For the vast majority of its Crimson Desert marketing up until now, developer Pearl Abyss has focused on pitching the bearded Kliff as the protagonist. However, did you know there are actually two more playable characters? Oh, and you can control a mech?

The second of three deep dive videos designed to explain what Crimson Desert is all about has been published today, and this one talks up the combat and progression systems. On the box art, you can see two other people on either side of Cliff; these are the other playable characters.

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At least in the footage above, the female character appears incredibly agile and can cast down magic from the sky. The other male character, meanwhile, has a great axe and can punch and kick enemies.

In terms of progression, you'll need to collect artefacts in the open world to increase your stats, including health and stamina. They'll also unlock new combat skills and upgrade the ones you already have. You can also pick up extra abilities by observing them being demonstrated in the open world.

The video then reveals merchants to buy and sell weapons from, blacksmiths where you can upgrade your loadout, and where to find upgrade materials.

Combat in Crimson Desert is actually the one thing we've been hands on with in the game, as we played a combat demo at Gamescom a few years ago. After that one-hour demo, we called the game "real, complex, and potentially great".

Crimson Desert launches for PS5 on 19th March 2026. What do you make of this latest look at the very ambitious open world title? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

[source youtube.com]