Crimson Desert

 It should be illegal to look this good.

What is it with Korean games and the Desert? Or more specifically, with Pearl Abyss, because they've just announced another gorgeous looking game with the same naming structure as Black Desert without seeming to share a core visual thematic link- it confuddles me. Whatsmore, this is the second AAA looking Korean online game from this publisher that I've seen in the past two months, is there something in the water over at Kakao games? Because I'm being completely honest when I say that only Ubisoft have such a consistent track record with creating such beautiful gameworlds, and Ubisoft have the advantage (or Handicap, depending on how you look at it) of relying on real life material as a reference. Look at this texture work, the lighting engines, the particles; why do all these games look so good? And when is the actual game behind the visuals going to finally live up to the front cover? Hey, maybe this Crimson Desert will be the first. (And 'No', I'm not willing to put my money behind it.)

Quiet honestly, I wrote Crimson Desert off from the moment that I heard it was an online game before the trailer actually began. (Maybe not nearly as hard as I wrote of 'Back 4 Blood', but I was still in the disinterested state of mind.) Thus this trailer from the Game Awards was literally working at negative rapport from me when it first started up and every piece of ground they won from there was a victory. And it's at this point that I guess you'll learn a sad truth about me; I'm a shallow human being. When I see something objectively beautiful I can't help but let it worm under my armour just a little bit. It worked with Cyberpunk 2077, it'll work with Resident Evil 4 Remake when we see the first footage for that (Despite it being a patently bad idea) and it worked from even the sweeping vistas we saw of Crimson Desert. Because my god, these developers have just nailed the look of the wide open, haven't they?

I mean, if I'm splitting hairs I might say that they seem to always err towards total fidelity over creating a visual style which usually fairs a little better to the test of time. As such, were I to compare this early footage with the sort of thing we see out of the early footage for 'Black Myth: Wukong', my preference would land in the camp of mystically stunning Chinese game. There's something to be said about a conceptual style over the vaguely medieval vibe that this developer tends to land on. But even with that criticism that I had to literally pull teeth to get out, a stunning vista is still a stunning vista! The first part of this footage played like a travel log-style collection of panoramic shots and lingering, ponderous pans. I almost expected it to fade into a advert from the tourist board of New Zealand every time I watch it. And the cherry on top of the cake; the characters don't look ridiculously Anime this time around! I know, I can't believe it either! These designs that I'm seeing genuinely blend into the art style of the world and it works so well it honestly bothers me that it took the designers so long to realise how much better this feels. (Not that I have anything against anime, obviously. I'm just a sucker for thematic consistency)

But pretty visuals does not a great game make, just look at Cyberpunk. (Okay, I'll stop mentioning it. I swear!) And if Crimson Desert believes they can successfully woo the socks off of me they're going to have to do a bit better than- huh, they show action too? (Dammit, I must resist the shiny looking game...) So by the good grace of the marketing gods, it seems that we were granted a series of unlinked shots that honestly sold perhaps the most epic-looking early-dev teaser that we've seen since 'Black Myth: Wukong'. And whilst I still think that 'Myth' does it better, Crimson Desert don't look too shabby neither. Watching gusting winds batter the landscape in the middle of stormy combat feels incredible, the scale of the brief exploration glimpses similarly looked impressive, the mystical realm we see construct itself in what looks like gameplay real-time makes my stomach all aflutter, and that crowning shot of the player seemingly riding a dragon whilst fire is rained on them from the ground... is honestly a little much, if I'm being honest, I didn't really care for it. But it was enough to make me accept that Crimson Desert is selling itself as a spectacle and there's a least enough scope within the team to shoot that direction. (How the actual execution ends up, on the otherhand, is anyone's guess.)

