Something that I liked and that is different from Souls is that if you die fighting a boss, you will earn some "souls" besides the ones you get back touching the spot you died. Thus, you are able to level up after dying a few times to the boss (happened to me in the last one), reducing the frustration of the process ^_^
This game reminded me a lot of Nioh. The separate weapon skill trees, unlockable moves with weird inputs, red and purple health bars for big monsters, even "Mission Complete" hinting at a world structure similar to Nioh with a map, instead of a connected world. Loved the demo, looking forward to this.
Granted it's only a demo, this game very much feels like a mechanically watered down Nioh, and that's still a compliment because Nioh gets incredibly deep when it comes to the game mechanics. Very excited for the full release, and despite a packed March release window, I'm definitely buying this game at launch
Absolutely LOVED this demo. Right after I finished it, I started it all over which I’ve never done ever. Such a thrilling and satisfying experience with some intriguing story elements
I think if you have the storage you should get this, I have been playing this game nonstop since the demo came out and it’s amazing. I have even beat it without using a weapon, what an amazing demo
This boss fight against the Yetti at the end of the first mission in First Berserker Khazan tested me... he killed me over and over and over and over, but the more I died the more I learned. Had to leave to go to an appointment in the early afternoon and I still hadn't beaten him yet and I couldn't stop thinking about it... got home and after like 10 more attempts I slayed him. There's more to the demo after mission one as well as unlocking difficulty settings which I'm glad I didn't have cause I proved to myself I could do it without going the easy route, I will wait till the game fully released in March to continue playing, this game is beautifully deadly that's for sure
Finished the demo yesterday. That last boss was a skill check indeed. You can brink dodge or brink guard/deflect. Also loved that the skills can be re-allocated immediately assign then unassign, so you can try to experiment on the builds once you got enough skill points stacked up.
I can't believe how one simple thing Khazan did which any Fromsoft's souls games didn't. Automatically picking up xp/curreny/souls where you died last time, without pressing a button. Easy buy for me 🤣🔥
I had no interest in the game, thought it looked mid but I downloaded the demo and was shocked at how good it was. So fun and the art style is probably one of the best Anime styled games I've seen. Also Ben Starr and Anthony Howell voicing the two main characters is amazing.
Thanks for this comment. I had immediately recognized Margit from Elden Ring, which is Anthony Howell, that is voicing the spirits/blade phantom, surprisingly his wikipedia might not have been updated since the game was not yet on the list. As for Khazan, didn't notice it was Ben Starr, Clive from FF16. Havent really played that yet hence not that obvious to me.
Thanks for the video. The need for a niche is an interesting point. I don't disagree, but it does mean that the market is not only saturated with Soulslikes, but good ones at that, so much so that simply being a good game isn't stand out anymore. Onward to 400k. All glory to the algorithm.
Been playing it since last night. Wasn’t excited for this game but I am now! And most surprisingly, was not only able to play the demo on Steam Deck, but looks & plays great also!!!
I'm a sucker for games with a snow level, definitely checking out the demo. I would love to see someone truly innovate with action rpg combat though, it all starts to feel a bit samey after a while.
Its better than I thought after beating the demo myself. Im not sure if I'd pay full price at launch but I could see myself playing it later in the year on a sale or off a service. Do we know if it was on UE5 specifically? The game ran hella smooth for me on a 3060 12gb and 6700XT.
Ooooh I've been curious about this one! It dropped off the radar for months and I thought it must have folded! Not normally a fan of action combat, but there are a few exceptions (POE2 for example and Diablo II for example) and I'm a sucker for a good, solid, blood soaked jaunt through the realms of vengeance and rage 😂 I also kind of like the art style, it's unusual and for this game I think it works well. Will definitely give it a go if it works on keyboard and mouse.
I do like how gritty it looks despite being an anime game. I'll probably wait for your final review before purchasing it but the game does look good. I think that with a market filled with souls like games people just grew tired of them (and rightfully so) so that is something that'll affect my decision to buy this game or not.
