What is the Scarlet Desert? This fantasy steampunk open world isn't as weird as you think

It has been almost six years since the birth of Crimson Desert Revealed to the world for the first time. During this time, developer Pearl Abyss showed off a ton of ideas, mechanics, and boss battles. It's often considered a “catch-all game” – an open-world adventure that includes sky islands, mechanical dragons, wrestling action, interdimensional gateways, interactive element effects, and even Spider-Man's web swing. But the more that's revealed, the more it feels like Crimson Desert might be made up of so many pieces that it needs a whole. Finding all of this was my main goal when I visited Pearl Abyss's studio in Seoul for this month's IGN First. While I can't say I've found it yet, after many hours of hands-on play, I've discovered that the game might not be as weird as you think. In fact, Crimson Desert feels pretty simple.

Pearl Abyss crafts a fairly traditional open-world adventure game, consisting of multiple areas spread across towns, outposts, and castles. There are the usual main and optional missions, as well as classic pastimes like fishing. You'd be forgiven if you didn't realize it, though—Pearl Abyss puts almost all of its promotional efforts into Show boss fight. Not only that, but Crimson Desert blends traditional medieval fantasy with sci-fi and steampunk elements, and it really does feel like it's being pulled in many directions at once.

However, when you see how all these elements interact on the ground, it doesn't feel so alien. The Land of Piver may seem less like a typical Tolkienian fantasy world and more like Dungeons & Dragons—a setting that in recent years has become Mad Max-esque car chase from hell. Pearl Abyss' design team explained that they wanted Pywel to reflect the diversity of our reality, with some nations feeling more futuristic than others, noting that some of Pywel's leaders may be more resistant to technological advancement than others – a conflict that will be explored through various faction missions. All of this means that even when you're at the controls of a flying combat robot (designed by dwarven engineers, of course), the variety doesn't feel artificial or just there for the sake of wildness.

The addition of these mechanized and steampunk elements gives Pearl Abyss creative license to build missions that are very different from anything we've seen in games like Skyrim. A major part of my hands-on time was completing my quest for Mani, a scientific genius who cloned his own consciousness to create the artificial intelligence-like entity Hall. Naturally, such an experiment goes horribly wrong, and Marnie's evil digital magic twins have taken control of a flying fortress that threatens Pivier's skies. Defeating Hall requires the use of a power core, which Marnie reveals is hidden within a “weapon” called the “Venus”. By “weapon” he means a giant mechanical dragon. While they may have ballistic missiles in Piver, with advanced engineering and everything, certainly The fantasy version of nuclear weapons is a flying Mechagodzilla. What stood between me and this winged menace was… a fortress filled with angry battle droids.

Considering my hands-on time involved no less than three of them, it looks like Bastion Raid will be an important repeat objective in Crimson Desert. I can see why Pearl Abyss was keen to showcase them, as they showcase some of the project's strongest achievements. There's a great atmosphere with a bunch of guys on both sides beating each other up and you get caught up in the middle of it all. Interesting mechanical wrinkles add texture; during one attack, I fired off a flare arrow, followed by a quick bombardment that took out enemy soldiers and reduced buildings to smithereens. In another game, I was able to bypass the brutal melee entirely, sneaking into a castle through its crumbling walls and using the prison as a shortcut to a boss. During my battles through droid fortresses, the backpack-mounted EMP device allowed me to blow out the circuits of hulking ground threat and aerial insect droids in a single massive explosion. There is always something new to try, something to try.

While these fortress raids showcase the Crimson Desert at its best, they also reveal some of its biggest flaws. Fighting the large number of enemies is surprisingly tedious, feeling confusing and repetitive rather than an engaging series of frontline battles. The awkward lock-on feature kept me away from one-on-one duels in favor of a more freestyle playstyle, but it also came with the burden of imprecise strikes and the occasional kick into the air instead of the face. These issues definitely didn't hinder the boss fight, which was my only experience with Crimson Desert prior to this demo, and I was surprised at how differently the combat felt in different scenarios, even using the same moves.

