Been there, dune that.
Crimson Desert is beautiful.Black Myth: Wukonglevels of beautiful.
The glistening sweaty limbs of a warrior in a fluffy bear skin cloak.
The grand crumbling ruins of a castle, in which battle erupts in a flurry of particle effects.
A spurt of crimson blood splashing on crisp snow.
However, I didn’t get on with the game’s combat at the time.
And as the demo consisted solely of four boss fights, that’s all there was to it.
Unfortunately, even after a second go, my opinion hasn’t changed.
That marked the beginning of my frustration.
Crimson Desert is hard.
It’s by no means a Soulslike, though feels inspired by that level of challenge.
I just never found my rhythm.
The biggest boss of all, though, is the camera.
The camera issues are further exacerbated by the lack of a proper lock-on.
Most of the time, I was wrong.
Both battles at least looked gorgeous, whether from swirling snowflakes or fluttering blades of grass.
But I struggled to get to grips with the controls.
Then there are multiple weapon types and replenishing items awkwardly accessed through a weapon wheel on the d-pad.
Frustrated, I ploughed on.
Eventually, three bosses defeated, I switched to the final encounter: the Queen Stoneback Crab.
The timer ran out on me before I had a chance to try it.
All of this could just be personal preference.
Maybe I’ve spent too much time playing Souls games that my expectations are skewed.
What’s more, Crimson Desert isn’t just combat but an open world adventure game.
It’s brutal and bloody, but from what I’ve played and seen it’s not for me.