I think this game look like a lot more like Code Vein than Nioh, is not only because is anime art style, the level design look the same, the gameplay feel the same, only thing that this game remember me of Nioh is the build, and i hope they ll do a good job like Nioh did on the builds.
I tried the demo, and the game felt fun to play, but i had horrible stuttering during combat on a high end PC, which i couldnt fix by changing settings. It got an update today so ill have to see if it fixed the stuttering.
@@_george84i tried both of them, and both of them just kept stuttering for me. rebooting after changing settings didn't work either. They posted about dx12 stuttering being known, but yeah like i said, it happened on both dx versions for me.
Maybe because I didn't play Nioh, I didn't get that feel. My first impression was Code Vein in terms of look and feel. This comes at the right time just as I'm looking for something to do after my Lich run in wotr
Yet another Soulslike. I like them so I don’t mind, especially if they’re more action oriented as they do need to separate themselves from FromSoft’s offerings. I’m quite surprised at how big the DFO community and world is becoming, it’s interesting to see. I played the original yeeeeeeears ago and thought it was cool but they’re becoming massive now. May you wander in wisdom everyone.
I was iffy after the first level, but completely sold by the second level. Combat feels excellent, there's a great back and forth. Also this might be the most blatant Berserk ripoff I've ever played lol
Combat doesn't look very soulslike aside from stamina and target lock. In your experience how did hitboxes seem to play into the game? It's giving me more of a DMC vibe in that regard.
@@thats4thebirds I didn't say that the narrative is not original, but that there are similarities, because if you look at Kratos Spartan Rage as a separate entity,as possessed by many religions of the world, they do not see anger as a demon, djinn, evil spirit.Kratos exiled himself out by killing his family :P "Be a man"
At the risk of being a pedantic ol foogey, ya'all forget Ninja Gaiden. 😅In terms of game design lineage, Nioh is a direct descendent. This seems to fall into the same family at least.
I was pleasantly surprised. I saw Nexon on the cover and was turned away, but I gave it a shot and I was glad I did. It has some great style behind it and even it's a pretty easy souls like based on the demo, the combat seems pretty fun either way and has a lot of options. Will definitely make it one of my Q1 gaming purchases
I checked out the demo and really liked it! I think I will still wait for a sale on this one as I will still probably be deep into Monster Hunter Wilds late March.
I liked the demo enough to pre-order the game. Artstyle is great, clicked with me during the intro cutscene. Combat was also awesome, I love soulslike games that put big emphasis on perfect-parrying, and this game has pretty generous parry window and weapon skills trees are cool as well. It feels like a combination of two of my favorites in the genre (soulslike/action) - Lies of P and Nioh. One "first world problem" that I had during the demo is that it felt a bit too easy, so I'm hoping to see a spike in difficulty later on.
If you havent played sekiro yet you should give it a try. It has a really good combat system that leans on the parrying and building up enemies stance to kill them.
Looks pretty but, between Monster Hunter: Wilds, Atomfall and the Suikoden HD Remaster, I don't think I'll have time for this. Maybe sometime in the _far_ future.
I don't disagree, but games labelled Soulslikes aren't always Temu versions of FromSoft's titles like say Lords of the Fallen. Nioh for example shares a lot of DNA with character action games like Bayonetta. And Khazan seems more of a Nioh like than a Soulslike. So you might like this one.
the biggest problem with the demo for me is how boring all of the environments are, nothing creative or eye catching, and from all the trailers the devs have released it seems that the entire game looks like this, I hope that they are hiding some locations from us because its a shame that a game with a nice artstyle like this have worst location then fucking ghost recon
Something that I liked and that is different from Souls is that if you die fighting a boss, you will earn some "souls" besides the ones you get back touching the spot you died. Thus, you are able to level up after dying a few times to the boss (happened to me in the last one), reducing the frustration of the process ^_^
Same with skill points too. I really liked that!
@@macjakeg You're right!
Makes sense with the conceit of being a berserker. Throwing yourself at a challenge in a merciless rage makes you stronger over time.
