Well, it’s finally here. After spending years in development hell and promising the moon, Crimson Desert finally releases for PC, Macs and consoles on March 20th. This also happens to be Pearl Abyss’s foray into the single player video game market, being mostly known for their work on Black Desert Online prior, which is a fun MMO.
After much delay and spending a hell of a lot of time on the game, I can safely say that Crimson Desert is truly something special. The scope and grandeur of the whole game feels majestic, and often impossible at times.
It’s also a major point of contention, and the game tends to overcomplicate things for no reason, which might not sit well with everyone. Regardless, there’s a whole lot to unpack here, so hang tight.
Crimson Desert: A Flawed Masterpiece
Before we begin the review, it’s important to ask what kind of game Crimson Desert is. The answer is, unfortunately a bit more complicated than you’d think. See, Crimson Desert is more of an amalgamation of multiple titles, taking the best of what they offer and (attempting to) mold it in one package.
There are stealth missions reminiscent of Assassin’s Creed, storytelling, side quests and progression mechanics akin to traditional RPGs, along with elements from more modern RPGs that reminded me of The Witcher 3.
If it sounds like a lot, well, It’s because it is. Crimson Desert does a lot, and often a bit too much, which hampers its storytelling and progression. Many parts of the game feel overcomplicated for no reason, and it’s as if the developers are trying to reinvent the wheel for no reason at all.
All things considered though, it’s a great game in the sum of its parts and one that commands a bit of patience. If you stick around, you’re in for what is one of the most exciting releases in years.
Combat Is Exciting, But Takes A While To Open Up
Combat in Crimson Desert is very dynamic, with a ton of variety. As Cliff, you can perform a variety of feats and abilities, all of which supplant themselves into the combat rather nicely.
A good example of this would be in Nature’s Grasp, an ability that can move heavy objects, even turning them into makeshift weapons, in addition to applying debuffs.
Unfortunately, the game doesn’t tell you this beforehand, and you’ll likely have to go through the menus like I did to learn about it. Which is a fundamental problem with Crimson Desert’s combat.
It’s great, and has a ton of depth to it, but it sure does a poor job of explaining it out to you. That being said, combat is flashy, and has weight to it. Enemy encounters can be punishing, and you should get used to running multiple attempts on a boss as you learn its attack patterns.
The best way I can describe it is in terms of an all-you-can-eat buffet, but without the labels on the dishes. Every little part of it is well crafted and wonderful, but the sheer number of options feels overwhelming at times (even more so when you don’t recognize what you’re having).
Crimson Desert’s World Is What Makes It Shine
The story isn’t a particular highlight, and it doesn’t need to be. Crimson Desert’s world building is so vast and richly detailed that everything else feels like an afterthought. The game world has lush, green forests, insanely detailed environments and of course, wonderfully voiced characters that feel very real.
It’s this particular aspect in which the game most certainly shines, and the sheer breadth of detail on show here is truly astounding. The Greymanes in particular feel quite fleshed out, which each major character having stakes of their own in Pywel.
Characters feel down to earth and grounded in reality. Cliff might be a mystical master swordsman, but many of his companions are simply good, very human folk living the times by. Each interaction feels great and is a highlight.
The same cannot be said for Cliff, though. As a series’ protagonist, Cliff feels too stoic, and often one dimensional. Other than his usual grunts, Cliff is mostly aloof about the whole affair, which isn’t particularly appealing.
The story is there, and it is serviceable, but it is most certainly not without its issues.
Black Space Engine Is A Technical Feat
I can’t go on without praising the game at a technical level. The level of detail and graphical prowess on show here is nothing short of being generational, and is truly impressive.
Foliage reacts to player movement, and there is plenty of it to go around. Villagers react to players performing feats, and there is simply way too much to do in the game should you choose to waffle around (which you really should be doing).
On my humble Radeon 8050S, the game managed to push over 50 frames per second at an ultrawide resolution (with FSR set to Balanced and Medium/High settings in play).
The optimization is truly great, and stands out as an exception in a sea of horridly performing Unreal Engine 5 titles.
It’s not all sunshine and rainbows though. The game has been quite unstable on my hardware, although it could be attributed to driver issues. A few weird issues persisted, though. There’s a weird film grain like filter I just cannot seem to get rid of when enabling FSR 3.1 upscaling. Maybe Nvidia users will have a better time with DLSS.
I can say that Crimson Desert has a decent level of optimization and should run on most mid range machines just fine. Don’t go expecting miracles though, you’ll need decent hardware to run this game.
Final Verdict
I expect Crimson Desert to be a very divisive title. There’s little doubt that developers Pearl Abyss have created something truly special with this game, but there are so many little, frustrating things that I fear will gatekeep players.
The game does a really poor job of tutorializing its mechanics, of which there are too many. In an attempt to be so many things at once, the game loses a sense of flow and cohesion, making for a really frustrating experience at times.
All things considered though, I’d still recommend Crimson Desert. It’s a fine game just worth gawking at its grandeur and scale alone, and has a truckload of content to clear, most of which isn’t surface level.
