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New Crimson Desert exclusive gameplay January 25th, 2026



An hour long, shows a few boss battles, cutscenes, and the open world.

Description from video:

The story follows Kliff and his band of mercenaries as they navigate a world of shifting alliances and betrayal. It explores themes of survival, leadership, and the heavy price of duty. Unlike a traditional hero's journey, the game leans into a "gritty" atmosphere where choices have consequences and the line between ally and enemy is often blurred.

Gameplay Features:
  • The Protagonist: You play as Kliff, a mercenary leader struggling to survive in the harsh, war-torn continent of Pywel.

  • The Setting: Pywel is a vast, medieval fantasy world filled with diverse biomes, ranging from frozen tundras and scorched deserts to bustling citadels and mystical floating islands.

  • Combat System: The gameplay features a highly sophisticated combat engine. It blends traditional swordplay with wrestling-style grapples, environmental interactions, and the ability to use magical abilities or "spirit" powers.

  • Visuals and Technology: Built on the proprietary BlackSpace Engine, the game is renowned for its photorealistic graphics, dynamic weather systems, and highly destructible environments.
 
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Future Hive GIF
 
Is it really new? It feels like compilation of all released footages. That boss battle in the beginning is certainly not new
This is nothing new. It's just a compilation.
Is this all old footage?
This is the first line in the video description:

Footage recorded by ENFANT TERRIBLE. Exclusive access provided by Pearl Abyss. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this video is strictly prohibited.

Some of the footage features entirely new content, some of it doesn't, but it's not the exact same gameplay as past snippets since it's his own.
 
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Man what a weird feeling I have with this game. On one hand it's an open-world fantasy adventure which should be right up my jam, but on the other the interiors look ugly as fuck, they haven't shown a single dungeon, the over-use of particles is quite untasteful and combat/bosses seems to focus around fighting dudes with swords rather than cool fantasy beasts and monsters.

I don't know. Some people were making comparisons to Zelda or Dragon's Dogma but the more I see of this game, the less I like it. Hope I'm wrong.
 
Man what a weird feeling I have with this game. On one hand it's an open-world fantasy adventure which should be right up my jam, but on the other the interiors look ugly as fuck, they haven't shown a single dungeon, the over-use of particles is quite untasteful and combat/bosses seems to focus around fighting dudes with swords rather than cool fantasy beasts and monsters.

I don't know. Some people were making comparisons to Zelda or Dragon's Dogma but the more I see of this game, the less I like it. Hope I'm wrong.
I see more Dogma DNA than Zelda, down to the fact that I'm probably going to shrug at the game's story itself, just like DD.
 
Man what a weird feeling I have with this game. On one hand it's an open-world fantasy adventure which should be right up my jam, but on the other the interiors look ugly as fuck, they haven't shown a single dungeon, the over-use of particles is quite untasteful and combat/bosses seems to focus around fighting dudes with swords rather than cool fantasy beasts and monsters.

I don't know. Some people were making comparisons to Zelda or Dragon's Dogma but the more I see of this game, the less I like it. Hope I'm wrong.

I'm a big fan of particles in games, and they look really nice, and will be adjustable. Almost no interior was shown, so I didn't understand that part. The bosses are quite varied (there will be more than 50), and not just men with swords.

There's nothing from DD2 in this game, mainly because it's an action-adventure game.
The best comparison that can be made is with RDR2 and Zelda (in the words of the developers themselves).
 
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I'm a big fan of particles in games, and they look really nice, and will be adjustable.
Damn I sure hope so.

Almost no interior was shown, so I didn't understand that part.
Yeah almost. They did show some of those and they look horrible with quite a weird lighting.

The bosses are quite varied (there will be more than 50), and not just men with swords.
All I've seen is some mechanical dragon (pretty cool) but most others are dudes with swords. Hope there's more variety in the final game.
 
Damn I sure hope so.


Yeah almost. They did show some of those and they look horrible with quite a weird lighting.


All I've seen is some mechanical dragon (pretty cool) but most others are dudes with swords. Hope there's more variety in the final game.

 
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Hey thanks, didn't see this one. Looked kinda cool until 5:05 where it menu-heals like it is Skyrim.

I don't know man. I didn't mind that aspect too much in DD because the weight system prevented you from hoarding a ton of healing items, but here you seem to have 40 slots with each one being able to hold up to 5 healing items. Doesn't seem restricting at all, and it's the same problem that the modern Zelda games had which made those games way easier than they should be.
 
Hey thanks, didn't see this one. Looked kinda cool until 5:05 where it menu-heals like it is Skyrim.

