Of all the games I was looking forward to playing at Gamescom this year, Crimson Desert was probably up there among my most anticipated. A stylish action game from Pearl Abyss, built with the bones and gristle of its popular MMO Black Desert Online and lathered in particle effects. It seemed to me from trailers that the game would be a feast for the eyes and mind, but having actually played it, I’m still uncertain. The real kicker is that I don’t even think it’s the game’s fault.
You see, one of Crimson Desert’s most enrapturing features is its combo system. Through pressing two buttons at once, various special attacks come out. Pressing light and heavy attack throws out a huge slash, but face button combinations can lead to stabs, drop-kicks, and even dope wrestling-style brainbusters. The results of having all this are amazingly cathartic brawls, where you weave between typical fantasy combat to often hilariously cool action segments. It helps that the Pearl Abyss team has ruthless and punchy melee combat nailed too – big hits have a weight to them that truly makes the player feel powerful.
But, and this is a big but, this system is only at its best when fighting other humanoids. When battling bandits, all of these skills can be used to great effect. The parts of the Gamescom demo where you’re facing such enemies was brilliant – a level of quality beyond even my expectations. But the vast majority of the demo has you fight bosses, all of which aren’t affected for the most part by these skills. Combat devolves into dashes (and parries / reposts with the Reed Devil and Staglord fights), where the most effective approach to fighting is a slow and patient marathon of using one or two charged slashes or stabs when openings appear.
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