Over the past 2 weeks we have spent over 150 hours in the land of Pywel, the sprawling world encompassed by Pearl Abyss’ ambitious action RPG, Crimson Desert. Here’s how it turned out. But first, a little disclaimer: Pearl Abyss provided us and other reviewers exclusively with the PC build during the 2 week review phase. Most of our time was spent with the PC version. Since launch we have tested the performance on standard PS5 and PS5 Pro, as well as the performance after Day One patch. Our final score is based on PS5 version – and in Performance Mode the game runs at 60fps on both base PS5 and PS5 Pro.
Crimson Desert PS5 Review
So where to begin – what even is Crimson Desert? It’s made by the developer of Black Desert Online, a popular MMO. Crimson Desert is basically a singleplayer MMO. It takes inspiration from many other RPGs, but mashes it together into something totally unique unlike anything I have ever played. And that’s a rare thing to find nowadays. Gameplay trailers may give the impression it’s a Witcher style RPG, but it’s really closer to Zelda Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom, with heavy emphasis on environmental puzzles and thinking „out of the box“. The amount of content is unlike anything I have ever seen in a singleplayer game. There are hundreds upon hundreds of side quests, you keep getting flooded with new things to do at every turn. The story consists of 12 chapters plus prologue/epilogue. The story alone took 150 hours to beat, which makes it one of the longest RPGs. The world is about the size of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla but with even more locations to explore, including caves and a sky map. It’s absolutely staggering how much work went into making this game.
A bold vision
You play as Kliff, a „Greymane“ who together with his faction fights against the Black Bears led by Myurdin. You can also play other characters, a woman called Damiane who specializes in rapiers, handguns and magic attacks, and an orc called Oongka who specializes in heavy axes and handcannons. Each character has their own skill tree, and there is a vast amount of unique attacks for each of them.
The complex button inputs are the game’s initial hurdle. When you learn a new move, the game does a good job at showing tutorials and easing you into it. But then you keep learning new button inputs every few minutes, and when you reach the next puzzle the game lacks reminders and it’s confusing what you’re supposed to do. The lack of in-game help will be a point of division among players. Personally, I adore prefer to figure things out for myself. The puzzles are a real headscratcher sometimes. Too many games nowadays take you by the hand every step of the way, but where’s the fun in that. In that regard, Crimson Desert feels like a blast from the past, how RPGs used to be made. But if you want a game that’s easy to get into, this isn’t it. You need to go into it with the willingness to invest significant time. After the first 50 hours I felt like I had barely scratched the surface and was just warming up to the game. There are so many gameplay mechanics that it can be overwhelming, but this level of immersiveness is exactly what modern day action games have lost. Crimson Desert is not an easy game to pick up, and that’s its biggest strength and its biggest weakness too, depending on who you ask. If you only buy a handful of games per year and are looking for one RPG you can play for half a year, this is one of those rare gems that will keep you busy.
Where the game shines is the amount of unique gameplay mechanics, the amount of content, the puzzles, and the immersion factor. But sometimes it doesn’t glue together all elements in a coherent way. The dialogues are pretty cringe and there’s not much character building going on. Arguably, the story is the weakest point. Don’t expect a Witcher type story experience with lovable characters. It’s hard to care for the characters when they aren’t heard from again for much of the story. Even the playable characters, Damiane and Oongka, are unavailable for much of the story.
After some initial tutorial quests you reach the starting region Hernand – with a medieval castle at its center. The Hernandian faction is also your first ally. There are over a dozen factions in the game, each with its own quests and unique rewards. You could spend 200 hours just doing all their hundreds of quests. As soon as you arrive in Hernand, you can explore in any direction you want. There are 5 main regions with distinct environments. The world is fun to explore, there are secrets, puzzles, caves, enemy camps, crafting resources. A lot of variety. Again, it can be overwhelming to know where to go and what to do, but that’s what an adventure is
The combat is an important element. You have access to a wide range of skills, weapons, and attacks. There are also many bosses and the game does some interesting things with that. There is no traditional leveling system. Instead, your overall strength is derived from the attack and defense stats of your gear. In MMO fashion, you must mine for ores and fell trees with an axe to gather resources. If you’ve mined ores for hours in World of Warcraft you know what I’m talking about. Upgrading your gear at the blacksmith is vital for success. To heal, the game doesn’t have limited uses of health flasks like Soulslikes, but rather you heal by eating food. There is no limit to how many food items you bring to fights, so you can consume food endlessly if you like – and you will need it because the bosses hit like a truck. Some bosses are a struggle for sure and you’ll quickly learn that going on a 1 hour meat grilling session is your best hope to reach the third phase of whatever boss you are stuck on.
There are so many little details in the game, even after 2 weeks of playing I keep finding new things every day. Want to adopt a pet? Yes, you can. Want to build up your camp? Yes, there is basebuilding. Want to become a traveling merchant and deliver packaged goods – of course you can. It’s one of those rare games that keeps on giving even after hundreds of hours of playing.
Performance-wise, both the base PS5 and PS5 Pro version run the game at 60fps in Performance Mode. There is a Balanced and Quality Mode, but I do not recommend them. In Quality Mode the game runs at 30fps even on PS5 Pro and it’s so laggy it made me instantly dizzy. The graphics difference between Quality and Performance isn’t too noticeable, so better go with the higher framerate. The graphics quality is comparable to mid-high settings on PC. It’s passable, but nothing that can compete with first party games like Horizon Forbidden West. I’d rate the graphics a 7/10, about what you’d expect from the console build of a giant open world game like this. Interestingly, there is a first person mode if you hold the Touchpad button, and the game looks vastly better in it. This makes it feel closer to Kingdom Come Deliverance 2. Unfortunately though, the game switches back to third person whenever you draw your weapon or mount your horse, and you have to manually switch back to first person. This makes it so annoying that it’s easier to stay in third person the entire time. There are different zoom levels in third person mode too when pressing the Touchpad. Some textures look a bit blurry, especially trees, but at least the game runs at solid 60fps in Performance Mode. After playing for a few hours you get used to it.
During the review phase, the game went through numerous patches. The launch patch has introduced many quality of life improvements. The inventory size has been expanded drastically, fast travel points have moved to more useful spots. The devs are clearly not done with the game and keep adding more improvements.
Overall, I’m still having a blast with Crimson Desert after playing for 2 weeks, and will be playing a lot more of it. There is so much to do, it’s a praiseworthy effort by Pearl Abyss. I like wrecking my brain on the puzzles and exploring every inch. But you have to be willing to commit and accept a long learning curve to truly get what the developers are going for here. The game is a constant brain teaser and if you’re into that, you will find appreciation in this deeply immersive medieval RPG. If you are turned off by the complex controls and overwhelming amount of gameplay mechanics, it might not be your cup of tea. Either way, it is exactly what the gaming industry needs right now: a developer willing to break the norms, taking risks, and making something special.
Crimson Desert is out now on PS5.
PC and PS5 Review code kindly provided by PR. Review partially conducted on PC, performance evaluated on Standard PS5 and PS5 Pro.