But all this is pretty much the general consensus anyway, the game looks too good to be true and we're all learning to find that highly suspicious after Cy- I mean, recent events. Where I actually differ from most people's opinion is that I think the combat looks rough as heck right now. I mean sure, it's flashy and the animations look great, and if I didn't realise these were the Black Desert devs that would be as far as I looked, but having actually played their previous game I know the sorts of traps the guys can fall into and I'm seeing the same sort of thing here. Now firstly, of course we're all judging a trailer and it's impossible to know what the combat feels like at this stage, but there's still some things we can critique. Namely, I'm talking about the presentation. Ignoring the iffy framerate, this is a reveal trailer I expect them to get a little too ambitious, the combat looks nigh on indecipherable. The camera is zoomed in to that extent that looks great for the trailers but usually ends up being infuriating for actual play, (Unless the AI in this title is strict on the idea of waiting their turn to wail on you) the animations look pretty but lack the sort of fluidity that generally makes for more adaptive systems (that one is a stretch, I admit, but I'm basing it on my experience with Black Desert, who's combat looks very similar) and finally the particle effects need to be toned down. I get it, you know, they look pretty; but dang! There ain't enough LEDs in the screen for all that luminosity; have mercy on my poor iris', Pearl Abyss!

Having said that, most of my criticisms are skin deep, because this team seriously knows how to make everything they do glimmer with that sort of beauty that makes you want to love it. That one low shot of the horse walking across the desert towards a rising sun is heart stopping. I almost want that as a desktop background. (But I'm currently happy with my picture of the ESO concept art for Vvardenfell) The long shadows on the rocks, the gentle dust kicked up by the horse's trot, everything looks stunning. And I know I'm labouring on that point but it's true, darn it. The only thing which ruins the image is the pop-in that's rather obvious in that particular shot because the scene is so still, but it's prevalent throughout. Although again, I'm splitting hairs about minor technical issues of a reveal trailer, I'm just trying to find a reason not to get hyped about something because I know where that roads leads. But as far as taking that first step to winning me over, pleasing my eyes, Pearl Abyss know how to pull it off.

Where things get a bit more serious is with the game behind the exquisite mask, and here it helps to be a little familiar with this company's previous work on Black Desert Online. There's a game that promises the world but is, at the end of the day, an MMO and that means one thing: somewhere along the line a revenue stream needs to be secured. A lot of nuance goes into nailing that and ensuring you get what you want whilst keeping players happy, and Black Desert Online edged to the wrong side of that fence a long time ago. What I'm trying to say is that the monetisation is bad. Really bad. To the point where most are prohibited from having a good gameplay experience, and I wouldn't be surprised if Crimson Desert follows a similar pattern, depending on what it ends up being. I specify that last part because literally no one can agree on what this game even is and it's infuriating to me. It certainly sounds like another MMO, but the trailer looks like anything but and that throws people off. Then there's the fact that the official website lists it as an 'Open world action adventure', a tag which doesn't, in itself, exclude the possibility that it's also an MMO. (And Black Desert is labelled on the same site clearly as an MMORPG) I just don't know what to expect, and when you cut away the mouthwatering visuals and mesmerising scale; isn't that sort of a huge problem with the marketing? The last time I felt this fundamentally in the dark after a reveal was Avengers, and I don't need to remind you all how that ended up.

But I'm tired of being the doom caller, even if in all honestly it feels like I haven't done that enough of late... If this turns out to be a tight singleplayer or limited multiplayer style action adventure roleplaying game then perhaps this could tap into the same sort of energy that recent Final Fantasy games are going for, or maybe even Dragon's Dogma. (Without the story strengths of the former, of course, because BDO was amazingly weak on that front) Plus, the fact that this game is being marketed at the Game Awards reveals how the team are looking for an international audience rather than considering us all after the fact, which might mean they'd adhere to international expectations. (I.E. not making this a monetised hell hole of a game.) At the end of the day, I'm a completely bewitched buffoon over this game, yet cautiously dubious all the same. I'll keep an eye out for this game in the future if nothing else, and that's only partially because I literally head of heels in superficial love with the screen.