‘Crimson Desert’ boss battle Gamescom trailer is giving Monster Hunter, Witcher 3 vibes
Bear witness to the intense combat system of this upcoming open-world, action-RPG from the creators of Black Desert Online
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Gamescom 2024hasn’t even started yet but the developer and publisher of theBlack Desert Online, Pearl Abyss, is kicking festivities off early by releasing a new Gamescom gameplay trailer for its next bigupcoming Xbox title/upcoming PC title, Crimson Desert. This trailer showcases the game’s brutal yet over-the-top combat system by pitting the player against a horde of bandits and a terrifying beast known as the White Horn.
For those unaware,Crimson Desertis an open-world, action-RPG set in a gritty fantasy world filled with warring factions and towering monstrosities looking to crush anything in their path. In this dark world, the player assumes the role of Kliff, a hardened who leads a mercenary band called the Greymane Free Company.
Your goal in this game is to help your mercenary band survive in this dark world by recruiting mighty warriors to bolster your group’s numbers and completing jobs and bounties for clients to earn money that can be spent on purchasing supplies, weapons, and armor.
In the Gamescom 2024 trailer, we see Kliff in the middle of one of these jobs as he’s been assigned to rescue a group of children kidnapped by superstitious bandits who believe they incur the wrath of a gigantic, barbaric monster called the White Horn.
Of course, Kliff doesn’t buy into their unjustified reasons for kidnapping children and dispatches them with ease. When Kliff is interrogating the leader for information, the White Horn suddenly appears and proceeds to challenge our protagonist to a one-on-one fight to the death.
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During these moments we are given a demonstration of the game’s combat system and it looks genuinely impressive. The combat system system feels reminiscent of action-RPGs likeMonster HunterandThe Witcher, where you hunt giant monsters using complex combo attacks and anticipating their attack patterns to dodge or counter them.
What makes Crimson Desert’s gameplay feel unique from its peers, at least according to the trailer, is how fast and brutal it is. When the Kliff was fighting the bandits, the player mixed in traditional sword & shield attacks with over-the-top, bone-breaking wrestling moves which looked so cool to watch.
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Then during the White Horn boss fight, the beast violently assaults the player with a series of never-ending attacks while summoning hailstorms to crush them and preventing them from catching a break. Whenever the boss managed to hit Kliff, I really felt his pain as he was sent flying through the air and slammed into trees and rocks that dealt insane amounts of damage to him.
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Color me intrigued in this gritty action-RPG
What’s crazy is that this is only the tip of the iceberg of Crimson Desert’s combat system. Itsprevious trailer at Gamescom 2023showed the player taking on armies of soldiers with martial arts, topping watch towers with explosive arrows, and even climbing up a giant monster’s body to stab its weak points similar to Capcom’sDragon’s Dogma 2.
What’s more is that Crimson Desert’s combat system will be complemented by a gigantic open-world filled with secrets to uncover, lots of side activities and quests to partake in, a cast of intriguing characters to interact with, and an in-depth, enriching storyline.
If this is what we can expect Crimson Desert’s combat to be like during its opening act, I can’t imagine how crazy it will during the later parts of the game. However, we will have to wait until next year to find out if this game has what it takes to be one of thebest Xbox gamesandbest PC gamesas Crimson Desert is set to launch in 2025 forXbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC.
Alexander Cope is a gaming veteran of 30-plus years, primarily covering PC and Xbox games here on Windows Central. Gaming since the 8-bit era, Alexander’s expertise revolves around gaming guides and news, with a particular focus on Japanese titles from the likes of Elden Ring to Final Fantasy. Alexander is always on deck to help our readers conquer the industry’s most difficult games — when he can pry himself away from Monster Hunter that is!