I don't know man. I didn't mind that aspect too much in DD because the weight system prevented you from hoarding a ton of healing items, but here you seem to have 40 slots with each one being able to hold up to 5 healing items. Doesn't seem restricting at all, and it's the same problem that the modern Zelda games had which made those games way easier than they should be.

There are other videos on that same channel, and on IGN.
 
There's nothing from DD2 in this game, mainly because it's an action-adventure game.
Apologies, I meant DD1 when I mentioned Dragon's Dogma. That's the DNA that I see.
The best comparison that can be made is with RDR2 and Zelda (in the words of the developers themselves).
The devs have been tossing popular I.P. names into their hat, even The Witcher at one point, which is why I recommend people directly watch footage instead of thinking it's going to be The Legend of Red Dead Witcher Fantasy.
 
Really worried about story/writing/questing, especially given it was originally gonna be an MMO. And if the writing's anything like BDO's then the gameplay's gonna have to carry this thing.
 
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Really worried about story/writing/questing, especially given it was originally gonna be an MMO. And if the writing's anything like BDO's then the gameplay's gonna have to carry this thing.
I thought this game already has an MMO? Im confused lol
 
Curious about the game's story, characters, and quests. I take it that the main selling point is the combat, but combat alone isn't enough to carry a game for me.
 
I thought this game already has an MMO? Im confused lol

Black Desert Online is the MMORPG they launched in 2014 (one of the most technologically advanced at the time, and still very presentable today).

Crimson Desert was unveiled as an MMORPG in 2019, at its own event during G-Star 2019. But in 2020, they decided to try their hand at a new genre, a single-player action-adventure game. The game completed two years of development in 2020.
 
Holy hell that boss fight just drags on and on. And the video cuts away before its even defeated. If this game is going to be filled with slow, overly long fights where it feels like you're tickling your opponent with each attack, then you can count me out. I just don't have the time or patience for that nowadays.
 
Man what a weird feeling I have with this game. On one hand it's an open-world fantasy adventure which should be right up my jam, but on the other the interiors look ugly as fuck, they haven't shown a single dungeon, the over-use of particles is quite untasteful and combat/bosses seems to focus around fighting dudes with swords rather than cool fantasy beasts and monsters.

I don't know. Some people were making comparisons to Zelda or Dragon's Dogma but the more I see of this game, the less I like it. Hope I'm wrong.
Those areas look very similair to Forspoken. Somehow, I don't see a finished game in there, more like a tech demo.
 
Holy hell that boss fight just drags on and on. And the video cuts away before its even defeated. If this game is going to be filled with slow, overly long fights where it feels like you're tickling your opponent with each attack, then you can count me out. I just don't have the time or patience for that nowadays.
It's assumedly because of a cutscene that happens shortly afterwards. Regardless, the fight itself is slightly over 10 minutes, which is about on par with first time boss fights of some big Dark Souls bosses.

Example:

 
So weird how this looks like it should be an RPG but apparently it is just an action game and it feels like huge wasted potential.

Graphics looks both good and bad at the same time, in the video it is very shimmery and oversharpened somehow, but lighting looks pretty good.
 
but lighting looks pretty good.

It can look great at times, but in interiors (at least the one shown in that video) and sometimes in exteriors it can look quite bland, at least imo:

1wR2p04CoplYdoG5.jpg


edit: shieeeet look at that mission objective on the left. Is this an Ubisoft game? :goog_relieved:
 
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I think I just not in to its art direction, I'm sure there is impressive "tech" underneath but it's visually looks boring.
 
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Game has a lot going on but I do not see all of these parts coming together into one single great package.

Like 34:00 wtf is going on, there is like 50 enemies on screen capable of interrupting your actions and crowd controlling you into oblivion. Doesn't seem extremely fun.
 
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It can look great at times, but in interiors (at least the one shown in that video) and sometimes in exteriors it can look quite bland, at least imo:

1wR2p04CoplYdoG5.jpg
that shot is horrible... where is the art direction where everything is the same bright value except a single dark bush

yuck
I'll give it the benefit of the doubt because this is PS5 Pro demo footage and not final release PC with some form of Ray-Tracing/Path-Tracing.

The recent Indiana Jones game had similar issues where it just looked like someone ripped out the lighting for consoles. That's going to happen more the further we go into this gen, as these 2019/2020 consoles simply weren't built for this.
 
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The demo of FF16 has teached me that a game's first few hours could be amazing and then just completely go downhill. And this game could very well be that too. I don't know why but I have a feeling this one might suffer from that too. It starts off very strong with all these cool abilities and crazy combat but then you find out the gigantic map doesn't have a whole lot of things, or reasons to go explore.

