experience, particularly those that have jumped ship from Ubisoft. Seems to be a very polished looking game, both in aesthetics and it's battle system. Shares a lot of voice cast with BG3 too, so that's pretty cool.
Nothing in gaming feels better than finally beating a boss you've been stuck at for a while after incrementally getting better and better at it, the feeling of the heart rate jacking up as you get closer and closer to beating a boss knowing that one mistake will force you to do the fight all over again, the desperation to get that final bit of damage the end the fight, the release of finally beating the boss. That feeling you get from the hardcore arpg Jonny and I like is just not comparable to any other feeling you can get from gaming. You've only had gaming ruined for 4 years? You're blessed. 15 years this year since Demon's ruined gaming for me and the type of game I play narrowed a lot. BTW have you picked up MH yet? TU1 gave us some crazy stuff, HR Zoh Shia gave me my first quest fail and Temp Mizu has been slapping me about and has a one shot move. I think you'd really like it once you start and we're only going to get harder updates from here.
Summed up perfectly mate. I’ve experienced all of these things literally in the last few days. I am going to play the new MH, you have sold it to me but I’m gonna have to finish up with khazan first. I need to beat the game with all the 3 weapons (dual wield is done) so I’m gonna be a while yet.
Oblivion remake (or remaster but come on, that's a remake) probably coming out in a couple of days. Feel a bit sorry for Clair Obscur devs as that will poach a decent amount of attention from a similar set of people.
