Khazan’s Optional Bosses Are a Double-Edged Sword

Each of the different main bosses in The First Berserker: Khazan presents a distinct challenge to overcome, and the same can generally be said of the different regions that players will travel through as they work on main missions. However, when it comes to The First Berserker: Khazan’s optional missions, the variety of bosses and locations that are offered can be quite underwhelming.

While the rewards that are granted by optional missions are often different from those that are earned by completing main missions, the enemies and environments that players will encounter in The First Berserker: Khazan‘s optional missions are frequently similar, with their differences often being as negligible as minor cosmetic changes. As a relatively short game, this recycling of bosses and environments in The First Berserker: Khazan is ultimately quite disappointing.

The First Berzerker Khazan Minimal Weapons

In Defense of the First Berserker: Khazan’s Limited Weapon Variety

Despite only featuring three primary weapons, The First Berserker: Khazan’s limited weapon variety is still special where it matters most.

The First Berserker: Khazan’s Recycled Content Is a Double-Edged Sword

Optional Missions Provide New Rewards from Old Bosses

As players complete main missions in The First Berserker: Khazan, by defeating the boss at the end of a region, they will typically unlock one or two optional missions. Not only are these optional missions great opportunities to earn some extra Lacrima and gear upgrades before heading into the next main mission, there are also plenty of game-changing progression systems to be unlocked by completing them, including several NPC merchants, gear crafting, and gear rerolling.

The gear crafting and gear rerolling mechanics are of particular note, as they are some of the most reliable ways to earn top-tier armor sets and weapons in The First Berserker: Khazan, and they decrease a player’s reliance on random drops from enemies. Consequently, players who skip out on optional quests, and don’t unlock these progression systems, will arguably be making their game more difficult. Since The First Berserker: Khazan is a difficult game by default, it’s highly recommended that players take on each optional mission as they become available.

In terms of their rewards, the optional missions in The First Berserker: Khazan are almost always worth the effort to complete as soon as possible. However, from a design standpoint, they can feel quite tedious and underwhelming, considering that nearly all of them reuse bosses, enemies, and/or maps from the main missions with little to no distinct changes. This is especially true for the bosses featured in the optional missions, as they are often identical to the main bosses, with the only differences being their appearance and name.

Recycled Bosses and Environments Make an Already Short Game Feel Repetitive

Overall, The First Berserker: Khazan is a relatively short game, with only around 16 unique main bosses. While it’s not required to progress, players who want to collect all the exclusive rewards and crafting materials from each boss will need to go back and defeat them multiple times. So, having to go through each region and kill these bosses yet another time in the optional missions can end up being quite repetitive.

Not to mention, players who enter NG+ in The First Berserker: Khazan will have to fight these same main and optional bosses yet again.

On the bright side, players will naturally improve their skills each time they fight the same boss in The First Berserker: Khazan, so while initial encounters can be quite difficult, players should find it easier to beat bosses when they fight them again in optional missions. Additionally, the multiple progression systems and NPC services that are only unlocked by completing certain optional missions are generally worth the effort to obtain anyway. However, despite their game-changing rewards and opportunities for practicing and mastering the unique combat of The First Berserker: Kahzan, the reused content in optional missions makes engaging with them quite a double-edged sword.