How Crimson Desert's Combat Adds Fighting Game Style to Fantasy Combat
Blog Andrew Joseph 09 Oct , 2025 0
It's easy to take a quick look at crimson desert And assuming this is another fantasy action game where you slash enemies by repeatedly pressing the attack button. You can certainly do this if you equip your protagonist Cliff with a sword. But tap both of the controller's face buttons at the same time, and he'll dash forward, pushing the blade straight forward. If you press the light and heavy attack buttons at the same time, he'll transform into a powerful, magical overhead slam that brings down his sword in a dizzying arc of particle effects. Basically, there's more than one way to swing a sword – and this applies to everything in your combat arsenal.
Transitioning from aiming your bow to a dodge roll, you'll trigger a brief window of medieval matrix slow-motion, perfect for headshots. Cast the spell at the top of your jump, and you'll use the energy of your magic blast to launch yourself into the air (repeat two more times to climb higher). And, in perhaps the funniest example of all, holding down both face buttons and changing the direction of the left analog stick unleashes a variety of increasingly interesting wrestling moves, from simple grapples to human hammer throws.
In this month's episode of IGN First, we spoke with the design team at Crimson Desert developer Pearl Abyss to learn how they created this deep, multi-layered combat system. The first words they said were both surprising and helped us understand everything: One of the main inspirations for Crimson Desert's combat was retro arcade games like Samurai Showdown, Final Fight, and King of Fighters. Suddenly, all those multi-button combos and linked actions make a lot more sense.
But those fighting game combos aren't necessarily what Pearl Abyss is trying to replicate. The team identified the intense feeling of impact that comes with every blow, whether delivered or received, as a key aspect they wanted to capture. This is reflected not only in the visuals, but also in the crisp audio – the sound design team referenced Capcom directly as inspiration. But judging from the 10 different boss fights I've experienced so far, as well as many more skirmishes in the open world, it's clear there's more to it than that. Fighting game characters have access to many different moves, which can be chained together to create unique approaches and strategies. Open-world action games, on the other hand, typically have more restrained moves—such as dodging, attacking, and counterattacking. While Crimson Desert is a fantasy open-world game in its own right, its long list of combat moves seems to be providing a wide range of options for fighting games to thrive.
Cliff's ever-expanding ability tree means there are multiple ways to approach any fight. It's not just a question of ranged vs. melee, but the more nuanced choices among those options. Will you add kicks and suplexes to your sword fights? Channel lightning to your sword? Summon a bombardment with Howling Arrows? The important thing here is that Pearl Abyss refuses to provide any real strict definition for Crimson Desert's combat system – unlike games like Batman: Arkham, there's no rhythm or pattern to follow. The combat team told me they had no interest in creating a game where you had to press specific buttons to respond to on-screen prompts, a system we've seen in games like Mad Max, Shadow of Mordor, and Marvel's Avengers and Spider-Man. Instead, the studio's goal is to fulfill players' fantasies by allowing them to do whatever they want in any situation.
This arguably makes Crimson Desert's combat approach a bit loose, and for some, the apparent lack of rules or pacing may be frustrating. For example, there are no hard-and-fast counterattacks against specific enemies, nor is there any strict rock-paper-scissors relationship between different attack or defense types. For example, a specific weapon might be more powerful against shielded enemies, but you're not required to use it. The same applies to bosses – while they certainly have attack patterns to remember and weaknesses to exploit, Pearl Abyss has no interest in asking you to pay attention to this. The team believes any attack method should work (within reason—of course, you can't grab a 500-pound monster by its ankles and swing it around.)
This “if you want it, it’s okay if you don’t need it” approach extends to the world itself. The BlackSpace engine powering Crimson Desert is capable of simulating elemental reactions, so water can freeze or conduct electricity when hit with the right spell, while wood can burn and smolder when ignited. The combat team cited modern Zelda games as inspiration, where there's constant interaction between you and the environment. But this is very much a system you can choose to master and exploit, rather than a core component of combat. For example, there won't be a boss fight where you have to freeze water to immobilize your enemies, or lure them into a metal grid and then electrify them with lightning spells.
