The First Berserker Khazan

This is the first map I created at Khazan and the first stage that opens the game. The main goal was to deliver the experience of protagonist Khazan escaping from a blizzard-swept snowy mountain.

I adopted a descending path structure from top to bottom. Through environmental transitions — from the dark, blizzard-swept upper mountain, through quiet but dark caves, to bright skies upon exit — I aimed to provide a sense of liberation from gradually escaping the snowy mountain. To alleviate the monotony of a single snowy theme, I introduced spatial variations such as blizzard zones, quiet dark caves, and ice waterfalls.

Although the tutorial addition was not confirmed at the time, I designed linear paths and elevation sections at the starting point anticipating future tutorial integration — enabling players to learn the plunge attack. As the first map, I kept a minimized structural complexity with a linear path layout.

In line with the tutorial purpose, monsters were placed sequentially so players could learn step by step:

The basic swordsman appears first to guide fundamental combat controls, followed by archers to introduce melee + ranged combo encounters. Large boulders were placed in that section so players could dodge ranged attacks. Elites were placed mainly on sub-paths, and the elite near the starting point is an homage to the Crystal Lizard in Dark Souls 3's Cemetery of Ash.

Being my first level, I was ambitious and enjoyed working on this map. While the map itself is simple, due to its nature as the first level, it required the longest period of work on various core system elements and monster placement balancing.

This is the second stage in the game and the third map I created at Khazan. I worked hard to maximize the "trials" narrative — a key element that also appears in the original work.

Initially designed similarly to Dark Souls 3's Farron Keep — where trials scattered across the map could be overcome selectively — I found this structure weakened narrative delivery and dispersed the sense of achievement, so I fully redesigned it.

I shifted direction by reinterpreting the trials as "overcoming Khazan's inner self." I aimed to build narrative connectivity where Khazan overcomes his inner demons, gradually regains his power, and ultimately faces his strongest inner enemy.

The trial sequence was designed to escalate difficulty in line with the narrative: first overcoming the imperial soldiers he failed to save, then his former subordinates, and finally Khazan himself at the height of his power. Upon defeating his own past self in the final trial, he acquires the dual-axe skills — his signature weapon — completing the narrative coherence.

The level starts with a leisurely movement experience in a wide snowy mountain, then gradually narrows space and increases difficulty through vertical terrain and imperial monster placement to deliver a sense of escalating challenge on the way to the trials.

Each time a trial is overcome, Khazan acquires new weapons and skills. Since there was no separate weapon learning section in the game, these trials were restructured as weapon learning sections, delivering a clear sense of reward for each overcome trial.

First Trial

The greatsword — slow but wide-sweeping — paired with sluggish zombie monsters to deliver the fun of sweeping multiple enemies in a stable manner.

Second Trial

The fast-attacking long-reach spear paired with an elite in one-on-one combat. Fall-off terrain was used to allow quicker enemy elimination.

Third Trial

After acquiring the dual-axes — Khazan's signature weapon — battle Khazan's past self. Designed to be overcome through pure skill in a confined space.

To preserve immersion during weapon acquisition and trials, Level Blueprint was used to control sequence playback and monster spawn timing for natural cinematic delivery.

Designed with a three-dimensional spatial structure to match the setting of an "abandoned Chaos laboratory," aiming to provide visual interest and exploration fun. By adding the biological experiment concept, I aimed to create a more horrifying and darker atmosphere than previous levels to deliver heightened tension.

For overall environmental storytelling, I structured 4 themes and play experiences in stages: Abandoned Village → Sewer → Underground Prison → Laboratory — stimulating player curiosity as they descend deeper into the mysterious facility.

Each theme was designed with narrative connectivity: the zombie-infested Abandoned Village evokes curiosity; the Sewer creates claustrophobic pressure from numerous corpses and narrow passages; the massive Underground Prison presents mystery about the huge facility; and the final Laboratory reveals that all secrets are due to biological experiments, with tense combat through monsters emerging from broken experiment tubes.

The scenario's process of finding kidnapped companions was designed as the play flow. Particularly, by having players directly witness restrained companions mid-level, I aimed to provide dramatic emotional shifts and clear progression motivation.

Compared to other levels, vertical movement and spatial structure provided a three-dimensional experience, while gimmick elements like hidden walls and moving bookshelves enhanced exploration fun throughout the map.

As the midpoint of all 16 missions, I wanted to deliver elevated combat difficulty. Using a narrow spatial structure to restrict dodge range, I designed combat where players advance by defeating enemies one by one through precise guarding rather than evasion.

