Absolutely overwhelming: Crimson Desert is the GTA of fantasy role-playing games
18.3.2026
Translation: Patrik Stainbrook
Pictures: Philipp Rüegg
Crimson Desert actually succeeds in fulfilling the many incredible promises made in its trailers. The fantasy role-playing game is a blast.
A massive world. Graphics that’ll move you to tears. Dragons you can fly and bears you can ride. Creative puzzles and a gripping story. A spectacular combat system combining magic, swordplay and – checks notes – wrestling. Everything we were shown in the run-up to Crimson Desert looked too good to be true. With its MMO Black Desert, South Korean studio Pearl Abyss proved it could master expansive fantasy role-playing games. However, a single-player RPG is very different from an MMO, a genre you can play on your smartphone these days.
But Crimson Desert pulled through and delivered with interest. After more than 50 hours, I’m still only scratching the surface, but I already know there’s a masterpiece underneath.
Mind you, it stumbles at the first hurdle. The introduction is, to put it mildly, strange. Things kick off quickly: first, the Greymane Camp – my clan – is attacked. Protagonist Kliff is supposedly mortally wounded and does an Aragorn over the cliff. Then comes a time skip, and I find myself sitting by a river with the fishing family who rescued me. 30 seconds later, I’m standing in front of two corpses after my saviour is attacked by two ruffians – all self-defence, of course. In the next few minutes, I chase a missing cat across a rooftop, hire myself out as a chimney sweep and rescue a woman who turns out to be a witch from the sewers.
All of this is supposed to serve as a tutorial, but the sequence is so disjointed and rushed that I can only shake my head. Kliff has as much personality as a clothes rack, always grimacing like he just smelled a bad fart. The next few hours won’t change that. Still, luckily the rest of the game gets better by the minute.
Completely overwhelming
At first I was hopelessly overwhelmed by Crimson Desert. On the one hand, visually – the game looks sensational – but primarily gameplay-wise. It feels too complex and simply too good to be true. And this impression never really fades.
Pearl Abyss delivers new mechanics by the minute. Less than an hour after the raid, my subsequent turbo rehab and the mini-tutorial that follows, I find myself in a mysterious sci-fi world called Abyss. It floats miles above Pywel, the world of Crimson Desert.
Parallels to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom are obvious. Next, I receive the Axiom Force, unlocking an energy lasso to move objects almost telekinetically. There’s also a nature power I can use to hurl things and move away enemies like a Jedi. This way, I solve my first switch puzzle. The witch from the sewers returns to grant me a cloak I can use to fly. A moment later, I jump from the floating world and speed back to the surface.
After this first lesson, I’m already considering getting a cheat sheet. There are just so many keyboard shortcuts. Combat, skill and movement systems require a level of finger acrobatics I could perform with the circus. I regularly press three keys simultaneously or combinations of different keys, including holding them down followed by quick presses. New things are constantly added. I regularly consult my skill tree, since I can never remember everything. But I’m surprised at how well I get on. I simply can’t put the game down for a day or I’ll forget everything again.
But I couldn’t put it down anyway. There’s just far too much to do. A glance at my map quickly reveals that the world of Crimson Desert is gigantic. In addition to the main quest, I constantly stumble across new distractions.
As far as the eye can see
Studios like to throw superlatives around to promote their open-world games. But bigger isn’t always better. The fact that I’ve only explored a fraction of Crimson Desert and am still fascinated by the world after 50 hours is the best testimonial I can give a game like this.
It reminds me of the magical days of World of Warcraft back in 2005. Back then, when Blizzard’s world was still new and mysterious, I’d spend hours exploring new regions. I felt like an explorer, and I feel just the same in Crimson Desert. Wherever I look, I see something I want to examine in detail. What’s hidden in that huge white tower at the top of the mountain? Is there a zeppelin flying back there? How deep does this winding canyon go? When’s the next circus show with those fire-breathers, and who lives in this cheesy Disney-style castle?
I can’t get enough of the world. Pearl Abyss has truly performed a miracle. The richness of detail in the environments and the variation of flora and fauna are breathtaking. The only thing that annoys me is the constant wind, which makes leaves and trees shake as if a hurricane were moving through the area.
Nevertheless, it’s amazing how polished the whole thing feels. If Rockstar ever develops a fantasy role-playing game, I imagine it’ll be like this. I can ride around for a whole evening and only uncover a small path on the map. Mind you, I have to motivate myself to explore initially. In the first half, the main quest almost completely takes place in one region. There are four more, one of which is the eponymous Crimson Desert. A desert world in which a giant stone golem surprises me at the first opportunity. Further south near the zeppelins, strange insect machines dominate the land. Even further south, dragons monitor the skies, evading capture no matter how hard I try.
