Crimson Desert's boss fights could give God of War a run for its money

Crimson Desert offers challenging combat in a gorgeous world, and I can't wait to see how the rest of its systems coalesce.

Lloyd Coombes

Lloyd Coombes

27th Aug 2024 14:42

Images via Pearl Abyss

Crimson Desert's boss fights could give God of War a run for its money

Crimson Desert was announced years ago, but it felt like it really started to gather some of the gaming mindshare with the lengthy gameplay trailer at last year's Gamescom.

From a great-looking world, to destructible environments, an in-game economy, fishing, and just about anything else, it feels wildly ambitious. Now that I've gone hands-on with it, though, I can say that at the very least, the combat is certainly up to snuff.

Was that an RKO?

At Gamescom 2024, I was able to check out a lengthy demo with Crimson Desert, starting with a fight against a big bad barbarian who had slain my clansmen, and moving onto a series of boss battles.

That means there was no open-world exploration or fishing to be done this time around - it's all fight, all the time.

Players wear the dusty old boots of Kliff, a Greymane who's seemingly the last of his kind, blessed with not only some impressive strength, but also plenty of bad intentions. The initial tutorial fight sees him swinging his sword, ripping through hordes of troops, before pulling off literal wrestling moves like the RKO if you get the combo right.

It's a great way to introduce players to blocking, parrying, and the seemingly endless variety of combo attacks, but the real meat of the demo was the quartet of boss fights beyond.

Awesome Foursome

I tackled the Reed Devil first, a teleporting, self-duplicating little blighter with a genuinely tragic backstory (Pearl Abyss has pulled a similar trick with sympathetic bad guys in Black Desert Online, too).

My nimble opponent would strike quickly before disappearing into the reeds, leading to a cinematic clash as I worked to predict his moves and be ready with a well-timed block or parry. As fun and kinetic as the combat was, however, it did highlight one concern I have with Crimson Desert's combat - it's not as readable as I'd like.

There's a lot going on on-screen at all times, but the reeds floating in the breeze after they were slashed with a sword only exacerbated things. The same could also be said of a fight against a mythical snow-bound beast that would regularly dive in and out of a blizzard to stay hidden.

The Stag Lord was a highlight, though, feeling as though his battlefield was stripped straight from Destiny 2's Warlord's Ruin dungeon - snowy ruins, hanging cages, and the bodies of his foes littering the place.

Finally, a giant crab boss needs to be grappled to like Spider-Man in order to hit the weak spots atop it, rounding out a quartet of baddies that each have their own unique mechanics. It remains to be seen if Crimson Desert can make every boss fight in the game as engaging as these, but minor visual quibbles aside, it's more than earned the right to try.

Final Thoughts

While I had expected to be doing a spot of fishing and maybe winding up the local townspeople, I was hardly disappointed to be thrust into a boss gauntlet at Crimson Desert's latest demo.

Here's hoping Pearl Abyss can fine-tune things a little so the combat really sings next time.

Crimson Desert is currently without a release date. For more on Gamescom, check out our preview of Stalker 2.

Lloyd Coombes

About The Author

Lloyd Coombes

Lloyd is GGRecon's Editor-in-Chief, having previously worked at Dexerto and Gfinity, and occasionally appears in The Daily Star newspaper. A big fan of loot-based games including Destiny 2 and Diablo 4, when he's not working you'll find him at the gym or trying to play Magic The Gathering.

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