Crimson Desert: The flawed masterpiece that I'm unable to quit
Context
My impulses got the best of me, and I finally got around to purchasing Crimson Desert, the latest RPG by publisher “Pearl Abyss”.
For the record, I do not play difficult games, I do not enjoy them.
After holding thumbs, so that my GPU wouldn’t melt, I finally got the game to boot up.
A few things worth noting: you need to approach this game with an open mind. The control scheme is not like the usual RPG control scheme, so you will need to unlearn and relearn some essential key combinations; it’s not a bug, it’s a feature.
As well, the writing, well… let’s just say the writing won’t be winning any awards for literary excellence. The writing isn’t terrible, but it’s not especially deep. On the other hand, neither is the writing for “Doom (2016)”, “Vampire Survivors” or “The Last of us: Part 2”, I’m still not over how they butchered the writing, but that’s a topic for another day.
Story
You play as Kliff Macduff, a mercenary captain of the Greymanes, who must navigate the war-torn continent of Pywel. Set in a world facing a power vacuum after the King falls into a coma, the narrative begins with Kliff’s band of mercenaries being scattered and nearly wiped out following a brutal ambush by their rivals, the Black Bears.
I might note that, while the writing may be generic and cookie-cutter, the voice acting and direction are well executed. They feel like real characters, not voice actors reading off a script. I’ve seen worse writing and voice acting from other so-called “story-driven games”.
Suffice to say this game is light on exposition, in the best possible way.
Graphics and gameplay
This is where the game truly shines. The scenery is beautiful, even on medium graphics.
Another feature worth noting, the map and gameplay area are massive, as in freakishly massive.
As for the gameplay itself, it attempts to do a lot of things, none of them especially well (a Jack-of-all-trades, master of none type of scenario).
I confess, there are other games with massive open worlds, but most of them are generic and only serve to take up space. Ctr+C, Ctr+V all over.
Not so this time. It’s easy to see why this game took 7 years to make; every area of this game looks like it was meticulously crafted to look and feel lived in. Every area looks unique.
The controls are surprisingly intuitive, despite an unconventional setup (I’m a keyboard and mouse player, I’m weird like that). Light attacks are on LMB, heavy attacks on RMB, dodge is ALT, and block is CTR.
Crucially, the game boasts a “precision jump” quality-of-life feature that many others lack. By holding CTR to aim, then jumping, platforming sections are transformed from a frustrating chore into a routine task.
You can also dress you pet cat in a suit of armour
So far, I have not yet encountered any game-breaking bugs; I think this owes to the fact that the development team has been quick to contain them, post-launch. And that most of the serious bugs were dealt with within 72 hours of the game going live.
The vast open world; It's about the journey, not the destination.
Lets get the unpleasant bits out of the way, this game has received a fair bit of criticism. Sure, the writing is sub-par (the lead developer even admitted it), and Kliff, the main character, has the personality of a cinderblock (I give him a pass because he has a gruff Scottish accent).
I admit, the side quests are repetitive, but that par for the course for most fantasy RPGs released this decade.
While many found the combat and pacing of the game tedious, this criticism could be leveled at any RPG I’ve played. The key difference here is the developer’s active engagement with the player base, leading to adaptive changes—a stark contrast to more recent releases like Starfield and Borderlands 4. As someone with a demanding full-time job, I don’t consider this pacing a flaw.
However, I do somewhat agree with the criticism that it takes time to truly “get good.” The initial three chapters are heavily reliant on menial, grind-heavy tasks: fishing in a lake, cutting logs in the woods, mining ore from a cliff, or rescuing a cat from a rooftop, to name a few.
This is a game that rewards perseverance; endure the first 15-20 hours of the not-fun parts, and you get rewarded, not merely with a ‘sense of pride and accomplishment’, but with a dense open world, packed to the brim with secrets that are waiting to be discovered.
The open world itself is truly open; there are no guide markers telling you where you can and can’t go; no indicators telling you which ledges you can’t climb, and no warnings telling you that the enemies in the area are a higher level than you.
There’s no insufferable exposition telling you that there’s a hidden room with rare gear nearby.
I have encountered no fewer than three puzzles that I’m unable to solve because I either haven’t unlocked the right skills, or because I haven’t explored the relevant parts of the enormous map.
In conclusion
It’s becoming rare these days to find a game that rewards your time, and respects your intelligence.
Crimson Desert strikes a near perfect balance; combat isn’t overly easy, but not overly punishing. The story isn’t terrible, but not outstanding. The world is not so big that you get lost; but big enough to lose yourself; challenging, but not punishing.
A challenging game that doesn’t hate you? What a novel concept….
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