If you've seen the Crimson Desert gameplay trailer, you're probably wondering what the game has to offer. not so have. So far we've seen Breath of the Wild's gliding, Spider-Man's swinging, dragon riding, literal mechanization, and more. But like any melee combat game, fans are wondering if this game will include Soulslike combat.
While losing and regaining souls is a core part of the Soulslike gameplay ideology, so too is intentional combat using parrying, dodging, and high levels of enemy difficulty. Many games have adopted the combat aspect without the soul aspect, but Crimson Desert seems to have taken neither.
The Crimson Desert is difficult, but it doesn't offer the same combat as Souls.
“When people see boss fights in this game, they immediately think it's Soulslike. This is not a Soulslike game,” said Will Powers, Pearl Abyss' Director of Marketing and Public Relations on the Dropped Frames podcast. This is something the developer has made clear before, but it's clear that they want to make sure players don't overlook the game out of fear of Soulslike combat.
When asked about progression and players running into brick walls with certain bosses, Powers emphasized the beauty of Crimson Desert's open world. “There are no progression restrictions in the sense that you have to get good to do this,” he said. “If you don’t want to do a particular boss, or if it’s a critical path boss, you have to progress through that boss to progress through the critical path itself. But you can just leave. You can do other things, upgrade your weapons, do side quests, or find other things to make the fight easier.”
The combat isn't Soulslike, which carries with it specific definitions and meanings like “narrow evasion windows,” but the progression system sounds similar to Elden Ring. While the Dark Souls series required you to defeat bosses to progress, Elden Ring's open world allowed you to explore different areas, level up, and then return. “Does that mean the game is easy? Not at all,” Powers concluded.
- released
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March 19, 2026
- ESRB
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Age 17 or older / Blood, drug-related, high-intensity violence, verbal abuse
- developer
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Pearl Abyss
- publisher
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Pearl Abyss
