The First Berserker: Khazan Normal Difficulty Playthrough: 16 Boss Fights and the Conclusion of Khazan's Revenge

The story begins with Khazan being found collapsed in the snow. As one who was "betrayed by those he trusted, abandoned by his homeland, and fallen to the ground," Khazan is discovered by someone. The soldiers around whisper among themselves: "Who'd have thought that hero would end up like this," "Is Khazan really a traitor?" Here it is revealed that Khazan was a hero of the Empire who fell from grace after being framed for treason.

Afterward, though possessed by a mysterious demon, Khazan remains conscious and presses on through the snowy mountains. There, the first boss stands in the way.

The commentator positions Yetuga as a tutorial-style boss and uses this fight to explain the basic flow of combat.

Enemy attacks can be nullified by pressing the guard button at the moment of impact, which also drains the opponent's stamina. If you land your own attacks in between, the opponent's stamina gauge will eventually run out, leaving them defenseless for a while. You attack during that window and finish with a fatal attack. According to the commentator, repeating this is the basic flow.

This boss changes its behavior pattern when its health drops to half, unleashing a big move at that point. The commentator explains that once you weather that, you're almost there, so stay calm, guard, and finish it off.

To come to terms with the demon possessing him, Khazan climbs the Mountain of Trials and faces the demon. The demon declares, "That body and soul belong to us."

The dual blades were used in the first boss fight, but for this battle the commentator switches to the greatsword. This fight unlocks an element called "Spirit," which builds up during combat and can be spent to unleash special techniques in succession. The commentator rates the greatsword as a surprisingly nimble, highly mobile weapon that excels at countering and even has techniques that can be used right after a guard. The enemy's attacks grow fiercer in the second phase, but the commentator looks back on this as a perfect fight for practicing with the greatsword.

After the battle, Khazan and the demon strike a deal. Khazan has no intention of giving up his body, but the demon needs an arm to swing a weapon. Khazan seeks power, and the demon reveals its goal of restoring order to the Netherworld. By agreeing to cooperate, they form a pact, and the Blade Phantom becomes Khazan's ally.

Following the pact with the Blade Phantom, Khazan visits some ruins to help with the Netherworld's work. There, remnants of the dragonkin have gathered and are unlawfully draining the Netherworld's power.

The commentator brought the spear to this fight. The spear excels at combo attacks, and the commentator describes the following offensive cycle. First, break the enemy's stance with a heavy attack, then string together normal attacks for as long as your stamina lasts. When your stamina runs out, spend Spirit to keep attacking, drain the opponent's stamina completely, and knock them down. Landing a fatal attack restores your stamina, so your turn starts again with a heavy attack. From there, repeat until the enemy falls.

From the second phase on, the enemy gains more types of attacks, and you need to respond appropriately: guard against normal attacks, dodge grabs, and counterattack certain moves. Situations where heavy attacks could break the enemy in the first phase had countermeasures added in the second. So the commentator used a defensive technique called "Reflection," keeping up the pressure to maintain the enemy's broken state and finishing the fight.

After the Viper fight, Khazan's past is told. After a desperate struggle against a dragon that threatened the Empire, Khazan defeated it alongside his comrades. To Khazan, Ozma was a best friend, a comrade-in-arms, and a brother. But the fate brought on by loyalty to which Khazan had devoted his life was a cruel one. Khazan swears revenge on the Emperor, Pavel, and the nobles.

According to rumors among the people, Ozma was also said to have taken part in the rebellion and was executed after having both eyes gouged out. Khazan speaks of "my best friend, whom I'll never be able to see again," saying that nothing precious remains and that the place where he stands now is hell itself.

Visiting a village in pursuit of revenge, Khazan comes across villagers being attacked. Since the opponent wields dual blades, the commentator decided to fight back with dual blades as well.

This is the first time using dual blades since the first boss, but the commentator says that with more techniques now available, the weapon has become something entirely different from back then. Chaining a dodge attack right after an attack is especially handy, and spamming this drains the enemy's stamina with ease. While the enemy is downed, combos starting with heavy attacks are excellent, and filling the remaining time with a big move is an easy option.

