Crimson Desert is definitely a video game. The toxic discourse surrounding its review scores and select corners of the internet being convinced it was the second coming of Christ initially put me off playing to preserve my sanity. When I finally gave in, what I found was a video game with highs, lows, and no need for all this fuss. It’s an amazing open world sandbox with a terrible story and a handful of other notable flaws.
Every single games journalist on the planet wasn’t working together in an effort to reduce its metacritic score and force Pearl Abyss into bankruptcy, we were simply being honest to you about our personal experiences and how Crimson Desert falls short compared to other titles of this ilk. Maybe it isn’t trying to be an RPG with a dense story and characters, but it still has to be critiqued on those metrics when the experience is so vast and ambitious. It falls short in many areas, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot of magic to be found.
Upon starting a new game and meandering through the opening set pieces and a few sparse tutorials, I ignored the main quest entirely and began doing my own thing. Turns out that this is where Crimson Desert is at its absolute best. So, please join me on this chaotic journey.
Don’t Bother With The Main Quest In Crimson Desert
After arriving in the very first town in Crimson Desert and being asked to pop into the local tavern, I ignored this request entirely. The main quest in this game is strung together by an assortment of requests that seem to bear little narrative meaning unless you are willing to dive into the menu and read loads of optional glossaries. I’m not about that life, so I decided to spend the next 30 minutes meeting every single merchant in town, petting a bunch of felines, and accidentally raising my hand at hordes of children after pressing the wrong button.
The controls are needlessly unintuitive and Kliff moves with the grace of a dodgy wardrobe you bought off Facebook Marketplace, but the dense level of interactivity within this opening space is undeniably impressive. I was having fun discovering what made it tick even as it felt impossible to avoid bumping into mechanics-based obstacles, and it wasn’t long until my first quest reared its head.
A local orc needed help cooking fish because it was a meat she’d no experience of preparing. She gave me all the ingredients and I popped to the nearest cooking pot to fulfill her request. Easy-peasy, but then I made a superior version of the usual fish porridge that, despite being fish porridge, wasn’t the type of fish porridge this girl wished for. So I had to find more fish and cook it again, only I had no idea how to do such a thing.
Instead of being a loser and Googling it, (Editor’s Note: please read our guides, we need to eat) I decided to take a walk outside of town until I came across a body of water. Turns out the lovely blue stuff is everywhere, and a short stroll away from town is a small fishing hamlet where countless humans and giants have dipped lengthy rods into the water.
But before stumbling across those, I assumed that fish could be seen in the water and shot with my bow like pretty much every single land animal in the game. This wasn’t the case though, so I spent the next hour firing arrows into nothingness hoping that I could one day get the fish I so desperately needed.
Yes, this rigamarole was frustrating in its own way, but also incredibly rewarding because I was using my own intuition to explore this world until I came across a solution. The coins I needed to purchase a fishing rod from the aforementioned hamlet came from selling loads of knick-knacks I earned from murdering bandits, and after that I spent a healthy bit of time learning the cute fishing minigame before returning to town with my head held high, and my mind set on porridge.
I made that bad boy, completed the quest, and… got next to nothing for my efforts. But that didn’t matter. What mattered was that Crimson Desert made me feel like I’d achieved all of this on my own terms.
Do Everything On Your Own Terms
I’m hopeful that the main quest hides some excellent set pieces and reasons to care in the form of new characters, abilities, and loot to earn; but the core appeal of Crimson Desert so far is definitely in its sprawling open world that is more densely packed and visually luscious than anything I’ve seen in recent memory. Whether that execution is cohesive and satisfying remains to be seen, although I’m going to keep progressing with the mindset that the story is destined to disappoint and my enjoyment should come from enjoying things in my own way.
Some have argued that Crimson Desert shouldn’t be critiqued for its lacklustre main quest and characters when both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are just as freeing with their execution. But I’d argue the fact they take place in established universes with an assortment of beloved figures makes that rebuttal far less potent, not to mention that they do have great stories to tell anyway. Pearl Abyss has created an open world sandbox where it doesn’t want people to view as an RPG, so I’m taking it advice and doing just that, whether the final product ends up delivering or not.
What I am hopeful for is a number of situations similar to my fishing porridge odyssey in which I embark on small little adventures of my own making, spurred forward by curiosity more than narrative intrigue. Crimson Desert doesn’t have that, so I’m finding my own fun instead. Pearl Abyss also seems intent on improving this game and addressing its flaws in thick and fast patches, so hopefully the entire package will continue to improve as I slowly make my way further into it. It’s a flawed gem, and hopefully I can give it a nice long polish.
Crimson Desert
- Released
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March 19, 2026
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Blood, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Strong Language
- Developer(s)
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Pearl Abyss
- Publisher(s)
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Pearl Abyss
