Crimson Desert draws attention for its ambitious open-world adventure concept, but the experience ultimately falls short of expectations. The game follows Kliff on a journey after the massacre of his group, but the narrative is confusing, with uninteresting characters and missions reminiscent of generic MMO tasks. Despite the large number of mechanics, factions, and activities, the combat lacks depth and features artificial difficulty spikes, as well as unresponsive controls and a problematic interface. Even with impressive graphics and great freedom of exploration, art direction issues, bugs, and design decisions make the game seem vast in content but shallow in quality.
Make no mistake, Crimson Desert is a technically proficient game with killer combat (pesky lock-on aside). Yet its characters and story are fatally undercooked. And for all Pywel's spectacular visual construction which impresses in its gigantic scale and gleaming prettiness, it lacks a certain distinctiveness. Think of The Witcher games: you can practically taste the fetid water, churned-up mud, and hunks of charred meat dined on by noblemen. Those are works of grit, texture, and a genuinely idiosyncratic sense of place. How does Crimson Desert taste? Well, it is not nearly so flavoursome - imagine, instead, a banquet where almost every dish has the faint taste of cardboard, and you have to eat it for what feels like forever.
IGN - 6/10 (not final score)
I’ve played over 110 hours of Crimson Desert and already feel like I’ve seen just about all there is to see, but until I complete the main story and explore whatever secrets the endgame holds, I’m not ready to stamp a final score onto this ambitious yet flawed RPG quite yet. So far the highs have been very high, and the lows have been very low, which has made for an amusing adventure that’s also difficult to recommend outright. I’m looking forward to seeing how the story wraps up (though I’m not expecting much from it at this point) and what the post-game experience looks like. I should be ready with a final review in the coming days.
It might not always be the most cohesive game, mixing high fantasy with steampunk and sci-fi elements, but there's nothing else quite like it, and I can't help but be impressed by how little restraint Pearl Abyss has shown in its commitment to delightful absurdity. In some respects, Crimson Desert might not be too good to be true, but it's a world worth getting lost in.
Crimson Desert will no doubt overwhelm some. The sheer size and the absurd time commitment to make a dent in the map may be more than some players want. But if the question was if Crimson Desert could really be that big and really play that well and really keep you entertained the whole time, the answer, for me, is unequivocally yes.
If you are someone who wants a more linear or cinematic, story-driven campaign, Crimson Desert might not be for you. However, if you loved the sense of freedom and discovery that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild had, then Crimson Desert is the next big game in that genre. Pearl Abyss has truly created something special here, that I suspect we’ll be talking about for years to come.
While they're all based on the PC version of the game, have these reviews convinced you to jump in with the PS5 version of Crimson Desert tomorrow? Let us know in the comments below.
