Black Desert is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (AMMORPG) developed and published by the South Korean company Pearl Abyss. The development began in 2010, and after a long series of beta tests, the project was released in 2015.
The action of Black Desert takes place in a fictional world where there is a struggle for the so-called "Black Stones." The Republic of Calpheon and the Kingdom of Valencia, aware of the unusual properties of these artifacts, strive to obtain them in their entirety but encounter fierce opposition. Smaller factions also add fuel to the fire—such as the free city of Media, which attempts to grab its own piece of the pie. But such are the realities of the fantasy world. By the way, it is a very, very large world—its size surpasses the area of World of Warcraft by about two times.
Black Desert fully fits the definition of a Next-Gen MMORPG—largely due to the stunning graphics recreated on the base of Pearl Abyss’s own engine. There is also a day and night cycle, and there are weather effects, executed in the spirit of total realism: if a typhoon forms in one part of the world, it cannot be ruled out that it will cross mountains, deserts, valleys, and reach the other end of the continent. The character can interact with the environment, again, with a realistic tilt (thanks to the physics model): if they approach a wall, they will lean against it, if they fall from a small height, they will lose health, and if they want to stop suddenly, they will slide for a few more steps—the laws of inertia have not been revoked.
Black Desert does not force players to engage in battles at every turn, not at all—opposite to large-scale duels (with sieges and other “goodies”), there is an opportunity for peaceful leisure. Players are allowed to explore forests and mountains, deserts and hills, rivers, and everything they can reach. And everywhere, everywhere there is something interesting to be found, which can then be used during crafting—gamers have hundreds and thousands of different recipes at their disposal. Players are also allowed to rent homes, where they can live like a farmer or a master craftsman if they wish.
Another unique feature of Black Desert is that the game world is completely open. In the full sense of the word—there are no instances or forbidden zones with loading screens. Even caves and dungeons are publicly accessible, and anyone can rush in to capture some monster—including players from opposing factions.
As for the combat system, it is dominated by His Highness Non-Target, which makes the duels look much more dynamic than battles using target selection mechanics. Black Desert has several combat classes (from mage to giant warrior) with different skills and attacks. There are also mounts (from horses to camels and elephants!), many of which can become good helpers in battle—especially if equipped with armor.