Pearl AbyssCovering games for over 15 years, I’ve played a lot of open world games, some of which I wanted to, and many of which I didn’t. It’s fair to say I’m a bit jaded by the idea of open world games, largely because of how the genre has started to groan under the weight of being overdesigned — worlds filled with bloat and activities to simply waste your time. But I still enjoy the occasional open world, especially if a game can find a way to do it meaningfully. With that in mind, I’m hesitantly fascinated by Crimson Desert — one of the most absurdly ambitious games I’ve ever seen. This is a game entirely crafted and built around the very idea of what it means to be an open world, and is clearly looking to redefine the genre. And despite my hesitations, I can’t deny that what Crimson Desert wants to do looks tantalizing, especially if you’re a sicko who loves games with overwhelming amounts of complexity. Recently at PAX West, I got to play roughly an hour of Black Desert, and the very first thing I thought of walking out is Dragon’s Dogma 2 — and I mean that in the best way possible, as someone who largely adores Capcom’s frictional open world game. What I mean by that comparison is a world that feels bristling with opportunities, that’s clearly running some hyper complex simulations under the hood. Both Dragon’s Dogma games just had an air of adventure and potential to them, reveling in letting players explore and find off-the-wall solutions to puzzles, combat, and more. I get that same sense from Crimson Desert, even though there’s clearly more of a direct narrative hook guiding players through the game. My sneak peek largely consisted of the protagonist, Kliff, assisting an army in a massive castle siege. I went through every major moment of the assault, from arriving in camp and preparing my equipment, to peppering enemy defenses with a ballista, riding through the thick of a massive battle, and finally an intense boss battle in the castle’s keep. But there was so much packed into that one hour that I can scarcely remember everything. When I say everything is complex about Crimson Desert, that applies on both a large scale in terms of the world itself and its simulation system, as well as to the minutiae of gameplay, like the combat system. On its face, Crimson Desert is a third-person fantasy action game, in the vein of something like The Witcher, but there’s a bizarre amount of depth to its combat. In truth, it plays more like a third-person brawler, like a hybrid between action and a fighting game. Crimson Desert’s combat is fascinatingly complex and satisfyingly visceral, falling somewhere in the middle of RPG and brawler. | Pearl AbyssWhile you have your typical sword strikes, arrows, and shield bashes, things get really fun when you start mixing in bone-crunching wrestling moves. Amidst vicious sword strikes, you can mix in kicks, jump in the air and slam down on enemies, or even grab someone’s head and deliver a vicious knockout as you slam their face into the ground. Then you have palm strikes that can quickly stagger an enemy, magic to imbue your sword with more force, and a move that sends you straight up into the air, where you can slow down time and shoot arrows. There’s a real sense of viscerality to Crimson Desert’s combat, especially as the camera shakes and comes in close for those big moments, like when you pull off a wrestling move. But what really strikes me about the combat is how it all starts to flow together. My first ten minutes were a bit rough as I flailed around like a newborn baby, but over time, I started getting a feel for how combat plays out, how important the timing of button presses is, like in a fighting game. That only became even clearer in the final boss battle, when a massive knight named Cassius quite literally started throwing me around the room like a ragdoll. As I careened into stone pillars and through barrels, I started to emphasize dodging and timing even more — like a dance between the boss and me. But after an hour, I felt like I had literally only scratched the surface of the game’s combat, and that same sentiment applies to the world itself. While I did spend a lot of time fighting, I spent an equal amount roaming around the world, and soaking in a staggeringly impressive battle that featured hundreds of soldiers. Crimson Desert, unlike its sibling Black Desert, is a staunchly single-player game and features a wide array of quests and dungeons to explore. | Pearl AbyssWhat’s interesting about Crimson Desert is that developer Pearl Abyss (also behind Black Desert) entirely built its own engine for this game, and other upcoming open world games like DokeV. Called the “BlackSpace Engine,” it’s part of the studio’s effort to craft an open world game and features complex elements to support that. Without getting too technical, there’s real-time physics on buildings that I could see as I crumpled massive towers with a range ballista before the assault. There’s simulated weather and dynamic environments, like temperature changes that can make you overheated, or create mud that’s harder to trudge through. If you stop in the dead of night and look up, you can even see an entire unique network of stars that moves and shifts as the planet “rotates.” There’s also a huge amount of verticality and variety to the game’s exploration, from imposing mountain peaks to floating islands — and you can skydive off said islands Zelda-style. While I mostly got to experience combat and open world roaming, there’s a handful of minigames and daily life elements in Crimson Desert as well, including hunting, fishing, horse taming, a crafting system, and more. Crimson Desert has some impressive simulation elements all happening at once, right down to your view of the night sky. | Pearl AbyssCrimson Desert’s world is admittedly gorgeous, filled with wildlife running through forests, bustling cities, army camps bursting with soldiers, and landmarks that instantly draw your eye. But perhaps what I find most interesting, so far, is a tinge of science fiction that seems to be permeating the world. Ancient ruins look eerily out of place, with glowing machine-like installations. And each time you fall in battle, there’s a wormhole-like respawning animation. When I tried to ask about these elements, the representative who was walking me through the demo coyly said that’s something they can’t talk about right now. But that air of mystery is a huge part of what’s enticing me to want to explore more of the world of Pywel.One hour with Crimson Desert is easily one of the most overwhelming demo experiences I’ve ever had — I’m honestly still trying to piece everything together even now. But I can’t deny that it’s probably the single game I’m most fascinated to see next year now. On paper, Crimson Desert might sound like it’s throwing too much into the mix, but there’s an air of confidence the game gives off that makes you want to see more, dig a little deeper. Crimson Desert feels like it wants to confront the idea of what an open world really is, and why we’re so obsessed with them. Right now, it’s impossible for me to say if Pearl Abyss will be able to pull off its lofty ambitions, but boy, am I excited to see how it pans out. Crimson Desert launches in 2026 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.