Soulslikes very rarely offer difficulty options, that being a particular eccentricity of the subgenre, and sure enough, that’s exactly what developer Neople had intended with its upcoming action RPG The First Berserker: Khazan. In the lead-up to its release, the developer has insisted that that the game wouldn’t feature difficulty options, but plans may have changed on that front.
When asked about the same, Neople told GamingBolt in a recent interview that based on feedback from the community, the studio has started testing and reviewing an easy mode. Whether such a mode will be included in the final game is still up in the air, but at the very least, the developer is looking into whether that’s even on the table.
“While we originally stated that there are no plans for difficulty options, we are now testing a mode with lowered difficulty within the team,” Neople told GamingBolt. “Our primary goal was for players to become fully engaged with the character and sympathize with his difficult circumstances; however, there were requests for difficulty settings. It is still unclear whether there will be an easy or story mode, but we want to encourage more players to participate in the game and discover its fundamental fun. Details are being tested and reviewed, and we plan to do several internal tests before real deployment.”
The First Berserker: Khazan launches on March 27, 2025 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, with a demo launching on January 16. Our full interview with Neople will be live soon, so stay tuned for that.