This game reminded me a lot of Nioh. The separate weapon skill trees, unlockable moves with weird inputs, red and purple health bars for big monsters, even "Mission Complete" hinting at a world structure similar to Nioh with a map, instead of a connected world. Loved the demo, looking forward to this.
Granted it's only a demo, this game very much feels like a mechanically watered down Nioh, and that's still a compliment because Nioh gets incredibly deep when it comes to the game mechanics.
Very excited for the full release, and despite a packed March release window, I'm definitely buying this game at launch
Look more like Code Vein
I LOVE THAT.
Nioh 2 had my favorite soulslike gameplay and systems, now im even more stoked.
perfect. I love Nioh.
This game is one of the only non-from developed souls like that I’ve loved. I’m excited for this one come March.
Soulsborne is from fromsoftware
Soulslike means it's not from fromsoftware
Absolutely LOVED this demo. Right after I finished it, I started it all over which I’ve never done ever. Such a thrilling and satisfying experience with some intriguing story elements
Completed the demo this afternoon and I am hyped for this one. The combat is so fluid.
Can’t believe TH-cam hid this notification from me for 45 seconds. Unreal.
the government is trying to censor Mort like they did with tiktok!
Fellas I regret to inform you all that my sleep schedule is not fixed
Man ngl, Mortismal is my favorite reviewer ever! Like for every game I purchase, I always go for his reviews. Much love ❤
I loved the demo. I really like the Sekiro-like perfect block parries in any game (the reason I liked even Lords of the Fallen)
I think if you have the storage you should get this, I have been playing this game nonstop since the demo came out and it’s amazing. I have even beat it without using a weapon, what an amazing demo
I played the demo and loved it. Can’t wait
This boss fight against the Yetti at the end of the first mission in First Berserker Khazan tested me... he killed me over and over and over and over, but the more I died the more I learned. Had to leave to go to an appointment in the early afternoon and I still hadn't beaten him yet and I couldn't stop thinking about it... got home and after like 10 more attempts I slayed him. There's more to the demo after mission one as well as unlocking difficulty settings which I'm glad I didn't have cause I proved to myself I could do it without going the easy route, I will wait till the game fully released in March to continue playing, this game is beautifully deadly that's for sure
I grinded the demo for the hound gear lol
Finished the demo yesterday. That last boss was a skill check indeed. You can brink dodge or brink guard/deflect. Also loved that the skills can be re-allocated immediately assign then unassign, so you can try to experiment on the builds once you got enough skill points stacked up.
This demo sold me on a purchase of the full game, had a great time with it
I can't believe how one simple thing Khazan did which any Fromsoft's souls games didn't.
Automatically picking up xp/curreny/souls where you died last time, without pressing a button.
Easy buy for me 🤣🔥
Yup, this is right up my alley! Already got the demo, but didn't have time to try it out yet (but I intend to, this looks so, so good).
Yup played it last weekend. I am gonna buy this.
I had no interest in the game, thought it looked mid but I downloaded the demo and was shocked at how good it was. So fun and the art style is probably one of the best Anime styled games I've seen.
Also Ben Starr and Anthony Howell voicing the two main characters is amazing.
Thanks for this comment. I had immediately recognized Margit from Elden Ring, which is Anthony Howell, that is voicing the spirits/blade phantom, surprisingly his wikipedia might not have been updated since the game was not yet on the list. As for Khazan, didn't notice it was Ben Starr, Clive from FF16. Havent really played that yet hence not that obvious to me.
Not related to this game, but playing through the Banner Saga games right now and am super surprised you haven't covered them yet.
They’re so wildly underrated it’s kinda crazy
@@squirrels_in_the_walls right? I feel like I never heard anything about them and they're fantastic
I was on the fence until I played the demo... and since I've been replaying Nioh 1, it felt very natural to play. Looking forward to March!
Great Review! Thank you very Much 😎.Love the demo! Looking forward to full release in March
Thanks for the video. The need for a niche is an interesting point. I don't disagree, but it does mean that the market is not only saturated with Soulslikes, but good ones at that, so much so that simply being a good game isn't stand out anymore. Onward to 400k. All glory to the algorithm.
