Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Seamless Exploration
Unparalleled World Detail
Overwhelming UI
Crimson Desert is a technical tour de force that pushes the boundaries of the open-world genre, blending the intricate, physics-heavy combat of a character action game with a sprawling, living world that feels reactive to the player’s every whim.
'Welcome To Crimson Desert' Final Trailer (4K)
Crimson Desert - Official Launch Trailer
Crimson Desert - Launch Trailer | PS5 Games
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.
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?
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.
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.
Ah, here we go again.
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Pearly Abyss announced Crimson Desert's non-compatibility with Intel Arc GPUs after the game's launch.
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There are massive spotlights trained on the puzzle area to show you what to do.
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Pearl Abyss doubles-down on what sort of game Crimson Desert actually is.
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