Crimson Desert Reviews
Crimson Desert is a massive and ambitious project defined by its extremes: it presents itself as a vast open-world game that incorporates the greatest modern gaming achievements, yet it suffers from a fragmented identity, shoddy storytelling, and an overwhelming abundance of content that stifles its original spirit. Nevertheless, it’s an adventure that’s well worth your attention, poised to improve steadily through dedicated post-launch support.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Crimson Desert is an extremely ambitious open-world adventure, and that ambition is what makes it both incredibly cool and gobsmackingly infuriating in almost equal measure.
Vast and obtuse in a way that is going to frustrate some and exhilarate others, Crimson Desert is a fascinating journey, even when the destination isn't all that.
A vast world and even vaster array of MMO-like activities mix with glittering fidelity in Crimson Desert, but what good is it without much character, texture or charm?
It’s highly ambitious and one of the most intriguing triple-A games I’ve played in years, but I just wish so many parts of the whole weren’t inherently flawed. Now my journey in Pywel has come to an end, I’ll be leaving this one on the shelf for a while.
The studio clearly took liberal inspiration from other games, but I hope that there can be something more looking toward the future. Crimson Desert has something special buried beneath its surface, if all those unneeded layers can be cut out.
It might not always be the most cohesive game, mixing high fantasy with steampunk and sci-fi elements, but there's nothing else quite like it, and I can't help but be impressed by how little restraint Pearl Abyss has shown in its commitment to delightful absurdity. In some respects, Crimson Desert might not be too good to be true, but it's a world worth getting lost in.
As it stands on release, the best parts of Crimson Desert are buried deep under layers of absurdity.
From the makers of Black Desert Online comes their first spectacular foray into the single player market.
The story is pretty average, and the beginning can be brutal, but if you're the kind of person who loves big, sandbox adventures, this one is worth the ride (and $69). $1.29 at Amazon $59.49 at Fanatical(PC) $69.99 at GamersGate $69.99 at Green Man Gaming
It's simply one of the biggest games I have ever played, with an astonishing amount of high-quality content, an absurd amount of complex puzzles, and a world so gigantic that I still haven't come close to seeing everything after 100 hours of playtime. While the story isn't the best and some bosses seem downright unfair, those flaws do little to diminish Crimson Desert, an absolute marvel and one of the best open-world games on the market.
A bizarre mishmash of disparate gameplay elements, with absolutely no sense of coherent design or narrative… and yet its stunning game world is still a fascinating mess to explore.
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Review in Spanish | Read full review
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Crimson Desert offers one of the most impressive worlds in gaming, but the deeper you go, the more it asks you to meet it on its own terms.
We can't fully recommend Crimson Desert in its current state on PS5. Far too many technical issues - of varying shapes and sizes - hold the experience back.But given time, and despite its obvious narrative shortcomings, Pearl Abyss' fantasy outing has the potential to be something truly special. As an open world adventure, it can be utterly engrossing; a smorgasbord of systems and mechanics that somehow - against all odds - form an intoxicating whole. For better or worse, there's simply nothing like Crimson Desert.
Crimson Desert is an incredibly ambitious project. If you are willing to commit, you will find appreciation in this deeply immersive medieval RPG that is almost stuffed with too many features, but somehow makes it all hang together in a beautiful and ambitious package.
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Review in Italian | Read full review
If you hadn’t already guessed, Crimson Desert is a behemoth of an RPG that threatens to eat up all your time. If only it wasn’t primed to frustrate and test your patience as much while doing so.
By both accident and design, there are times when clarity and user-friendliness temporarily disappear, and the game’s rough edges and opaque mechanics overshadow the fun. A lot of games over-promise and under-deliver. Crimson Desert is not one of them.