Crimson Desert

But, more than anything, there’s a foundation with Crimson Desert that I hope can be built upon, and considering this is Pearl Abyss’s first single-player game, I wonder how much of this can be chalked up to growing pains. 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.

Make no mistake, Crimson Desert is a technically proficient game with killer combat (pesky lock-on aside). Yet its characters and story are fatally undercooked. And for all Pywel's spectacular visual construction which impresses in its gigantic scale and gleaming prettiness, it lacks a certain distinctiveness. Think of The Witcher games: you can practically taste the fetid water, churned-up mud, and hunks of charred meat dined on by noblemen.

Crimson Desert is one of the most ambitious single-player open-world games ever. It throws a ton of deep systems at you with almost no hand-holding, but once it clicks, the combat feels fantastic, and exploration feels rewarding. There’s enough content here to keep you busy for months on end. The story is pretty average, and the beginning can be brutal, but if you’re the kind of person who loves big, sandbox adventures, this one is worth the ride.

Crimson Desert is one of a kind. It’s a spectacular adventure that has a phenomenally crafted open world to explore and an immense number of systems at play. Unfortunately, those systems don’t always play well together – nor are they explained well. There are numerous control issues given how precise and intricate the systems are, and the combat takes a bit of a hit.

Crimson Desert is huge, and it's beautiful, but it can't pull itself out of the bog standard narrative trenches. Combat feels clunky, especially when facing off against one of the many frustrating bosses, and there feels like there is little reward for exploration. I wanted to like this, but it left me feeling empty.

Crimson Desert is obviously inspired by the likes of The Witcher 3 and to an even greater extent Dragon’s Dogma. But I think, particularly in reference to the former, it’s overlooked how key a strong central character is to giving you a place and purpose within the game’s world. Or, like in Dragon’s Dogma, when that character is absent, how reactive systems and supporting characters need to step up to fill the void and create the surprising moments and memories which stick with you past the end of your sprawling journey.

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.

Though I’ll call it imperfect but patchable, Crimson Desert is still impressive enough to be within striking distance of the juggernauts of this genre. At the very least, this represents one of the first few must-plays of the year. Perhaps contradictorily, Crimson Desert is a lush and generously-sized oasis of awesome that needs to be seen to be believed on PC. Here's hoping the console versions are up to snuff as well.