Here you will find all important information about the gaming experience in Crimson Desert: Where lies the gameplay focus? Who might find the game appealing?
About the table of contents you can jump to the sections that matter to you:
- PC, PS5, Xbox – which platform should it be?
- Are there hidden costs in Crimson Desert?
- What kind of game can I expect in Crimson Desert?
- How much gameplay is there in Crimson Desert for my money?
Crimson Desert is an action-adventure that focuses on a massive open world and the single-player experience – similar to Red Dead Redemption 2. Although the game was initially announced as an MMORPG, there are no optional co-op or multiplayer features here.
You can expect an intricately crafted main story, fully voiced dialogues, an action-packed combat system, and a world full of side activities, puzzles, secrets, and more. You can find out more about all this here:
- Crimson Desert has what feels like 5,000 features, these 4 decide whether you’ll have fun
- 12 features from Crimson Desert that you probably overlooked
Three details may be particularly important for your purchasing decision. Firstly, the controls are quite complex and take some getting used to. Many skills and actions are triggered on the controller with combinations of buttons. Depending on the situation, buttons are also assigned multiple functions. This can be frustrating, but that’s exactly what the developers want.
Secondly, you cannot create your own character in Crimson Desert. You play as the gray-maned warrior Kliff initially, as well as throughout the main story. With Damiane and Oongka, two more playable characters come into play, but unlocking them can take many hours. Moreover, with these you will probably “only” be exploring the open world and playing content outside of the story.
And thirdly, Crimson Desert offers only a single difficulty level. If you fail against one of the over 70 bosses, you cannot simply ease the battle with the push of a button. Instead, you’ll need to find other ways to strengthen your character.
These include better equipment, upgrading existing clothing and weapons, farming buff and healing items, or unlocking additional talents (even if just to increase your stamina and health points).
Some of the bosses can indeed be quite challenging, as we have already experienced ourselves during various playtesting opportunities. How hard Crimson Desert will be throughout the overall gameplay time will be revealed when the embargo for reviews lifts on Wednesday at 11 PM. MeinMMO editor Jasmin initially refrains from making a purchase: Crimson Desert would be the perfect single MMORPG for me, but it repeats the biggest mistake of Dark Souls
