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Take a look atCrimson Desertin action below.
I spent around 30 minutes hands-on with the game and that demo was exclusively limited to fairly contained enemy encounters so while I found the preceding cutscenes intriguing, I certainly can’t at this stage pass any judgement on the story, nor can I offer any comment on the open-world given that my combat encounters were set within small clearings - one a snowy scene, and one in a wooded area at night. Both were well presented, withCrimson Desertboasting impressive graphics. I’d certainly like to have experienced something like traversal though, or caught a glimpse at just how detailed the open-world might be.
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That’s fine, I enjoyed that challenge. The combat felt somewhat fluid and I had fun experimenting with the different combos which form the basis ofCrimson Desert’s combat. What dragged the entire experience down for me was the fact that when either I or an enemy would make a hit, which was constantly, the screen would be filled with red sparks. When you’ve got six, seven, eight characters, per se, landing blows at the same time, the screen quickly becomes so visually muddied with red sparks that I couldn’t actually see what I was doing.
It frustrated me to no end but I did eventually manage to complete the encounter. I am so desperately hoping that before release, this is dialled back because it detracts from what otherwise would be a fun experience. The challenge should lie in the combat itself - not asking me to fight with little to no line of sight at those who seek to take me down.
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I eventually moved onto a very different kind of boss battle, this time against a horned creature known as the White Horn. Think of it as an enormous angry goat. This was a very different kettle of fish. Instead of constant bombardment as I’d experienced in the previous encounter, this battle required me to bide my time, avoiding the White Horn’s moves until I was able to land one or two blows. As such, you won’t really be able to take advantage ofCrimson Desert’s complex combo and melee system here which isn’t exactly a downside - you need variety - but it feels important to note.
There was a smattering of that in the boss’ third and final phase. Very little changed between phases other than the health bar fully resetting but the White Horn did acquire one move that caused lightning or ice or rocks to fall, I’m not exactly sure which, from the sky. Perhaps with time, I might’ve figured out a way to avoid this but given that whatever was happening almost totally clouded my vision (again), I felt like I was simply at the mercy of the heavens for a few seconds.
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Crimson Desert is set to launch in 2025 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
Topics:PlayStation,Xbox,PC,Preview