Reducing its health changes its behavior pattern, and attacks from the enemy's left hand become imbued with fire. According to the commentator, a perfect guard can't fully block this fire damage, but counter techniques that use Spirit seem to nullify it. The commentator advises taking care not to run out of Spirit while countering only the left-hand attacks.

After the battle, the rescued villager thanks Khazan, recognizes who he is, and calls him "Grand General Khazan." Khazan asks where Pavel is.

To head to Palemion in pursuit of Pavel, Khazan enters a huge cave infested with monsters. The boss, Aratra, is a spider monster, and the fight involves rescuing a person caught in spider webs along the way.

This monster's forelegs and back can be broken. The commentator first broke the left foreleg and then went for the back. Aratra tries to retreat to its nest after being downed, but attacking at that moment seems to interrupt it, and focusing attacks on its back then makes it easier to break.

Here the commentator talks about build elements. Breaking parts doesn't yield materials, but the rescued person enables equipment crafting, letting you upgrade gear with boss materials. The commentator says equipment set bonuses have a big impact. Many set bonuses boost damage under specific conditions, which also changes the optimal playstyle, so each new set of gear brings new fun. The commentator feels that this build element makes the game's combat very deep.

In the next scene, a person who had been pursued on suspicion of being a traitor is killed by a ruffian. That ruffian is the next boss, Rangas.

Here the commentator declares that, having tried all three weapon types, the greatsword is still the favorite, so from now on the fights will be with the greatsword. The greatsword used in this fight was crafted from materials dropped by the spider boss, and apparently it poisons enemies on fatal attacks and increases damage against poisoned enemies. The commentator pressed the attack with the high-damage greatsword and finished the boss off during a knockdown.

Joining up with an old acquaintance who learned that Khazan was alive, Khazan closes in on the Emperor's henchmen. Maruka says that they had long craved the fame of having defeated Khazan, the hero of the Empire.

The commentator first pressed the attack to bait a counterattack opportunity, then kept alternating light and heavy attacks to bring the enemy to a knockdown in one go. Using a Spirit technique here and poisoning the enemy with a fatal attack put things in good shape heading into the second phase.

In the second phase, Maruka transforms into a demon-like form through the power of chaos. According to the commentator's explanation, chaos is not originally a power that people can discover, but it was brought into this world by someone, and people became twisted as a result. Maruka's iaido strike can be knocked down in one go by returning a Reflection. Defeated, Maruka's last words are, "This can't be."

Chaos is a power that turns people into monstrous forms and even destroys their souls. Khazan and the others were tracing its source, but during the investigation their ally Elamein is captured by chaos.

According to the commentator, Elamein was saved by Khazan on the battlefield as a child and had admired Khazan ever since. The commentator calls this a sad outcome before heading into the fight. Elamein occasionally raises a shield, and in that case, a perfect guard resets the exchange and makes it your turn again. The commentator explains that the greatsword from the midgame onward can use guard techniques even mid-attack, which is an advantage because you can keep attacking without taking risks.

Khazan visits a mine where prisoners are held. A former subordinate seems to be imprisoned here. That's where the giant monster Shaktuka appears.

The commentator says that after a string of humanoid bosses, it was about time to fight something like this. As its appearance suggests, it uses many wide, sweeping attacks, and dodging them while fighting was very exhilarating.

This fight centers on the greatsword's spinning slash. According to the commentator, the spinning slash doubles as a big move and supports the greatsword's playstyle as a counter to grabs, a combo starter, and more. This time, the commentator also equipped gear with an effect that boosts damage after using this technique, so the spinning slash was used more than usual. Damage-boosted fatal attacks whittled down the boss's health, and the spinning slash was used to close the distance again and keep attacking. The commentator says the greatsword is starting to feel natural in hand.

