According to him, Crimson Desert is not a typical combat RPG and does not focus on the story. The story is better than in Black Desert, but inferior to Witcher 3 and Kingdom Come. The main focus is on epic moments and spectacular battles.
The combat system is the most impressive and one of the most impressive of all open-world games. The mechanics are reminiscent of Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden, but the action takes place on a huge map. The system provides great freedom of action – the hero's movements change depending on the position, direction and force of the enemy's strike. For example, a grab from behind ends in a tense moment, and the hero throws the enemy aside.
The game offers creative ways to interact with the environment. The hero can use trees as catapults and even throw enemies into the air, which is especially effective during battles with large creatures.
The game doesn't hold your hand and requires a lot of patience. The reviewer emphasizes that the first eight hours are a learning period. Crimson Desert is not a typical Souls-style game, but, as in FromSoftware games, you need to master the combat rhythm and mechanics. Only then does the gameplay truly unfold.
The game world is also impressive. The reviewer notes the incredible verticality of the locations, and the world design resembles a mix of RDR2 with elements of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. The scale of the project is also huge – after 50 hours of play, the creator was still in the first region of the map.
Music and atmosphere will become important elements of the game. The reviewer compares the soundtrack to The Witcher 3, describing the compositions as beautiful, calm and incredibly atmospheric. He also notes the excellent sense of scale of the world, reminiscent of games such as Shadow of the Colossus and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. At night, the game is even more impressive — the darkness is really dense and realistic, like in Dragon's Dogma.
But that doesn't mean everything works perfectly. The reviewer points out several serious problems related to the lack of convenient features. The inventory system is chaotic, and items received during quests remain in the backpack even after they are completed. Item space is limited and there is no storage system in player camps, only a bank for exchanging currency.
There are also some strange features in the game world. After clearing an enemy camp, the bodies of enemies disappear, which means that players need to leave at least one enemy alive in order to safely collect loot.
According to the source of the leak, Crimson Desert may receive scores of around 80-85% from journalists, mainly due to the difficult start and the lack of some convenient features. He also emphasizes that if players accept the progress (a difficult, learning-oriented start) and ignore the shortcomings, the scores could be much higher, even around 90-95%.
The reviewer himself calls the game a "rough diamond" and claims that it is his favorite open-world game – even better than Elden Ring, RDR2 or The Witcher 3.