Is Crimson Desert a Soulslike Game?

Is Crimson Desert a Soulslike? We've seen the question asked a lot since the game started to pick up hype and momentum. While the boss fights do give off that impression, overall, it's not that simple.

Ultimately, Crimson Desert is not a Soulslike, though it has a few elements that are popular in that genre. Crimson Desert is an action-RPG, with a combat system that is in a similar vein to many in that genre, though the pace of combat is much faster.

Is Crimson Desert a Soulslike?

We actually have a pretty good source on it not being a Soulslike, as the game's Director of Marketing discussed this on a recent episode of the Dropped Frames podcast. Will Powers was quick to put it to bed, saying "not a Soulslike" when asked if that's what Crimson Desert was, though he did clarify that "does that mean the game's easy? hell no".

"That's something that I think is really interesting, because when people see the boss fights in this game, they immediately think Soulslike. This is not a Soulslike game," continued Powers. "Because Soulslike, again, has connotations and has specific definitions of narrow dodge windows, things like that. This is much more combo-driven, and you kind of dictate the pace of the fight. So there is no 'get good' moment."

So while the game won't be easy, you will have a lot of different tools and resources available to you to help:

"You can get additional buffs from food and camp, you can grind a bunch more consumables to make the fight easier for you, you can find a blueprint for an item that lets you revive in a fight to get an extra, second shot, and you can craft multiple of those. So you can overprepare and make any fight accessible to you."

Crucially, these changes or styles are a lot about accessibility, "But I think that it allows that layer of accessibility so you're never hard stuck, which I think is really, really important in the single player game." Which is a major complaint about the Soulslike genre overall: despite it aiming for an audience that likes games to be really hard, it often lacks accessibility options.

Despite all of this, the game certainly has a lot of the trappings of that genre. So if you were a fan of Elden Ring, don't assume you won't be welcome here, as Crimson Desert still looks to be catering to that itch as well.

So What Genre Is Crimson Desert Then?

Overall, the community seems happy with how Crimson Desert is shaping up, though they are still looking for a box to place the game into. For now, single-player RPG looks like the best title for it, and from what we've seen, it would appear to fit the game perfectly well.

This same interview also revealed that the game won't have microtransactions, a point that impeded Dragon's Dogma 2, a game that has been cast in a similar light to Crimson Desert.