I rather have a small but dense map than a crazy huge map with lots and lots of empty areas with nothing to do. I am very much looking forward to watching some reviews of this, especially so ACG, one of the few I still trust.
 
I'll give it the benefit of the doubt because this is PS5 Pro demo footage and not final release PC with some form of Ray-Tracing/Path-Tracing.
Yeah you could be very right. DD2 also looked bland unless you enabled the RTX stuff.

I hate it lol. Older games didn't need that to look fine.
 
Looks pretty good. Alot of that footage is 18months plus old. They could have easily cleaned up some of the issues seen in the vids. If scores over 80 , Ill prolly bite. Havent played a meaty single player game since DS2 lastyear.
 
The story follows Kliff and his band of mercenaries as they navigate a world of shifting alliances and betrayal. It explores themes of survival, leadership, and the heavy price of duty. Unlike a traditional hero's journey, the game leans into a "gritty" atmosphere where choices have consequences and the line between ally and enemy is often blurred...

not really sold on the political/military 'grittiness'. looks as dull to me as it's always come off in final fantasy games...
 
I'm not too keen on how underwhelming fighting normal enemies seems at the beginning. No impact. And then the particles with the bosses. Ugh. Turning that off if possible.
 
It ain't perfect, but I still love what I'm seeing. So much to do in combat scenarios. I'm okay with the jack of all trades master of none gameplay in this case.
 
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Really worried about story/writing/questing, especially given it was originally gonna be an MMO. And if the writing's anything like BDO's then the gameplay's gonna have to carry this thing.
The game was announced as single player from beginning. The people who said was a MMO simply assumed because Desert online. That said I'm not sure about this game.
 
Are you supposed to track what the boss is doing during that first battle shown? Literally all of his animations (and the player character's) are obscured by visual effects. What the slop?
 
Man... this looks nothing that was first shown does it? The (global) lighting seemingly getting worse every time they show it off. The part where he fights multiple enemies it couldn't have looked more generic if they tried, complete with repeating voice lines of the same voice actor.

Hype levels deflated.
 
Damn that ghosting looks horrid on PS5 Pro. Like right at the beginning when the dude drags his axe across his body, it persists for at least 15 frames, while 9 frames are extremely visible.

9VTGFCCSn7U3DNW7.jpg
z74sgso68xpETggt.jpg

The game was announced as single player from beginning. The people who said was a MMO simply assumed because Desert online. That said I'm not sure about this game.
This is literally not true. Here it is from their own website 3 days after when they revealed the game:
Crimson Desert is an open-world MMORPG set in an epic-fantasy world.

They turned it into a single player game a year after the reveal.
 
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It can look great at times, but in interiors (at least the one shown in that video) and sometimes in exteriors it can look quite bland, at least imo:

1wR2p04CoplYdoG5.jpg


edit: shieeeet look at that mission objective on the left. Is this an Ubisoft game? :goog_relieved:

that shot is horrible... where is the art direction where everything is the same bright value except a single dark bush

yuck
 
Damn that ghosting looks horrid on PS5 Pro. Like right at the beginning when the dude drags his axe across his body, it persists for at least 15 frames, while 9 frames are extremely visible.

9VTGFCCSn7U3DNW7.jpg
z74sgso68xpETggt.jpg


This is literally not true. Here it is from their own website 3 days after when they revealed the game:


They turned it into a single player game a year after the reveal.
I see, maybe I'm confused by another game. Anyway, they switched on 2020, 6 years ago, that is basically a full game development time.
 
This game looks so all over the place visually that I can believe it's totally real now. Don't have a big problem with that tho, will wait for impressions first and I have way too many things to play already.
 
Damn that ghosting looks horrid on PS5 Pro. Like right at the beginning when the dude drags his axe across his body, it persists for at least 15 frames, while 9 frames are extremely visible.

9VTGFCCSn7U3DNW7.jpg
z74sgso68xpETggt.jpg


This is literally not true. Here it is from their own website 3 days after when they revealed the game:


They turned it into a single player game a year after the reveal.

IQ looks very good here. (PS5 PRO 4K60).

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CD-6.png


CD-7.png


CD-8.png


CD-9.png


CD-10.png


CD-11.png


CD-12.png
 
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Lmao the screen shakes so much during the combat it looks like you're having a goddamn stroke.

I was really looking forward to this one, but after seeing that first boss fight this might be a pass for me.

The combat doesn't look like it has any impact or weight.

-edit-

Skipped ahead, the staglord figght looked fine though... guess we'll see.
 
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