Cliff is not a wizard, so his spells come from the bracelet, which allows him to simply master fire, ice, and lightning. But new weapons and equipment help expand his abilities further than what's unlocked on your skill tree. For example, there's a spear that opens like a propeller to scatter enemies with a gust of wind like the deadly Erzuka, and a sword that summons angry elf-like creatures. However, the further you progress, the more options become available. Cliff was able to ride many mounts, which in the early morning were simple horses with no extraordinary talents. But once you enter territory occupied by black bears, you'll be able to ride a giant grizzly bear, which can lash out at enemies with its razor-sharp claws, effectively thinning the hordes of savages.
Fast forward a few hours and things get even stranger. Your regular horse can be replaced with a raptor. Yes, you can ride on the back of a real dinosaur. If you prefer flying and fire-breathing scaly mounts, Crimson Desert has you covered too – fantasy's most important creatures are here, and later in the game you'll be able to command a three-star dragon, which will swoop in at your command. But it's not the craziest option. To dispel the misconception that this is a typical fantasy video game, in Crimson Desert you can pilot a Mecha. Yes, really.
The Dwarf-designed battle droid is a late-game treat that begs the question: What if BioShock Big Daddy and a Titanfall mech had a baby? Equipped with thrusters, machine guns, multi-target homing rockets and large-radius electromagnetic pulse blasts, your sword- and board-wielding enemies stand no chance.
Charizards and machine-gun-toting mechs will definitely upset the balance of the Crimson Desert, but they've been carefully plotted against the campaign's overall power curve. Pearl Abyss' combat team explains that the mount is not designed to be a simple tool that can be used at any time, so all of the robot's destructive devices consume a limited amount of power, and when it runs out, the machine stops working. This means you won't be able to use this marvel of modern technology forever – you won't be able to wander into a boss fight and take out a knight with your missiles. But when you're in the driver's seat, there's no denying that things become more like a bloodbath than a close showdown. Pearl Abyss is happy with this power spike, though; the team considers it a “gift” or reward for players who have already progressed in the game.
As you can see, there are a variety of combat options, to say the least. Which brings us back to fighting game comparisons. A game like Street Fighter can be said to be the opposite of Dark Souls, and like in FromSoftware games, the real challenge is learning everything about it your enemy And then try to take advantage of that, whereas in fighting games the challenge is to know about your character and master their movements. Pearl Abyss agrees with Street Fighter's approach, explaining that the goal is for Crimson Desert's difficulty to become more and more manageable the more you master Cliff's abilities.
However, this is easier said than done. Just like a fighting game, if you combine each of Cliff's moves with the right skills, it'll feel like an alternate version. This naturally creates depth, but also complexity – jumping in without any guidance can feel overwhelming. To keep things as simple as possible, Pearl Abyss pays close attention to what each button does. The idea is that every action has consistency – if you want to introduce an element into an action, you can build on your existing knowledge of the controller. For example, tap the thumbstick to fire magic spells from the palm of your hand. Click the left stick using your left palm, click the right stick using your right palm. So to perform a triple jump powered by a magic spell, you'll need to string together an L3, R3, L3 combo instead of pressing the jump button three times.
At first glance, Crimson Desert does look like many other open world games. It's not an unfair comparison – as we'll explore in IGN First later this month, there are many types of staples here, from puzzle dungeons to faction quests to bounties posted on town bulletin boards. Overall, it wasn't an unusual match. But zoom into the fight and you'll find a rather unusual beast. It builds on the classic concept – there's still dodge, parry, and regular attacks – but I've never played a medieval fantasy game before where I could connect Spider-Man's swings to Batman's glide, like Sonic the Hedgehog, doing his best Hulk impression. In short, it's safe to say that Crimson Desert is trying something different.
Matt Purslow is IGN's executive editor of features.