First game I am looking forward to enough to trust with a pre-order in a very long time.
Been playing it since last night. Wasn’t excited for this game but I am now! And most surprisingly, was not only able to play the demo on Steam Deck, but looks & plays great also!!!
If someone has some issues with fps even with a high end gpu, I solved it using DX11 and not 12 (it's in the settings).
this is a day one purchase for me
If I woke up naked in the snow like he did, I just would have died again from frostbite
Thats why you've gotta get a vengeful spirit to possess you for plot development, pay attention.
@MortismalGaming yeah he did look pissed off
Im pretty hyped for this and dawnwalker
It took me twenty somewhat tries before I figured out I’ve been picking up inventory lol.
I'm a sucker for games with a snow level, definitely checking out the demo.
I would love to see someone truly innovate with action rpg combat though, it all starts to feel a bit samey after a while.
Please put a small section for steam deck compatibility on your reviews.
The Greatsword is so a55 in the beginning until you get some points in the skill tree, after that you don't want to play with anything else.
The demo was pretty good, great art style and good combat system, hopefully the final instalment delivers and they add a hard mode.
The art style of the game is very nice
Cool video Mort
I don't even play C- and TRPGs that much, but I enjoy solid game review content and smooth voices in media 👌
Story is very reminiscent of the First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie.
I'm super excited for this one. Nioh 2 is perfection for me.
Its better than I thought after beating the demo myself. Im not sure if I'd pay full price at launch but I could see myself playing it later in the year on a sale or off a service. Do we know if it was on UE5 specifically? The game ran hella smooth for me on a 3060 12gb and 6700XT.
looks really cool
gotta try out the demo
All I can think when I read "Khazan" is the movie "Kazaam" with Shaq lol.
Ooooh I've been curious about this one! It dropped off the radar for months and I thought it must have folded! Not normally a fan of action combat, but there are a few exceptions (POE2 for example and Diablo II for example) and I'm a sucker for a good, solid, blood soaked jaunt through the realms of vengeance and rage 😂
I also kind of like the art style, it's unusual and for this game I think it works well. Will definitely give it a go if it works on keyboard and mouse.
I do like how gritty it looks despite being an anime game. I'll probably wait for your final review before purchasing it but the game does look good. I think that with a market filled with souls like games people just grew tired of them (and rightfully so) so that is something that'll affect my decision to buy this game or not.
I think this game look like a lot more like Code Vein than Nioh, is not only because is anime art style, the level design look the same, the gameplay feel the same, only thing that this game remember me of Nioh is the build, and i hope they ll do a good job like Nioh did on the builds.
I tried the demo, and the game felt fun to play, but i had horrible stuttering during combat on a high end PC, which i couldnt fix by changing settings. It got an update today so ill have to see if it fixed the stuttering.
For my using DirectX 11 and not 12 solved it!
@@_george84i tried both of them, and both of them just kept stuttering for me. rebooting after changing settings didn't work either.
They posted about dx12 stuttering being known, but yeah like i said, it happened on both dx versions for me.
@@Cedutus Bummer, it solved it for me. I hope the full game will work perfectly well for you :)
@@_george84 yeah, from what i played the stuttering was really the only dealbreaker for me and i hope its fixed on release
For me, turning off dlss fixed the stutters, not sure if this has been fixed though
I’m confused why they have the option of an easy mode locked behind completing a mission in the normal mode… seems bizarre.
Maybe because I didn't play Nioh, I didn't get that feel. My first impression was Code Vein in terms of look and feel. This comes at the right time just as I'm looking for something to do after my Lich run in wotr
Thanks for calling out the demo! I wouldn't have known this was out there without your video. Xbox is terrible at showcasing cool stuff like this.
1st half 2025 is STACKED
I'm just not sure if mission based is for me....
