I'm sorry to break it to you, but don't expect to be able to play an evil pest in Crimson Desert: 'Would I recommend a full playthrough in that playstyle? Eh, I don't know'

Crimson Desert, the upcoming open-world action-adventure game made by the devs of the MMO Black Desert (don't worry, it miraculously avoids non-preorder microtransactions at launch), isn't an RPG. Despite having oodles of systems, gear, and a large map to explore that might make you think otherwise, the developers are steadfast in avoiding the loaded term. Nevertheless, it's still led to some pretty astronomical expectations in the years since it was announced way back in 2019 (when it was confusingly described as an RPG).

With that in mind, in a recent interview by the Dropped Frames podcast with the director of marketing, Will Powers, the developers are clearing the air and setting expectations. And one of them is an RPG staple: evil playthroughs.

In response to CohhCarnage asking how evil you can be, and whether you can do an evil run, Powers explains that "The choices aren't that grand but does it give you the ability to have those decisions impact and have it be a choice you want to make". He goes on to say, "Would I recommend a full playthrough in that playstyle? Eh, I don't know."

For all you monsters who could be cruel to an NPC (not me), you're straight outta luck. Again, this circles back to Crimson Desert not really being an RPG. Instead, "you're the good guys", and that's fairly set in stone narratively.

That doesn't mean you can't be a nuisance though. If you've watched the third and final features overview video for the game, you'll already know that Crimson Desert has a crime and wanted system.

Illegal actions like theft will lower your trust and put the law on your back, which can ultimately lead to a bounty. Being wanted can make travel more difficult, result in fines or even jail time.

Powers expands on this by explaining that "You can make those ['evil'] decisions and you can actually be rewarded for those playstyles...[such as] additional attack level based on your negative notoriety." This results in strategies where, as Powers describes, you might want to intentionally raise your notoriety to gain a spike in power to challenge a tough boss.

Ultimately, Powers says, "I think it's less of something like a singular playthrough, like good, bad, or Han Solo. It's like, 'How do you want to craft your playstyle for that individual moment?'." Crimson Desert is shaping up to be a very large game already (not at all surprising given the developer's MMO heritage), so I'm partly glad there's no need to do repeat playthroughs, truth be told.