The First Berserker: KhazanandSekiro: Shadows Die Twiceboth provide the player with a challenge in their thrilling and difficult boss battles. These games share many similarities, especially the combat and the journey for revenge, in which each protagonist has to fight for what was taken from them.
If you’ve played both games, you’ll immediately notice the similarities between the story and the gameplay, but to decide which game is ultimately the better one of the two, we’ll have to break down certain aspects of each game and see which one fares better.
7Graphics
Winner: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
When it comes to graphics, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is the clear winner because, from the textures to the environment, it looks absolutely breathtaking. Certain locations are stunning to look at, especially the Fountainhead Palace.
While The First Berserk: Khazan doesn’t feature bad graphics, it’s all about the environment and textures. Khazan’s art style also doesn’t hold a candle to what Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice offers.
6Story
Winner: The First Berserker: Khazan
The First Berserk: Khazan offers what appears to be a typical revenge story, but as you play through the game, it gets incredibly interesting, and you can’t help but wonder what’s going to happen from here on.
On the other hand, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is off to a great start, but things get a bit boring in the middle part of the game. There are certain points in the story that are interesting, such as the trip to the past, but not compared to The First Berserker: Khazan.
Both games' stories start off with revenge. While Khazan is trying to take revenge against the emperor for falsely accusing him, Wolf is trying to do the same against the Ashina Kingdom, which has taken away the Divine Child, Wolf’s master, and the one he had sworn to protect.
5Boss Design
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice features a few bosses and regular enemies that are a sight to behold,especially the Demon of Hatred, the Divine Dragon, or the residents of the Fountainhead Palace. But, aside from that, every boss and character isn’t exceptionally unique or anything that would stand out.
Each boss in The First Berserker: Khazan is unique and bizarre on its own. The bosses aren’t just beasts and other creatures. You do fight against regular humanoid bosses throughout the game, but even their design manages to stand out from each other.
4Game Design
Winner: Tie
Both games follow a different approach when it comes to game design. While the objectives are fairly similar, and you have to explore an area and find the final boss there, the way each game handles it is quite different, but also great in its own way.
In The First Berserker: Khazan, you have to take on missions one after the other, and all the places can beaccessed via the Crevice, which also acts as a hub for NPCs. On the other hand, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice features an interconnected world where you have to advance from one area to the next as the story goes on.
3Exploration And Navigation
When it comes to exploration, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is miles ahead of The First Berserker: Khazan, primarily because Wolf can jump and has a grappling hook built into his prosthetic arm that makes exploration and traversal more fun.
In The First Berserker: Khazan, you have to roam around in a typical environment that’s similar to Dark Souls, where your character can’t even jump on a ledge that’s a few centimeters above the ground. You will have to spend 20 minutes going around to find another way to get on top of it.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice also features fast travel that allows you to teleport to any shrine that you have visited.
2Combat
This is a tough one. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice features the most fluid combat you’ll ever see in a game, but The First Berserker: Khazan tries its best to get as close to it as possible. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice features exceptional movement, and the parry mechanic is incredibly smooth alongside everything else in the combat category.
The First Berserker: Khazan also features pretty good combat, but there are simply too many options here that can be a little too overwhelming. However, this extra challenge can also be a treat for those fans who crave a good challenge, but for most gamers, you’ll find The First Berserk: Khazan’s combat to be lackluster compared to Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
1Verdict
It’s not easy to compare two exceptional games, but the deciding factor here was the combat mechanic. Both games are all about fighting, and as it happens to be, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice features a slightly better combat system than that of The First Berserker: Khazan.
The First Berserker: Khazan is an incredible addition to the souls-like genre and is an excellent choice for anyone who loves games that can give you a challenge, but compared to Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice’s greatness, it falls short.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
WHERE TO PLAY
Bringing classic FromSoftware gameplay to feudal Japan, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice sees a lone shinobi, Wolf, seek revenge. You must take on formidable bosses along the way, using all your skills to survive and conquer.
