Updated daily · 3 Nov 2026
Player reception, side by side
Crimson Desert vs Elden Ring
Both are open-world action games where much of the best content sits off the main path, and players compare them often. Crimson Desert’s players who bring up Elden Ring mostly say its combat plays differently, closer to an action game built on combos and weapon swaps than to a soulslike.
In short
As of 3 November, 83% of 118,333 player reviews recommend Crimson Desert, and 93% of 835,064 recommend Elden Ring. Elden Ring suits players who want bosses they beat by learning them, builds to experiment with and a world full of secrets, with no easier mode to fall back on. Crimson Desert suits players who want a huge world full of activities and combos to master, with plenty of healing to lean on, and can live with a story that lags behind the world.
Crimson Desert: recommend it
83%of 118,333 reviews, as of 3 November154
Elden Ring: recommend it
93%of 835,064 reviews, as of 3 November221
Side by side
The two games at a glance.
- Game
- Crimson Desert
- ELDEN RING
- Price at launch
- $69.99
- $59.99
- Developer
- Pearl Abyss
- FromSoftware
- Publisher
- Pearl Abyss
- FromSoftware and Bandai Namco Entertainment
- Players recommend it
- 83% of 118,333 reviews
- 93% of 835,064 reviews
- Our reading
- 80 most helpful and 40 latest reviews, read 20 October
- 80 most helpful and 40 latest reviews, read 2 November
What players praise
What players like most.
Crimson Desert
The open world rewards wandering.
Castles, caves, camps and ruins sit off the main path, and many players lose hours roaming a map that feels alive.
The combat invites experiments.
Players chain grapples, weapon swaps and combos into fluid fights. Gear mixes freely, so several weapons stay worth using to the end.
It looks beautiful and runs well.
Landscapes, lighting and weather draw strong praise, and players on mid-range and older graphics cards report steady frame rates.
Patches fixed most early problems.
Players credit steady patches and free content with fixing early crashes, stamina problems and gaps in the story.
ELDEN RING
Exploration rewards curiosity everywhere.
Hidden dungeons, items and optional bosses fill the world, and players keep exploring for dozens of hours.
Dodging and parrying reward good timing.
Players call the combat its strongest part, with guard counters, poise breaks and jump attacks adding variety to the basic dodge and parry.
Builds stay open for most of the game.
Ashes of War, weapon affinities and a respec let players try many builds, and many return to test new ones on later runs.
Hard boss wins feel earned.
Long runs of deaths end in a win players say they earned, and learning each boss is part of the payoff.
What players criticise
What players complain about.
Crimson Desert
The story lags behind the world.
Players find the plot hard to follow and the main cast flat. Later reviews say the free Enhanced update’s added cutscenes and dialogue help.
The controls take time to learn.
Many attacks share buttons and two-button inputs need precise timing, so some players never find a mapping that feels natural.
Side quests are mostly errands.
Most are fetch, delivery or talk tasks, and some puzzles give too little to go on or accept only one answer.
Crashes still hit some players.
Some report freezes on loading screens and bugs that block quests. Patches or a file check fixed it for several, and a few never got past it.
ELDEN RING
The PC version has rough edges.
Players report stutter in some areas, crashes on loading screens and no ultrawide option.
Some boss attacks drag on too long.
Delayed swings and long combos with no safe window to counter strike some players as difficulty added for its own sake.
Online play is lopsided.
Invasions often pit one player against two or three, and some connections drop back to single player.
Side quests are easy to miss.
There’s no quest log, and a quest can break if a character is spoken to too early or a boss is fought out of order.
Which to pick
Which one is for you.
Crimson Desert
Pick Crimson Desert if you want a huge world full of activities and combat built on combos and weapon swaps, and can live with a weak story.
More on Crimson DesertELDEN RING
Pick Elden Ring if you want a large world to explore at your own pace, deep combat with many builds, and no easier mode to fall back on.
Questions
Crimson Desert vs Elden Ring, in short.
Is Crimson Desert like Elden Ring?
In its open world, partly. Some players name Elden Ring alongside Skyrim and Breath of the Wild when they describe how Crimson Desert rewards exploring. Its combat is another matter. Several of its players say it isn’t a soulslike, and they describe instant swaps between two weapon types, martial arts and guns, closer to Devil May Cry.154221
Is Crimson Desert harder than Elden Ring?
Most players find it gentler. Crimson Desert has some very hard bosses, but healing and revives are plentiful and players ease a fight by exploring and upgrading first, and some find it too easy once they know its systems. Elden Ring has no difficulty settings, and players find its opening hours hard.154221
Which has the better open world, Crimson Desert or Elden Ring?
Which is better, Crimson Desert or Elden Ring?
Each game’s figure is the share of all its player reviews that recommend it, counted daily. Praise and complaints come from our own reading of its reviews, each judged from what the player wrote.
Sources
- 154Steam: Crimson Desert, store page and user reviews (opens in a new tab) Accessed 20 Oct 2026
- 221Steam: ELDEN RING, store page and user reviews (opens in a new tab) Accessed 2 Nov 2026