It's in these smaller, less refined details that “Crimson Desert” threatens to lose itself. Sometimes you'll need to pick up and manipulate objects, such as placing a flag to inspire your allies. Doing so requires standing still, turning to face the object, activating focus mode, quickly clicking a button to lift the target, and finally carrying it manually. All of this is a somewhat inexplicable annoyance when raising a flag, but in a boss fight it turns into a real frustration when you're desperately trying to swing a fallen masonry pillar in the precious few seconds it takes for the boss to be knocked unconscious.

Thankfully, extracting the energy core from Venus doesn't require such clumsy super-hand juggling. As we explored earlier this month Our production speciala boss fight with unique mechanics that must be discovered in (literally) intense combat. The dragon's fire breath activates a series of pylons around the fortress's battle arena, which then fires electromagnetic pulse bombs that you fire from arm-mounted cannons. The system creates a repeating phase ring; Venus hovers above, spitting out fire and generating EMP bombs that eventually knock him to the ground, where you can unleash a barrage of attacks until he reboots and starts the cycle all over again. Pearl Abyss is keen to point out that you don't have To do this – for example, you can use lightning-wrapped arrows to apply stun, or just whittle away at his health with ranged attacks – but I feel like the real fun in all of Crimson Desert's boss fights is finding the unique mechanics built into the arena or even the enemies themselves.

After obtaining the power core, I rode my own (completely organic) dragon into the sky and attacked HALL's flying fortress. The initial attack was pretty simple – I had my mount spit fireballs at multiple weak points in the building's shields to break the defense and allow me to land. But entering the fortress itself is more complicated; a navigation puzzle just to the right of the obtuse angle. My journey took me up an elevator shaft and along a treacherous route outside the fortress. At one point I had to start a machine by turning a wooden post without a crank, which I accomplished by using a thrust attack to bury my blade in the wood to create my own handle. Without any hints, I understand that the solution is to think about your ability set in unconventional ways.

This approach continues internally, with beating Hall becoming more of a puzzle than a traditional physical challenge. I love that Crimson Desert's AI soul character doesn't just become another boss fight, it's another indicator that the weird steampunk and sci-fi elements of the world actually have some sort of cosmic significance. However, this time the solution was so obscure that it had to be explained to me by someone from Pearl Abyss. Hopefully the few hours leading up to this mission will give you an idea of ​​how to approach this particular enemy.

HALL’s Flying Fortress wasn’t the only aerial destination I visited. Suspended high above Piver are a number of scattered Abyssal Islands, accessible via portals unlocked with mysterious Abyssal artifacts. The islands seem to have many faces. last year One of them we saw was home to an alchemist named Alastin and his Library of Providence, while my hands-on session included a place more akin to a puzzle shrine from The Legend of Zelda. Its checkerboard floor is essentially a room-sized circuit board that needs to be completely rewired, and finding the right path through a rotating grid of stone slabs unlocks the island's treasure trove. Sure, it's a puzzle you've solved in every game from Watch Dogs to BioShock, but I love how your equipment is integral to completing it – your lantern lights the right path, your grappling hook is used to rotate each block. So while this challenge isn't particularly onerous, I hope its solid foundation is the foundation for more interesting puzzles waiting in the clouds.

Once you've uncovered the secrets of Abyssal Island, you can jump off the side and float to the surface, where more traditional open-world fare awaits. There are towns to visit where you'll find shopkeepers you can trade with and earn bounties. In the wilderness, there are camps to clear and wandering savages to slaughter. Then there are the factions. From what I saw in the menu, there are dozens dozens Some of them, I'm told, are more important than others. Some of them have their own quest lines, such as the Wells, a noble family led by a duke. The rebel lost his castle – This situation was the catalyst for one of the aforementioned fortress raids.

Crimson Desert IGN First – Battle and Mount Screenshots