Crimson Desert NEEDS Dungeons — The Combat System Is Too Good Not To Have Them
One thing I really hope Pearl Abyss considers adding to Crimson Desert long-term is a true dungeon system.
The world, combat, atmosphere, and boss design already feel perfect for it. Imagine discovering hidden underground ruins, massive labyrinths, ancient castles, or multi-level caves with unique enemies, environmental mechanics, puzzles, and rare loot at the end.
Even though Crimson Desert is primarily a single-player/open-world RPG now, dungeon-style content could massively improve replayability and endgame progression. The combat system is way too good to only be used for open-world encounters.
Some examples of games that became even better because of dungeon or raid-style content:
- Elden Ring — Legacy Dungeons like Stormveil Castle and Leyndell were some of the best parts of the game because they mixed exploration, shortcuts, secrets, elite enemies, and bosses.
- Dragon's Dogma 2 — Bitterblack Isle in the first game became legendary because it gave players a difficult endgame dungeon crawl with meaningful rewards.
- The Elder Scrolls Online — Dungeons and trials gave players reasons to continue progressing their builds and mastering combat.
- Black Desert Online — One of the biggest criticisms from Western players for years was the lack of strong PvE dungeon content, and even Pearl Abyss acknowledged that feedback in earlier Crimson Desert interviews.
- Monster Hunter: World — Repeatable difficult PvE encounters created long-term engagement for players.
What would make Crimson Desert dungeons amazing:
- Rare gear/cosmetics/materials
- Multi-boss encounters
- Hidden lore areas
- Procedural or rotating layouts
- Difficulty tiers
- Optional co-op support
- Weekly challenges/endgame content
- Huge underground kingdoms or ancient ruins
I genuinely think dungeon content could take Crimson Desert from “great open-world RPG” to an all-time replayable classic.
What do you guys think? What kind of dungeons or endgame PvE content would you guys want to see?
Edit:
Thank you to everyone for sharing your thoughts. The one theme that keeps recurring is people thinking dungeons can only be underground and that the battle system works better outside or that they like being outside more. I just want to clarify that dungeons can be both indoor and outdoor styled. They can be out in the world or they can be a separate area where we teleport to.