After various “too good to be true” livestream demonstrations in the past, we can now officially confirm that Crimson Desert is a real, genuine video game. During a 60-minute session at Gamescom, we pressed every button on a PS5 controller connected to a PC while things happened on screen — this isn’t smoke and mirrors; the promising footage shown in years past really is the game Pearl Abyss is developing right now.
Or rather fight part is. The South Korean developer sent a demo to Gamescom that covered the Crimson Desert battles. There will be a massive open world connecting all the battles, as well as many other systems, features, and mechanics, but the studio decided to focus on the fights with the enemy in the German residence in Hall 6.
We don’t think the final game will take this approach, but beyond the introductory cutscene and fights with standard enemies, we were escorted in-game to a computerized Animus-like environment where we could walk up to four portals containing different boss fights. These were Staglord, Reed Devil, White Horn, and a vast Queen Stoneback Crab.
It became clear almost immediately that we wouldn’t be able to fully understand how combat works in an hour-long session. While you have your standard lithe and bulky attacks, and dodge and block, combat gains a significant amount of complexity thanks to a range of additional systems and moves you can perform using Devil May Cry-style button combinations. Where our PS5 controller rested before we picked it up for our session, there was a graphic on the wall showing just some of the extravagant attacks. From spin attacks and foot sweeps to magical abilities, it felt like we were just scratching the surface of what the full title would have to offer. Combos lasting up to three or four button presses were included on the outside poster, revealing what we could expect once we got the hang of the basics.
Most of the boss fights were frantic and fast-paced, as we rushed to learn the basic controls and keep protagonist Kliff alive long enough to learn our nemesis’ moveset. It’s a elevated order, especially considering our nemesis has never been one to be considered a wimp. In the heat of the moment, combat feels a bit like Elden Ring meets Devil May Cry meets Dragon’s Dogma 2. Two of the four boss fights had us clashing swords with enemies that resembled something resembling a human, while Whitehorn resembled a giant polar bear with moose-like antlers. Meanwhile, the Queen Stone Crab didn’t function like the previous three enemies, as its life wasn’t dictated by a customary health bar. Instead, you have to destroy its three frail points, then perform a special attack that the demo didn’t give us in order to permanently defeat it. You reach these frail points by climbing onto the monster’s back, grabbing onto it for dear life as it tries to throw you off. The stamina bar dictates this, which also limits how often you can slash with your sword.
It’s challenging to explain since we honestly didn’t understand it ourselves, but… let’s call it a green leaf gauge that charged up when we attacked enemies, and then depleted it to allow us to apply certain magic attacks. If you get thrown into the deep end with a little aid, that’s the kind of protection you get – a green leaf gauge!
When you encounter these boss fights in the full game, you’ll have a much better idea of how the combat works than we do, so this shouldn’t be a problem when you play it yourself. We’re positive about the whole thing, though, because the amount of depth we witnessed, teased, and accidentally activated from time to time suggests a lot of depth to the combat in general. When you’re thrown into the air, you can glide down using a set of wings. There’s a mechanic we’ve accidentally activated on occasion that slows down time and lets you pinpoint specific body parts to fire your bow and arrow. We can’t say how it’s triggered, but it’s definitely there!
With the combat clearly in a good spot, we’ll just have to see how it fits in with the rest of the game. Crimson Desert has shown plenty of ambition in its pre-release trailers so far, with a massive open world to explore and a number of likely optional mechanics and features to engage with. Fighting enemies is likely what you’ll be doing most of the time, so the fact that everything lines up nicely puts Pearl Abyss’ product in a promising position, but the downtime between those encounters could be just as critical. Now we’re more excited than ever to see how it all comes together into a cohesive experience, and to find out what the heck that green leaf indicator in the HUD is. Now that Black Myth: Wukong is a reality, there’s proof that those “too good to be true” titles of recent years can actually be fantastic games. There’s a good chance Crimson Desert will follow in Game Science’s footsteps.
Crimson Desert is coming to PS5, though there’s no confirmed release date at the time of writing. Are you excited about the game? Let us know in the comments below.
