MeinMMO editor Jasmin has played several MMORPGs and is also a big fan of single-player role-playing games. She was therefore even more excited that Crimson Desert seems to bring the best of both worlds. However, one feature that is common in both genres is missing for perfection.
When I’m not tending to farms in the virtual world and searching for true love, I usually hang out in role-playing games or MMORPGs. Accordingly, I was hyped about the announcement of Crimson Desert.
The title was originally planned as an MMORPG, only to be transformed into a single-player experience. Consequently, you can still find some relics from the early development phase, such as the extensive scope or housing. I’m also incredibly excited about the story.
But there’s one special feature that I’m missing, which is typical for both single-player and multiplayer role-playing games. You can call me a noob, but I actually have problems with the absence of this particular detail in the game.
I can’t make it to the credits
Crimson Desert will only have a pre-set difficulty level. This means that you have to live with the challenge the game offers you. Normally, in MMORPG instances or single-player role-playing games, you can set whether you want your experience to be easy, medium, or hard.
A missing difficulty level is more characteristic of titles from the Souls genre. Here you have to live with the mechanics of the bosses and there are no switches to increase the damage dealt or minimize the damage taken.
The focus is on learning the mechanics of the bosses over time and growing from it. As you progress in the game, you are supposed to learn the mechanics by heart and eventually experience the proud moment of having defeated the boss.
And how difficult the bosses are, I experienced firsthand in a demo at gamescom 2025. Private visitors were able to test several bosses and see if they could handle them. And I have to say: I was completely overwhelmed by the fights.
Since I have no experience in the Souls genre, the bosses were incredibly hard for me. I can still remember a yeti that played ping-pong with me and knocked me down so many times that I kept biting the dust way too quickly. Another enemy constantly teleported away and slaughtered me from a distance.
So it’s essential to learn the attack patterns over time. Normally, I have no issues with grinding, since I do the same thing every day in farming simulations to eventually have more money and expand my house. However, I have to say that I struggle to memorize mechanics and invest a lot of time into a single fight just to eventually defeat the boss. That simply doesn’t feel fun to me.
The problem with Crimson Desert is that I can’t simply lower the difficulty when I realize I’m stuck in a boss fight. In the worst case, this could lead to me having to abandon the game at some point because I can’t progress in the story since a specific enemy must be defeated.
Therefore, I’m currently wavering on whether to even start the game. I still hope there’s some mechanic that allows players to artificially lower the difficulty through other influences. For example, if I can farm a strong equipment set from other enemies that makes the boss much easier to handle, I wouldn’t have a problem with that.
As an example: In Elden Ring, it’s possible to gain significant advantages through certain items and helpers that make the bosses a bit easier. You might still struggle with the strongest enemies, but for the previous foes, those items could make the small difference needed to defeat an enemy.
However, if it turns out that the equipment has no significant impact on the difficulty, I will unfortunately have to turn my back on Crimson Desert. Especially in story-driven games, I would find it really disappointing if I couldn’t experience the complete story just because I’m too incapable of memorizing mechanics.
What do you think? Do you think multiple difficulty levels belong in a role-playing game or do you just take what the game offers you? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!
Our MMORPG expert Karsten has found even more reasons that could potentially disappoint players. It’s best to inform yourself in advance whether Crimson Desert could be for you: 6 reasons why Crimson Desert could disappoint you despite the hype
