A tough, gorgeous action RPG from ProbablyMonsters with builds that make you feel unstoppable. At $19.99, it is a no-brainer.
ProbablyMonsters provided a copy of the game for these impressions.
Verdict Play It Now
Crimson Moon and I have history. I got my hands on it at Summer Game Fest this year, loved the mechanics, and may or may not have gotten my butt handed to me. So I came back knowing exactly what I was walking into: a hard game. What I didn’t expect was how hard it would be to put down. Crimson Moon is fire.
Crimson Moon is fire, and at $19.99 it's a no-brainer.
CMoney, OnPoint 4 Gamers
What you're getting into
Crimson Moon comes from ProbablyMonsters, who developed and published it. It launched September 1, 2026, on Xbox Series X|S and PC, and it’s Optimized for Series X|S. On Steam it’s $19.99. For a game that looks like this, that price is wild.
The holy city of Gildenarch has fallen. Demons, undead, vampires and Hellgrowth abominations have overrun it, and humanity’s last hope is the Order of the Crimson Moon. Its deadliest weapon is you, a Nephilim, a human-angel hybrid built to send Hell back where it came from. Expect brutal melee combat, supernatural powers, angelic transformations and bosses called the Dead Gods. You can run it solo or bring a friend in co-op. Between missions you head back to the Church, your home base, to upgrade and plan your next move at the War Table. The difficulty scales too, so the more risk you take, the bigger the rewards.
It looks incredible
Your character alone sells it. Something about heavy armor with a hood just works, and the detail is great. The lighting is great, and the atmosphere is thick in the best way.
Here’s something I really appreciate. The moment you step from inside to outside, that first look at the world has to captivate you. Crimson Moon nails it. You walk out and there are dragons in the sky. That’s how you do it. It only gets better from there. The art direction is stunning, the architecture looks insane, and even the fire effects look so cool. If you care about graphics like I do, you’re going to eat this up.
The combat
The first few fights are softballs. The game lets you feel like a badass for a minute, then it takes the kid gloves off fast. Enemies flash red when an attack can’t be blocked, and you’d better dodge or parry it.
My one adjustment: my instinct is to attack and parry whenever I want, but it seems like you can only parry when you’re not mid-swing. That took some getting used to. Once it clicked, I was good. I also like that you get a second chance when you go down. Cool touch.
Building your Nephilim
This is where Crimson Moon really had me hooked. The loot just keeps coming: better helmets, homing orbs, crushing damage. I went all in on fire. Sprint attacks that set enemies burning turned my running attack into a monster. Then I picked up a perk that gives blocked enemies a 50% chance to catch fire, and the moment it popped, I was hyped. Trust me on this one: fire is your friend.
Clearing the first district ends with a boss fight, and I took it down on my first try. That was freaking sick. After that the blacksmith and the merchant unlock, and the whole game opens up.
Verdict: Play It Now
I got so into Crimson Moon that I didn’t want to stop. The parry timing takes some getting used to, but the visuals, the atmosphere and the builds are all there. Crimson Moon is fire, and at $19.99 it’s a no-brainer. This is a Play It Now. Shout out to ProbablyMonsters.
This is not a review, so there’s no score here. The score comes with the full review.
Want to see it in action? Check out our impressions on video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF-AkfmA5bI