The First Berserker: Khazan Takes the Dungeon Fighter Online World to RPG Action

We’re still doing everything in our power to make Dungeon Fighter Online a big deal.

Image: Nexon / Neople

Nexon and Neople fully unveiled a new action RPG game set in the Dungeon Fighter Online world during the 2023 Game Awards. The First Berserker: Khazan is a hardcore action RPG similar in appearance to a “Soulslike,” featuring intense boss battles and myriad options for equipment and abilities.

The story follows the ritual Khazan, a powerful hero who saved the Pelos Empire from the Berserk Dragon Hizmar. Khazan, who has somehow conquered death, also somehow got himself accused of treason. Now he’s out on the ultimate defamation case, spilling as much blood as is necessary to clear his name.

In the trailer, there’s certainly a lot to take in. We see what appears to be Khazan being carted around after significant torture, before escaping and doing lots of violence and murder.

There’s a subtle anime style to the art but with more realistic texturing and colors during combat. Multiple fighting styles seem to be on display, from dual-wielding different types of weapons to unarmed techniques.

It’s hard to tell what the defensive play is like, as we see both dodging and sustained guarding. Without any UI elements to go off of, it’s unclear how much players can get away with holding block, or whether or not there’s any punitive factor. Regardless, it looks like the game is trying to strike a balance between speed and weight, so the Soulslike fanbase likely has plenty of questions.

There’s no release date yet for The First Berserker: Khazan but you can check out the Steam page for more information ahead of its eventual launch on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.

Dungeon Fighter Online has been around in South Korea since 2005, a hybrid of side-scrolling beat ‘em up, character action, and MMORPG. A short-lived North American release came about in 2010 but shut down in 2013 until being relaunched as a “global” version in 2015.

The game continues to this day, with more effort to expand DNF into a multimedia franchise. A fighting game developed by Arc System Works, DNF Duel, was released in 2022. Multiple anime and manga adaptations also exist.