A sprawling, beautiful beast of a game—frustrating at times, but impossible to put down once it gets its hooks in.
From South Korean dev team Pearl Abyss, Crimson Desert is a game that is utterly massive and infinitely entertaining. Being an older player, I tend to play patiently by taking my time to discover what is over that hill or in the next area of Pywel, so I haven’t come close to beating the game after one hundred and twenty hours; hence, my review is based on that.
Not having a character creator, your character Kliff is basically ready to go after spawning in the opening area, where you’re told to talk to your fellow soldiers. From here, you’re told where to go to begin the initial quest that is compulsory, because it’s also here you have a scripted death. You then spawn into a hub where I immediately got into trouble because I just couldn’t figure out how to use the mechanic where you shine a reflection from your weapon onto a round object above a door in order to advance.
Now, I wasn’t alone, because I looked it up and found a lot of people had issues with this mechanic; however, I would soon find out I was at fault because the answer was on-screen the whole time! “Press L2” was on display, but because it initially involves three trigger pulls in a set order before that, I was too busy fiddling with my controller to look at the corner of the screen.
This was only one of several issues I had with complex controls, yet after six hours I was getting the hang of it. The game having so many ways to get Kliff to fight or perform certain tasks was, for me, my least favorite thing in the game. I feel it could be streamlined at some point, but we’ll have to wait and see.
Once you leave the hub, you awaken in Hernand, a huge place that you’re encouraged to fully explore, as you get quests and other goodies to help in your journey. I noticed that if I went near most items, it would be regarded as stealing, and this you must avoid until you get your thief’s mask to hide your identity. I also had to look up how to put my weapon away, as I couldn’t perform tasks with a sword or axe in my hand, which was annoying.
You quickly gain skills by performing tasks that are asked of you by NPCs, and also by using the skill tree. I quickly learned that to do anything in this game, you must have stamina, so prioritize it at all costs; otherwise, you’ll be plummeting to your death far too often. Oh yes.
It takes a few hours to get into the groove of the game, and once you do, you’ll be riding or flying around Pywel like a pro. The boss fights can be challenging, and thankfully Pearl Abyss has been updating the game like crazy, bringing quality-of-life changes, but also nerfing certain bosses that needed it. The changes are easily found online for those who want details.
In conclusion, Crimson Desert brings back that sense of wonder that makes us feel like children again discovering shiny new things, with graphics that are to die for and a map that puts Red Dead Redemption 2 to shame, but the cost of all this bigness is convoluted mechanics to get Kliff to perform his insane amount of fighting maneuvers.
This was my main gripe. The main story was okay, but the cut scenes were good, and I appreciated that one could fast-forward them easily. If you’ve played The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, then you’ll notice the similarity in the cut scenes, with nice bright costumes on the characters really bringing them to life. I fully intend to beat the game, but in my own time. With no hand-holding in this game, I suspect it will be weeks before I’m done with this superbly imperfect masterpiece.
INFLUX Score: 8/10
