Crimson Desert is beautiful and bloody, but lacks its own bold vision

Crimson Desert is beautiful. Black Myth: Wukong levels of beautiful. I remember being amazed at the details in Game Science’s game when I first saw it and Crimson Desert elicits a similar response.

The glistening sweaty limbs of a warrior in a fluffy bear skin cloak. The grand crumbling ruins of a castle, in which battle erupts in a flurry of particle effects. A spurt of crimson blood splashing on crisp snow. When I played it back at Gamescom last year, I was impressed by the game’s visuals despite squinting to see a relatively small screen.

However, I didn’t get on with the game’s combat at the time. And as the demo consisted solely of four boss fights, that’s all there was to it. More recently, I was offered a chance to play the game again and I was eager to see if it had been improved. After all, on paper this is my kind of game: full of adventure and challenging combat and some fantastical witchcraft. Unfortunately, even after a second go, my opinion hasn’t changed.

Crimson Desert, from Korean developer and publisher Pearl Abyss (best known for MMORPG Black Desert Online and forthcoming creature collector DokeV), is set in a detailed – if generic – medieval open world. Players take the role of the gruff-looking hero Kliff, defeating all manner of opponents from human soldiers to giant – or even colossal – beasts. Combat is tense and brutal: there’s thudding weight behind every sword swipe and defensive kick, but it revels in detail too. Over the course of each fight snow gradually covers gear, weapon clashes spark, and blood slowly stains each battlefield.