With Crimson Desert set to launch on March 20, the review embargo hasn’t lifted yet – but early impressions have already made their way online.
Spanish YouTuber Revenant briefly shared details from what appears to be a review copy before the content was removed.
The impressions, originally discussed in a now-deleted podcast episode, quickly spread across gaming communities.
Revenant has around 700,000 subscribers on YouTube, making him a credible voice in the space, and the detail and consistency of his impressions have led most of the gaming community to treat them as genuine. Here’s everything he reportedly said.
Crimson Desert Combat System: Like Devil May Cry in an Open World
The headline takeaway from the leak is unambiguous – the combat is exceptional.
Revenant called it incredible, saying he had never seen such a large-scale battle.
He compared it to character action games like Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden, but set in a huge open world.
The combat has a lot of player expression and depth, with different moves depending on positioning and direction.
For example, a grapple from behind performs a suplex, while from the side it becomes a throw.
Even the environment is fair game – players can use not only trees but also enemies as slingshots.
This level of mechanical depth will clearly excite fans of action games, though it comes with a caveat: progression is slow for the first eight hours, with a very steep learning curve – but after that, Revenant says you’ll love it.
Is Crimson Desert an Open World RPG? Not Exactly
One of the more surprising revelations from the leak is the game’s identity.
Crimson Desert is not story-driven and is not an RPG. The story is much better than the multiplayer Black Desert, but falls well short of games like The Witcher 3 or Kingdom Come: Deliverance.
It’s mostly about epic moments and battles.
The game world itself is described as impressive, with incredible verticality in its locations.
The world design is compared to a mix of Red Dead Redemption 2 with elements of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.
The scale is genuinely staggering. After 50 hours of play, Revenant was still in the first zone of the map.
For those hoping for an immersive narrative RPG, this may be a disappointment – but for players who love deep systems in a vast world to explore, Crimson Desert could be something special.
Crimson Desert World Design, Atmosphere and Soundtrack
Beyond the combat, Revenant was clearly captivated by the game’s presentation.
He describes an epic sense of scale reminiscent of Shadow of the Colossus and Breath of the Wild, and notes that the game becomes even more impressive at night, with a genuine darkness he likens to Dragon’s Dogma.
The soundtrack receives particular praise, with Revenant comparing it to The Witcher 3’s score.
The ambient tracks are described as beautiful, slow, and ephemeral – perfectly complementing the game’s overall atmosphere.
A former developer also reportedly weighed in separately, with claims that Crimson Desert is on a completely different level from typical mass-produced Unreal Engine 5 games – suggesting the technical ambition behind the project is real.
Crimson Desert Inventory and Quality-of-Life Problems
No game is without its rough edges, and Revenant was candid about Crimson Desert’s weaknesses.
The inventory system is described as confusing, with quest items remaining in the inventory after tasks are completed.
Storage is limited, and the camp offers little beyond a bank for exchanging currency.
Looting also requires leaving enemies alive, which could frustrate players seeking more seamless gameplay.
These quality-of-life issues drew a sharp reaction from the Reddit community, with one commenter reportedly asking how a game of this scale could stumble so badly on something as basic as inventory management.
What Metacritic Score Will Crimson Desert Get?
Despite calling it his favourite open-world game ever, Revenant predicts a Metacritic score of 80 to 85, describing it as a diamond in the rough.
He suggests that if reviewers can overcome the learning curve and QoL issues don’t weigh too heavily in scores, the game could realistically reach 90 to 95.
The official review embargo lifts on March 18th, just two days before launch – so the full picture won’t be long coming.
Based on these leaked impressions, Crimson Desert sounds like a game that will polarise opinion but could well be one of the most technically ambitious open-world titles in years for those willing to put in the hours.
