In the lead-up to Crimson Desert's launch, it was never clear what the game was, and while developer Pearl Abyss reveled in that chaos, unfortunately, it didn't stick the landing. Opening to a Metacritic score of 78 and a 'Mixed' rating on Steam, complaints have been levied against everything from the bland story and obtuse puzzles to the confusing controls.
The main quest has specifically been criticized as a sporadic series of disconnected side quests with no rhyme or reason behind them, and as marketing and previews suggested, Crimson Desert is 100 games stitched together Frankenstein-style. The promise of an 'everything game' might have sounded exciting pre-launch, but the end result is incredibly divisive. However, the problems run much deeper than clunky combat and a lack of identity, as two alleged Pearl Abyss devs have come forward to discuss what went wrong with the game, alleging that the story was tacked on last minute, and that management kept lifting ideas from other popular releases without consideration of how they'd fit.
"Crimson Desert originally wasn't like this," an alleged former dev, who left Pearl Abyss for Nexon, claimed in the Game Industry Lounge on Blind — an anonymous...
