If you’ve been on the internet today, you’ll notice everyone is talking about Crimson Desert. The discourse appears to be split between the mixed fan and critic reviews, stunning open world, performance issues, holding cats, and enemy density. It’s all over the place. However, something everybody seems to agree on is that the controls are unnecessarily complicated.
For instance, jumping and picking up an object are tied to the same button, resulting in needless jumps, and there are also combos like in fighting games. As if the game wasn’t intimidating enough with its size and features, the controls being this confusing just adds to it. However, Pearl Abyss PR and marketing director Will Powers has a simple piece of advice.
It’s All About Control
Replying to a tweet that said Crimson Desert needs to simplify its controls, Powers said, “think of it like riding a bike, it comes naturally after you learn it. Just takes a minute.” He is right, in a way. Practice anything and you’ll eventually be proficient at it. However, when you take a step back and look at how intimidating the game is as a whole, making the controls confusing adds to the frustration of the player.
“I’m agreeing with you, saying that it takes time to learn, but it comes naturally after you do,” he added. Once again, the same can be said of anything. Agreeing that the controls are clunky and telling the player it will eventually come naturally is the equivalent of someone telling you to “git gud” at a game.
In his review for Crimson Desert, TheGamer’s Harry Alston said, “Kliff’s general controls are annoying. It’s ‘X’ to pick up an item, but that’s also the jump button, so you will sometimes spend an extra minute or two just trying to pick something up without jumping into the air. These minor annoyances stack up over a game this long.”
It remains to be seen if the devs will consider simplifying the controls. If not, you’ll just have to learn how to ride a bike – which is not one of the many ways you can travel in the game.
- Released
-
March 19, 2026
- ESRB
-
Mature 17+ / Blood, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Strong Language
- Developer(s)
-
Pearl Abyss
- Publisher(s)
-
Pearl Abyss
