Yup, that’s right. I pulled the trigger and have bought Crimson Desert, the highly anticipated, highly topical game that’s recently been released. Hyped as the “it can do anything” type of game, this is an action-adventure open-world game from South Korean developer Pearl Abyss, the devs behind the MMO Black Desert Online. There’s a lot to unpack here, so let’s dive into it.
First, some housekeeping: I’m playing on a base PS5 in quality mode, targeting 30 frames per second. I have no problem with that; frames aren’t something that really bothers me. I prefer the more cinematic look of the slower frame rate most of the time anyway, especially with games like these (sports and online games would be a different story). The trade-off is a game that actually looks really good, even on my base console. This is a gorgeous world with plenty of absurd little details. The water, in particular, is really impressive. There’s a bit of texture pop-in, chiefly with flowers, the clouds can often look like digitized smears, and the lighting at night can be a bit of an eye sore, but this is a really good-looking game overall, even on the base console. The draw distance seems to go on forever, and the biomes feel unique enough to offer variety, even when the bulk of the map can feel familiar at times. There are zones that offer extreme cold or heat, forcing you to adapt with your wardrobe or face the consequences. I did peak into performance mode, targeting 60 frames, and I found the image quality too inferior to recommend. That said, balanced (targeting 40 frames) is also an option and was pretty good as well, so if you’d like a slightly higher FPS, this could be a good alt, but it’s not how I’m playing. But if you want to see it in action, I’d recommend either Gameranx’s console review or Digital Foundry’s performance reviews.
So what the heck do you do in this game? You play as Kliff, the very Scottish-sounding leader of the Greymanes, a band of warriors who help the world and people in it, despite their potty mouths. After being killed off in the opening moments of the game, Kliff is brought to a mystical realm called The Abyss, which floats about the world, and is brought back to life. He’s then given a vague task to save the world and rebuild the Greymanes, who have scattered after the attack on their camp. The story is…not great. Which is a shame, as the voice acting is. But Kliff is so bland and one-dimensional, and the story does end up feeling like an afterthought. We’re told by a wizard on the sky islands that make up The Abyss that the world needs saving; yes, but from who? I have no idea what’s going on here, and Kliff is just like, “cool bro, let me help you”, with no questions asked. Each chapter brings you to new areas of the map, and I think the game is better enjoyed if you just forget about playing the game for the story and treat the game more as a playground for your own shenanigans. There’s rocky plateaus, snowy mountains, barren deserts, swamps, and it goes on. You can also play as two other members of the Greymanes for non-main missions and exploring, should you desire. They share the same inventory, but have their own skill trees.
While the story is not the reason to play this, the gameplay is, I would say, if you’re into open-world adventure games. Let me reemphasize that. This isn’t an RPG game with branching dialogue trees and player choice. You are firmly playing as Kliff, and the story, as it is, is fixed. But the moment-to-moment experience is really addictive and fun. This game is sort of a hodgepodge of ideas from other games, and you can see those mechanics at work all the time. You can scale walls and mountains using stamnia akin to Breath of the Wild, you can greet any NPC, the world and monsters feel reactive like The Witcher 3 or Dragon’s Dogma, and there’s camp management, because why not. You can select members of your Greymane camp, which increasingly gets larger as you play, and using resources, send them out on missions that take X amount of time to complete. Annoyingly, those missions auto-restart at this moment, something I hope they patch to give you the option to restart. You can also decorate your own house, fish, get into fisticuff duels, play a type of poker that’s unique to this world, do alchemy, and so much more. The game system, along with bounties, reminded me a lot of Red Dead Redemption 2, only with more. Resources like ore or timber have to be manually acquired with a pickaxe or a timber axe, respectively. There’s a lot to do, and a lot of the camp experience can feel surprisingly cozy.
Combat is the bread and butter of this game, and it’s pretty bonkers. Usually, these kinds of games fall into a light/heavy/block/parry gameplay loop. Those systems are still here, but the game also throws in a bunch of moves that need to be triggered via multiple button prompts. Want to do a whirling slash? R2+X. Want to throw someone? Circle and triangle. Want to burn something? Press L1+R1 at the same time and then L1 again! And there’s a big emphasis on wrestling moves, so you can chokeslam and RKO fools left, right and center. It can feel like an action game like Devil May Cry, with its button inputs at times, enough so that it can be overwhelming and sometimes even a little inaccessible or obtuse. A lot of the special moves are governed by a spirit meter, which refills on its own, but can be accelerated by doing a medication. But the amount of inputs does afford a lot of flexibility and options, which helps make combat feel more dynamic and less samey.
The big draw, apart from the world, is the bosses. They are sweaty palms, multi-stage events that test your reflexes, skills, and even critical thinking. Some are humanoid, some are monstrous. Without spoiling the fight, let’s just say that fighting Marni proved a lot easier once I used a special move on him at a specific moment. But the game will never highlight or point this out, leaving you to think for yourself. This philosophy applies to many facets of the game. Need to get behind a waterfall? Well, there’s a move for that, just figure it out for yourself. This approach, coupled with a great sense of discovery, gives Crimson Desert a great sense of discovery, as much of it is up to the player’s own experimentation and imagination. And outside of combat, things are still fun. Bandits and the likes start off with smaller groups early on, but there are instances where the battles are where hundreds of bandits fill the screen, giving some strong Dynasty Warrior vibes as you carve through the masses. It’s pretty wild, and the game more or less stays stable performance-wise.
So the long and short of it is, don’t play Crimson Desert for the story or the characterization of the player. Kliff is wildly bland, which makes me wonder why he’s a fixed protagonist in place of a player-generated avatar. But while the story is unremarkable, the moment-to-moment experience in the world is really fun and rewarding. So if you can get over that hump, the game offers a great sense of discovery and flexibility. It takes a long time to really get the ball rolling, and it’s a bit overwhelming and obtuse, but there’s fun to be had; you just have to find it and make it yourself.