Each theme also had distinct combat experiences: the Abandoned Village offered clear enemy sightlines for preparation; the Sewer and Underground Prison used blind-spot ambushes for tension; and the Laboratory featured laser trap-based combat with gimmicks requiring care not to break experiment tubes.

One of the side levels, created at approximately 50% the scale of a main level. Unlike main and sub-levels, it delivers important narrative lore from the game's setting and has its own unique spatial structure and flow.

Conceived as a hidden experimental space within main El Ravaca, I aimed to convey the feeling of descending into darkness through a path going deeper beneath the already-underground El Ravaca.

Items revealing key events of Ozma— Khazan's friend and the final boss of the main game — were placed throughout the level so that environmental storytelling would convey the game's core lore.

To maximize the fun of shortcut discovery, the layout was structured so players could branch from one path in two directions.

While condensing the core play experience of main El Ravaca at high density, I further strengthened level object usage to design space gimmick-centric combat. To convey this effectively, individual combat difficulty was set high for tension while reducing the total number of fights to lower fatigue and control pacing.

• Elite monster combat in a dangerous environment with explosive spider-filled experiment tubes
• Two sequential elite encounters as experiment tubes are destroyed and monsters emerge
• Strategic combat space where environmental elements like laser traps and explosive traps can be used to eliminate multiple monsters

The fourth map I created at Khazan and the final destination that crowns the journey — the most grand and vast of all maps.

Given its nature as the final map, I intended a simple, linear flow rather than complex exploration. The top priority was to deliver the grandeur befitting a finale and to convey anticipation and tension as players advance toward the final boss.

Elevator usage was minimized to deliver the experience of ascending vertically from the lowest to the highest floor of the Imperial Palace on foot. Exterior → Interior → Exterior spatial transitions refreshed the atmosphere, and exterior viewpoints allowed players to visually confirm their own progress.

Even as the final gate, the goal was to make the journey to the final boss feel challenging. Since most previously appeared monsters reappear in the last level, there was a high risk of reduced interest from the lack of new enemies. To compensate, I placed each monster in the spatial structure and theme that best showcases their strengths, designing different combat experiences from earlier encounters even with the same enemies.

To realize the spatial backdrop of the "Imperial Palace," I researched real medieval castle structures and fictional palatial settings as references. Thematic variety was designed based on actual palace spaces such as reception halls, cathedrals, gardens, libraries, state rooms, and throne rooms to deliver fresh visual experiences.

DNF

카잔

Additionally, referencing the Ozma Raid from the original Dungeon & Fighter (Tower of Revelation Elinor, Tragic City Elerinnon), I created connections between Khazan and the original DNF IF universe to deliver familiarity to existing fans.

A hub space for core system functions such as equipment crafting, resupply, and travel to other regions. Objects for entering each mission and hidden exploration experiences within the hub were broadly inspired by the "Nexus" from Demon's Souls.

Lore-wise, it is divided into the "Living World" where mortals reside and the "Underworld" where the dead or underworld beings dwell. NPCs directly aiding Khazan's stats were placed in the Living World, while narrative elements and the "Gwimun" monuments serving as fast-travel to other regions were placed in the Underworld — clearly separating the roles of each realm. This created a structure players could clearly understand: mission travel in the Underworld, all other functions in the Living World.

System priorities were layered as "Mission Progression → Equipment Growth → Collection" and NPC placement was set accordingly:

• Mission NPCs were placed closest to the spawn point for immediate access to mission unlocks and progress.
• Equipment purchase, upgrade, and attribute NPCs were grouped one floor below for efficient management in one place.
• Collection NPCs were given a separate space as collectibles needed level exposure, placed at a slightly removed location reflecting their lower priority.

Sufficient expansion space was reserved in advance for future DLC or NPC additions, enabling content to be added without redesigning the level.

To address areas that might appear empty or unfinished as the space expanded, hidden items were placed along the village's interior paths to add exploration fun.

Among several sub-levels created, this is the only one that survived after others were cut due to scope. Since sub-levels are built by reconstructing the main level's flow, I was concerned it would feel heavily recycled to players.

To break from that, I devised the concept of a submerged fortress — aiming to deliver visually completely differentiated visuals from the fortress experienced in the previous main mission.

Though it was clearly a map players had cleared in the main game before, the character of a flooded area — with fall-off sections and water-filled visual atmosphere — allowed me to complete a sub-level that delivers a fresh experience.

In the early section, carefully advancing on platforms through a dangerously flooded space heightened tension. In the flat section that followed, spatial difficulty was eased while monster placement difficulty was increased to control play pacing.