Khazan visits the home of Ozma's disciple. Ozma was supposed to have been executed alongside Khazan, but as Khazan listens to people's stories, the conviction that Ozma is the mastermind grows. The disciple, Toroka, openly displays jealousy toward Khazan: "That person always thinks only of you," "I alone am enough to stand beside that person."

Toroka is a jellyfish-like woman who wields water magic, and the commentator explains that because she has no close-range attacks, she's easy to stagger. Just opening a little distance baits her ranged attacks, which can be safely handled with dodge attacks. If she makes a suspicious move, just hitting her to interrupt it will cause a knockdown.

When her health drops to half, her behavior changes and she enters a phase with lots of intense movement that the commentator calls the "field day." After the field day, there are two consecutive counterattack opportunities, and the commentator remarks that this conveys the design intent of a fair reward for getting through the field day. Finally, the commentator struck from behind as the enemy began dancing at range and defeated her.

Pursuing Ozma, Khazan visits the mage Berelian, Ozma's former research partner. Berelian wonders aloud whether Khazan was revived by "that power," and whether Ozma succeeded in the experiment after all.

This is another mage-type boss, so as before, the commentator attacks in time with the enemy's attacks. The boss staggers easily and goes down quickly if you hit it aggressively. However, this boss puts up an annoying barrier, so when you sense the signs of it, interrupt it with an attack. It also tries to summon powerful minions, but interrupting the incantation keeps the summoned minions weaker. Stopping it early means only weak enemies get summoned, which can be taken out with a spinning slash. The commentator advises that a blue shadow is the sign of a barrier, and since breaking it drags the fight out, you should be sure to stop it.

After that, it's just a matter of attacking relentlessly, and the commentator says fighting with the greatsword is very straightforward. It's simply a matter of repeating dodge attacks and normal attacks.

Khazan visits Scalpel, a trusted subordinate. But Scalpel, like Khazan, had been branded a traitor and had already lost their sanity.

In this fight, the commentator made use of the set bonus from gear obtained in the previous battle. This gear adds a skill that lets you withstand enemy combos. The commentator explains that by continuing to attack after a counter from a guard, it automatically blocks attacks that come in while you're attacking, making it an excellent piece of equipment. Since Scalpel uses lots of combos, it seems especially useful in fights like this.

What the commentator emphasized was how satisfying the sound is when the skill activates. A distinctive sound of metal clashing against metal rings out. The commentator mentions having recently bought new earphones, which seem to make the in-game sound effects clearer than before, and says the game's attention to its sound effects made the upgrade from dirt-cheap wireless earphones worthwhile.

In the second phase too, the commentator adjusted to the rhythm while dealing with the combos, used a healing potion along the way, and finally managed to break the boss's stance. A follow-up combo from there settled the fight.

When Khazan visits the Imperial Theater, waiting there is Princess Irina. According to the commentator's explanation, Irina, the princess of the Empire, was one of the first to notice Ozma's conspiracy, but was defeated and corrupted by chaos.

The first half of the fight is just a matter of guarding and attacking, and once you've chipped away a certain amount of health, the second half begins. In the second half, there are more attacks using the power of chaos. The commentator says that, basically, as with the previous mages, you just need to slip through attacks and slash away. One attack leaves her quite open if you get behind her, and frontal attacks reportedly don't deal more damage than usual.

Defeated, Irina is relieved that the curse of chaos has finally ended and tells Khazan to head to the temple at Vitalon. She then entrusts Khazan with stopping Ozma no matter what.

Khazan visits Vitalon. A dragon's corpse had been brought there. Sensing that the chaos in this land is ominous, Khazan goes to investigate. What appears is Hisma.

The commentator describes it as a gentle boss that, despite its scary appearance, uses wide, sweeping attacks with long intervals between them and offers a steady, stable fight. Fights against humanoid bosses are fun too, but the commentator's impression is that it's somehow a relief when the game throws in a boss like this now and then.