Yet another Soulslike. I like them so I don’t mind, especially if they’re more action oriented as they do need to separate themselves from FromSoft’s offerings. I’m quite surprised at how big the DFO community and world is becoming, it’s interesting to see. I played the original yeeeeeeears ago and thought it was cool but they’re becoming massive now. May you wander in wisdom everyone.
I was iffy after the first level, but completely sold by the second level. Combat feels excellent, there's a great back and forth. Also this might be the most blatant Berserk ripoff I've ever played lol
Looks like the beginning of God of War Ragnarok.
Combat doesn't look very soulslike aside from stamina and target lock. In your experience how did hitboxes seem to play into the game? It's giving me more of a DMC vibe in that regard.
With 95% of it being close melee combat I cant really say from just this demo
this is a free comment.
Weird, why are only the character faces cel shaded? Weird art direction decision
og god of war story wise?
It’s like if Kratos was exiled and then possessed and said “we’ll work together to achieve my revenge”
@@thats4thebirds
I didn't say that the narrative is not original, but that there are similarities, because if you look at Kratos Spartan Rage as a separate entity,as possessed by many religions of the world, they do not see anger as a demon, djinn, evil spirit.Kratos exiled himself out by killing his family :P "Be a man"
Berserker TH-cam Jazz 🎶
At the risk of being a pedantic ol foogey, ya'all forget Ninja Gaiden. 😅In terms of game design lineage, Nioh is a direct descendent. This seems to fall into the same family at least.
I really do hope the story "lands," because DFO has some great stories to tell, but some of the worst story telling within its medium.
Really great demo the game has an S potential
I was pleasantly surprised. I saw Nexon on the cover and was turned away, but I gave it a shot and I was glad I did. It has some great style behind it and even it's a pretty easy souls like based on the demo, the combat seems pretty fun either way and has a lot of options.
Will definitely make it one of my Q1 gaming purchases
The only thing that annoyed me is that you have to pre order the game in order to get Kazan without his hair knot.
Really damn the sucks
God Damnit!!! I can't believe they did that!!!
Gronk!
I checked out the demo and really liked it! I think I will still wait for a sale on this one as I will still probably be deep into Monster Hunter Wilds late March.
Oh wah ah ah ah down with the sickness
Augh! Augh!
You rock
I liked the demo enough to pre-order the game. Artstyle is great, clicked with me during the intro cutscene. Combat was also awesome, I love soulslike games that put big emphasis on perfect-parrying, and this game has pretty generous parry window and weapon skills trees are cool as well. It feels like a combination of two of my favorites in the genre (soulslike/action) - Lies of P and Nioh. One "first world problem" that I had during the demo is that it felt a bit too easy, so I'm hoping to see a spike in difficulty later on.
Combat is good. Bosses felt well designed.
Level Design is on the weak side though. Wich is a big dealbreaker for the success of these games.
I got to say as somone who don't play soullike I'm am enjoy yhr demo alot especially the spear combat and it skill tree
If you havent played sekiro yet you should give it a try. It has a really good combat system that leans on the parrying and building up enemies stance to kill them.
Looks pretty but, between Monster Hunter: Wilds, Atomfall and the Suikoden HD Remaster, I don't think I'll have time for this. Maybe sometime in the _far_ future.
Uh oh. All I had to hear was "another soulslike," and I lost interest in everything that was said afterward. :P
_Soulslike_
nope. I wish we got proper action games back, we need more Bayonetta, less this
I don't disagree, but games labelled Soulslikes aren't always Temu versions of FromSoft's titles like say Lords of the Fallen. Nioh for example shares a lot of DNA with character action games like Bayonetta. And Khazan seems more of a Nioh like than a Soulslike. So you might like this one.
the biggest problem with the demo for me is how boring all of the environments are, nothing creative or eye catching, and from all the trailers the devs have released it seems that the entire game looks like this, I hope that they are hiding some locations from us because its a shame that a game with a nice artstyle like this have worst location then fucking ghost recon
The demo was very entertaining but the pony tail is atrocious on a berserker
Soulslike #82
Anime style? I'll pass
I'd normally agree but I like the style here, it's grittier and more interesting than your standard anime style