Sony and Pearl Abyss have released the second of its two-part video series as part of the former’s Japanese Play! Play! Play! series showcasing Crimson Desert running on a base PS5. This time around, product manager Kim Min-young and host Taiga Kishi spent some time checking out some of the open-world title’s side quests and dragon riding.
The video starts off by showcasing how dragon riding works, allowing players to freely fly across the in-game world with seemingly no limitations. Along with flying, the dragon can also directly engage in combat thanks to its fiery breath. After spending some time flying around, the duo decided to check out how well the dragon can handle itself in a fight by attacking an enemy outpost. It is worth noting that you won’t be invulnerable while flying, since enemies will also be equipped with anti-air capabilities.
Shortly afterwards, we get to see some more open-world gameplay, with the player rushing into what appears to be a quarry with many hostile guards. The game then introduces a new type of enemy. Seemingly a boss fight if the large health bar across the top of the screen is any indication, this new enemy is equipped with a pair of drills on both of their hands, which are used to unleash hard-hitting combos against the player. The drills are also used by this enemy to quickly dash across the arena.
Finally, we get to see the player taking on what appears to be a side-quest in a snowy zone, culminating in a boss fight against a large, agile enemy. The fight is an intense one, thanks to the boss’s flurry of attacks that mix in light and quick sword slashes, as well as quick shield bashes to throw the protagonist off guard. After several tries, the players are able to take down this boss fight, getting their hands on epic rewards.
The previous edition of Play! Play! Play! was a longer video, coming in at 20 minutes, compared to this newer video’s 11-minute runtime. The earlier video gave us a glimpse of the open-world exploration and combat in Crimson Desert, as well as a quick look at a magical puzzle that allowed the player to get into a wizard’s tower. Among the things discussed in the previous video were the fact that players will get to explore two distinct worlds in Crimson Desert—the main continent of Pywel, and the mysterious Abyss.
While the base PS5 gameplay showcased in both videos has been quite impressive, PS5 Pro owners seemingly have plenty more to look forward to. According to Digital Foundry’s John Linneman, the more powerful console is able to put up “a good fight” in its attempts to maintain 60 FPS in Performance mode. The mode makes use of 1080p visuals upscaled to 4K, with high-quality ray tracing. The title will also feature a Quality mode, which uses non-upscaled 4K visuals and ultra quality ray tracing while staying locked at 30 FPS, as well as a Balanced mode that aims for 40 FPS with 1440p visuals upscaled to 4K and high quality ray tracing.
Crimson Desert is coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on March 19th.