Thanks to all the training up to this point, there are now many ways to boost damage to choose from, and the fun of choosing techniques and gear has grown as well. There are elemental gear sets, Spirit techniques suited to fast offense, and more, and the commentator says that combining them well looks like it could deal quite a lot of damage.

Partway through, Hisma leaps into the air and enters a phase of charging for a while, but according to the commentator, dealing with it is very easy: just run sideways. For all its spectacle, the attack is sloppy and won't hit you. After that, the commentator endured with guards while waiting for openings to attack and defeated it.

Waiting for Khazan, who has come to the Grand Temple in pursuit of Ozma, is Ozma's betrothed, Lise. Lise calls Khazan "a dear friend" and invites him to come along.

The first phase ends simply by keeping her staggered. Between fights, the commentator explains the past of Lise and Ozma. Lise had pledged to marry Ozma, but received a certain order from the Emperor and was killed for refusing it. In despair, Ozma tried to revive Lise with the power of chaos. But the Lise who awoke was an empty husk, a being nothing like the lover of old.

In the second phase, Ozma's attacks join in as well. According to the commentator, she doesn't flinch at all from normal attacks, so you need to weather the enemy's attacks and score knockdowns. A single knockdown takes off about half her health, so one more knockdown ends it. The behavior pattern after that is almost fixed, and landing about four guards is enough. The commentator rates it as a boss that served nicely as a capstone before the final boss.

After the battle, as if Lise's consciousness had returned for a moment, she leaves Khazan with the words, "Please save Ozma." Khazan is bewildered, asking, "Was that really Lise?" but the Blade Phantom urges him on, asking how long he intends to wallow in sentiment, since the mission is nearly complete. Khazan replies that he knows nothing of salvation and will stop Ozma.

At the end of a long journey of revenge, Khazan finally reaches Ozma. Ozma welcomes Khazan and brings up the day they fought the dragon together. They believed that defeating that dragon would save the world, but it didn't. The problem was humanity, Ozma says. Humans kill one another and devour others, repeating the same thing generation after generation. Humanity ruined the very people who saved the Empire, and even killed Lise. Humanity has crossed the final line that must never be crossed.

Khazan asks why, then, Ozma turned Lise into that. Ozma answers that Lise is no longer in this world, that what Khazan met was merely an empty husk, so pay it no mind. Ozma then invites Khazan to come along, saying that together they can set right this broken order.

Khazan refuses. That's not why he came. He came to pass judgment on Ozma, who cast him into the abyss and drove his subordinates to ruin, and to take revenge in Lise's place. Ozma accepts this with "I thought as much," and the battle begins.

The final battle has three phases in total, each with its own separate HP bar, so the commentator encourages being patient. The first phase ends when Ozma descends.

The second phase opens with a grab, and from a counterattack you go all-out on offense. Partway through, Ozma leaps into the air, and a phase the commentator calls "fun rock time" begins. Deflecting the launched rocks, the second phase ends when Ozma comes back down.

In the final phase too, as usual, build up Spirit to squeeze out even a little more damage. After dodging two attacks, there's a window to attack for a while, and once you've taken off about half the boss's health, a big move comes. The commentator explains that once you weather that, all that's left is to whittle the rest down. In the end, Ozma cries out, "Why won't you understand?" and is defeated.

The fallen Ozma apologizes to Khazan about Lise, but still leaves the words that this world will surely be destroyed entirely. Khazan calls to the Phantom and murmurs, wondering whether this is truly the end of everything.

The Blade Phantom says that without Khazan's eyes, it would never have noticed the great chaos. It says it senses the presence of those eyes in everything Khazan has lost. And it says that it thought Khazan had lost everything, but it seems one thing still remained. Khazan responds, "All I have left is revenge."

The commentator wraps up by describing this as an ending in which, at the end of a journey of revenge, Khazan, "The First Berserker," is born. The commentator's overall verdict is that the combat experience of every boss fight was superb and that it was an excellent game in which many elements came together well. Looking back on it as a painful, blood-soaked road, but one that made for a weighty and memorable adventure, the video ends.