Arousing my curiosity is the most important feature an open-world game can have. Luckily, I’m rewarded with more than just pretty vistas. Sometimes, I discover treasure chests, a vein of rare metal ore or a puzzle that rewards me with Abyss artefacts, unlocking new skills. There’s no traditional levelling system with experience points in Crimson Desert.
The puzzles are rarely complicated, but at least they’re varied. Sometimes I stumble across a game of Nine Men’s Morris, requiring me to place rocks correctly. Another time, I open a secret door by activating several mechanisms in a house. Behind a hidden rock door, which reminds me of the entrance to Moria in Lord of the Rings, a dragon suddenly stares me in the face – one made of stone, fortunately. In front of it is a pit with three rotary switches. I haven’t yet figured out how to arrange them. Although the half-destroyed mural gives me clues, I still can’t get the unfinished puzzle out of my head, along with a thousand other things I still want to do.
The world fascinates me, yes. It just doesn’t feel alive enough. Sure, I encounter a wide variety of creatures such as humans, trolls and the elven Shai. But I have no idea what their history is, how they relate to each other and what keeps them busy – apart from bandits. All the inhabitants of Pywel are united by a constant plague of bandits. The various books and scrolls I regularly find provide clues, but I want to experience the world, not read about it. After all, it’s filled with a selection of animals that would make any zoo pale in comparison. From sheep to kiwis to insects, it’s all here. I can even make paint from the latter. This brings us straight to the next big element of Crimson Desert.
Excessive systems
The complex controls I criticised earlier are closely related to the countless systems Crimson Desert serves up. I have by no means discovered them all, let alone fully understood them. There are the usual candidates: a stamina-based climbing system, base management, research, ore mining, logging, fishing, cooking and so on. I could write several pages about them alone.
Mounts alone are a chapter in themselves: my horse can sprint, double jump, kick on command and even drift. All with only one horsepower – take that Need for Speed! Finally, I can catapult myself into the air from its back and activate my flying cape.
The lamp is pretty essential too. It can both light up an area and reveal memories in certain places. I can then view them by putting on my golden Visione helmet, summoning a hologram of what happened in the past.
If I want to steal something, I have to put on a mask first. What exactly it does, however, is a mystery to me. Even in the cellar of a bandit camp, with no one around, my reputation takes a hit if I help myself to something.
Reputation earns me a currency I can exchange for special equipment in stores inside larger towns.
To cook something, I need the right ingredients, a fireplace and a recipe. But as with smithing plans and other important documents, it’s not enough just to find them. I have to equip them then inspect them with L1/LB to extract the information.
In Crimson Desert, I improve my character with better equipment and Abyss artefacts. They work like upgrade points I can invest in my skill tree. I get them from story quests, defeating bosses, Abyss puzzles and challenges, among other things. By the way, the latter are unlocked with sealed Abyss artefacts in the form of grey cubes. They involve sliding 100 metres at a time, say, performing 50 spear attacks in 30 seconds or catching a cheater in Seotda, a poker-like mini-game. The easiest way for me to find these Abyss cubes is to press R1/LB and R2/RB at the same time, allowing my sword to reflect light. Locations containing artefacts or a teleporter for the fast travel system light up blue. By bundling the light, my sword even serves as a torch.
In Red Dead Redemption 2, I already liked the fact that a lot of things required manual input. It makes the world more tangible, and the same applies to Crimson Desert. However, all the systems and mechanics mean that menus are overloaded and even selecting then using a pickaxe requires several steps.
Fencing, chopping or wrestling
During my very first battle, I noticed how intense the fights are. Enemies reel back when hit and crash into each other if I smash several with an area attack. I can also get up close and personal, throwing enemies over cliffs and disposing of entire gangs. Glorious. On top of lobbing enemies, I can also perform real wrestling moves, including drop kicks and body slams. My current favourite: the giant swing. To perform it, I have to hit a stomp kick and press Triangle and Circle or Y and B just before completing it to grab my victim by the legs and fling them in a circle. This helicopter manoeuvre can mow down entire hordes of enemies.
Only the timing for dodges take some getting used to. Thanks to Elden Ring and co., I’m used to dodging at the last moment. However, Crimson Desert requires its dodge inputs much earlier. Feels pretty unnatural. On top of that, attacks by some bosses aren’t always that easy to read. While fighting the Crowcaller, his feather animations make it hard to tell whether he’s stumbling, lunging to attack or waiting. On the whole, however, the combat system is precise and versatile.
Different weapons also contribute to this. There are one-handed swords, clubs, axes and lances, as well as bows and firearms. Then there’s magical elemental attacks such as Meteor Kick, Frost Mantle or Flame Strike. I haven’t learned any yet, I’m obviously still not advanced enough.
