- Crimson Desert hasn’t turned out to be a universal critical hit, and reviews blame its flawed execution for this result.
- The game has delivered on its promise of a brilliant, gorgeous, and ambitious open-world filled with a variety of mechanics and activities.
- However, the action-adventure title is being criticised for its poor execution of some of these aspects, including the combat, narrative, and other shortcomings.
After months of hype and gameplay showcases, Crimson Desert is finally going to be playable relatively soon. The Pearl Abyss game has hit the mark running on the commercial front, selling more than 400k copies on Steam already through pre-orders.
However, the open-world title has stumbled at its most important juncture: Critic reviews. Crimson Desert’s review scores have been very polarising, with some publications giving it an almost perfect rating, while others have not been extremely impressed by the title’s flawed execution.
The Good: A Stunning, Deep, and Exciting Open-World
- Vice: 10/10
- The Outerhaven: 10/10
- DualShockers: 9.5/10
- Forbes: 9.5/10
- Windows Central: 9/10
- ComicBook: 9/10
- PC Gamer: 8/10
Despite doubts surrounding the sheer scale of its map, Crimson Desert has convincingly delivered on its ambitious, breathtaking, and massive open world. Both the good and bad reviews of the action-adventure title have praised the unbelievably huge world and its variety of biomes.
The level of visual fidelity in the open-world title is also second to none, and its attention to environmental detail like foliage, trees, and wildlife makes the Crimson Desert map one of the most lively in gaming.
The open world is not only humongous and graphically impressive, but it’s also packed with content that is engaging and unexpected. Its wide variety of mechanics is hard to digest, but give players numerous options in how to approach the game.
Crimson Desert’s map is filled with activities that include fishing, card games, arm wrestling, horse taming, and much more. The scale of the map, combined with the number of mechanics to invest in, makes the Pearl Abyss title something unprecedented in the world of gaming.
Positive reviews also hailed the game’s combat depth, but acknowledged that the control layout could take some time to get the hang of. However, once one masters Crimson Desert’s complex controls, the title becomes the fun action romp it was meant to be.
A lot of the positive reviews also agreed that the game’s mechanics really start clicking for you after spending more than 10 hours in the open world.
Of course, such an investment of time is a personal preference, but the Crimson Desert truly delivers on an ambitious promise after the player gets familiar with it.
The Bad: Flawed Combat And An Unimpressive Narrative
- IGN: 6/10
- PCGamesN: 6/10
- Eurogamer: 6/10
- VG247: 6/10
- TheGamer: 7/10
- GameSpot: 7/10
Several prominent outlets, including IGN, Eurogamer, and TheGamer, have not been blown away by Crimson Desert, giving the title a surprisingly average score. The two most common nitpicks of these reviews were the game’s combat and its uninspiring narrative.
Crimson Desert’s combat has been especially vilified by critics. Multiple outlets criticised the overwhelming nature of the game’s combat mechanics, stating that the experience falters beneath the weight of balancing and explaining a wide array of combat systems, which aren’t helped by janky lock-on and movement controls.
In addition, boss fights in Crimson Desert are very poorly balanced. Both IGN and PCGamesN pointed out how bosses are annoying because of their uneven difficulty compared to the rest of the game. Moreover, the control layout isn’t easy to digest, making the initial boss fights a frustrating experience.
Pearl Abyss’ narrative direction was also heavily criticised. Reviews said that Crimson Desert spends the first few hours laying down one mechanic after another on the player, and then has Kliff do boring fetch quests and other repetitive tasks.
Furthermore, the fantastical mechanics marketed by Crimson Desert, like the dragons and jetpacks, don’t come around until 70 hours into the game. Moreover, the main story doesn’t make this playtime bearable, as reviews state that the plot gets less compelling, more aimless, and unnecessarily complex as time goes on.
Kliff was also bombarded unanimously, with reviews calling him vanilla, uninteresting, and a failed interpretation of the Geralt archetype, failing to feel like a character even 70 hours into the game.
Interestingly, PCGamesN even criticised the game’s exploration, pointing out how the world feels sterile as most activities and interactions are guarded behind the main story, making the discovery aspect pointless in an otherwise beautiful open world.
Thank you! Please share your positive feedback. 🔋
How could we improve this post? Please Help us. 😔
Shameer Sarfaraz has previously worked for eXputer as a Senior News Writer for several years. Now with Tech4Gamers, he loves to devoutly keep up with the latest gaming and entertainment industries. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and years of experience reporting on games. Besides his passion for breaking news stories, Shahmeer loves spending his leisure time farming away in Stardew Valley. VGC, IGN, GameSpot, Game Rant, TheGamer, GamingBolt, The Verge, NME, Metro, Dot Esports, GameByte, Kotaku Australia, PC Gamer, and more have cited his articles.
Join Our Community