Spirit Abilities are also used in battle. Besides additional counter and dodge options, they allow me to fend off arrows or box opponents away with a power fist.
As if that wasn’t enough variety, I can unlock additional characters as the game goes on, all with their own fighting styles and skill trees. Only points invested in Stamina, Health and Spirit apply to all characters. I first got Damiane. She relies mostly on firearms and has a shield she can hurl like Captain America. An axe wielder will probably follow next. I already have some suitable weapons that Kliff can’t use.
So far, however, I haven’t had an incentive to try Damiane. Either I’d have to invest several hours to collect Abyss artefacts for her as well, or I reset all my skills, costing me a very limited resource. Why can’t all characters use upgrades separately?
Weak points: story and character management
I haven’t said much about the main character or the story yet. There’s a simple reason for this: they’re both boring. True, the English version has a great dub. Kliff’s voiced by Alec Newman, who lent his voice to Adam Smasher in Cyberpunk 2077. However, even his great Scottish accent doesn’t do much to fill out this flat protagonist. Same goes for the plot. Kliff’s Greymane mercenaries are at war with the Black Bears, a nuisance to most inhabitants of our world. After almost wiping out the Greymanes early on in the game, Kliff tries to get his gang back together.
It’s obvious that Pearl Abyss is aiming for a family bond, Red Dead Redemption 2 style. However, the Greymanes should’ve been called Grey Mice. They suffer from a fatal lack of personality. Apart from an annoying drunkard, I can hardly remember any characters off the top of my head.
I’m only halfway through the story, but so far it hasn’t offered anything of meaningful depth. My job’s killing bad guys. That’s it. At least the boss battles are spectacularly put together; there are huge siege battles to join in with and plenty other scenes worth seeing.
Another flaw concerns character management, or rather the design language. At times, the game struggles to convey exactly what I have to do. Right at the start, while I’m jumping over floating platforms in the sky world, I have to wait and think. One platform’s obviously too high to jump onto. I remember I can use the Axiom Force to rotate platforms in order to redirect energy. So I try it, only to realise after five minutes I should’ve jumped after all.
During a boss fight against a kind of flying fog monster, I can only make progress after consulting the press Discord. An array of messages makes it clear that it’s not just me who’s on the wrong track. The solution is to first catapult yourself into the air, then fly, then aim at the monster and finally attack it with Force Palm. Of course, obviously. The fact that the game presents me with a hint beforehand as to how I can blind the opponent, luring me onto a completely wrong track and showing me a wrong button in the process, really takes the cake.
Another time I’m supposed to climb a tower, requiring a mechanic I haven’t used in over 30 hours of play. I have to channel energy in the right direction. Unfortunately, the conductors aren’t visible on the rotating platforms. I waste almost a whole hour on something that could’ve been done in five minutes. Crimson Desert makes my life unnecessarily difficult here. This is frustrating, but luckily an exception in terms of the overall playing time.
Crimson Desert will be released on 20 March for PC, Mac, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. I tested the PC version provided to me by Pearl Abyss.
In a nutshell
A role-playing game that won’t let you go
Crimson Desert hyped itself up to high heaven – and delivers on its promises. I’ve never come across a more impressive open world. The wealth of detail and variety is immense. I can ride around for hours and always discover something new – I’d have loved to explore every last corner. Thanks to the Black Space Engine, it all looks breathtaking too.
Being this sort of a globetrotter comes with an almost endless number of activities and systems. I hardly know where to start! This can be overwhelming at first, but as time goes on, the systems mesh ever better and don’t feel like filler. Battles pop up with well-measured regularity. However, the combat system offers so much variety and feels so punchy that it never wears out. And the addition of side characters is almost overkill.
I’m not surprised, but the story disappointed me regardless. Like all the characters I’ve met so far, it remains weak and predictable. At least the villains are amusingly extra, motivating me to shut them up.
Still, if you look up Open World in an encyclopedia – do they even make those any more? – Crimson Desert deserves to be the prime example. You can’t get much more open world than this. It provides a place where you can completely lose yourself. What could be better?
Pro
- Massive world full of things to discover
- Versatile and weighty combat system
- Endless things to do
- countless activities
Contra
- Weak story and characters
- Occasionally unclear character progression
Philipp Rüegg
Senior Editor
Philipp.Rueegg@digitecgalaxus.chAs a child, I wasn't allowed to have any consoles. It was only with the arrival of the family's 486 PC that the magical world of gaming opened up to me. Today, I'm overcompensating accordingly. Only a lack of time and money prevents me from trying out every game there is and decorating my shelf with rare retro consoles.
Review
Which films, shows, books, games or board games are genuinely great? Recommendations from our personal experience.
Show allThese articles might also interest you
91 comments
later