Crimson Desert review

Crimson Desert is the kind of game that leans into the loudest parts of itself. It is huge, full of ideas, and often contradicts its own design sense. You will find things to adore and things to want to throw your controller at, sometimes in the same hour.

Need to know

• What it is - An epic open world fantasy action RPG with an avalanche of systems.
• Release date - March 19, 2026.
• Price - $70 / 35.
• Developer / Publisher - Pearl Abyss.
• Reviewed on - Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070, AMD Ryzen 9 3900XT, 32GB RAM.
• Steam Deck - TBA.

Kliff and the setup

You play Kliff, a gruff, wounded Greymane who gets ambushed by the Black Bears and comes back determined to rebuild his faction. He is voiced by Alec Newman, and the opening throws you into action fast, then keeps throwing new directions at you.

The main plot is straightforward: reunite allies, regain power, and try to make sense of a messy political landscape. The problem is not the bones of the story but how it is delivered. Cutscenes and pacing often feel stilted and disjointed. Themes collide - western fantasy, sci-fi, steampunk, and Eastern influences - and sometimes they do not blend well. The first chapter takes you to a strange sky realm called the Abyss full of white cubes and puzzles, and then the game mostly forgets it exists.

Camp life and side quests that actually work

Where Crimson Desert shines narratively is in its smaller moments. The camp and its characters are genuinely charming. Yann is foul-mouthed and loud, Naira is bossy and skilled with a bow, and Andrew is the nervous heart of the group. Side missions have warmth, humor, and personality in the way the main story too often lacks.

Systems galore

Pearl Abyss has clearly decided to include almost everything. The list of things you can do is staggering:

• Invest in stocks.
• Steal and sell livestock on the black market.
• Chop trees and mine ore.
• Arm wrestle and gamble.
• Tame horses and other animals.
• Expand and manage a camp.
• Trade goods using wagons.
• Decorate housing.
• Pick up small animals and walk around with them for no real reason.

Some of these systems are delightful in their silliness, like the gambling den and the ability to pet and befriend animals. Others are needlessly painful. Horse taming, for example, feels awkward to control. The camera and mount movement can bounce and fight you, and the tutorial for taming does not appear until many hours in.

One baffling omission at launch is storage. You cannot stash everything you find into chests or cabinets on Day 1. In a game that asks you to hold resources for crafting and upgrades, that is an odd oversight. Pearl Abyss says storage options are coming later, but having basic house storage disabled at release is a real pain.

Fast travel and puzzles

The map is enormous, likely the largest I have played in a single-player style adventure, but fast travel points are often locked behind obscure puzzles or placed inconveniently. The puzzles range from clever to maddeningly opaque. Sometimes they click and reward you. Other times you end up bewildered, wondering how you were supposed to figure them out.

Fast travel frequently deposits you awkwardly far from the city or camp you wanted, and Kliffs swimming is slow and clumsy. Small annoyances become constant time sinks when you are moving between towns and upgrade hubs.

World and exploration

When Crimson Desert is not trying your patience, it can be stunning. Pywel feels alive in a quiet way. Vegetation, wildlife, and weather all contribute to moments of genuine beauty. Riding through dense forests, climbing exposed cliffs for ore, or watching panoramic vistas of mixed biomes are some of the game's best beats. Large set pieces and liberation battles can also deliver memorable, cinematic action.

Combat - the highlight

Combat is where Crimson Desert really sings. Light and heavy attack chains feel responsive and visually satisfying. Kliff's skill tree allows you to customize combos, add bleed effects, and unlock big sweeping attacks. Unarmed moves are a high point. Clotheslines, grapples, and flying kicks are all viable and fun.

Abyss Gears add meaningful toys to play with. These slots can be simple stat boosts or produce unique effects, like leaving damaging orbs when you dodge after a hit, or summoning crows with heavy attacks. Magic is also present and feels impactful when used well.

Multiple characters, inconsistent focus

The game technically gives you three playable characters: Kliff, agile Damiane, and heavy hitter Oongka. In practice this feels uneven. Damiane and Oongka have smaller skill trees and less gear progression, and the story often forces you back to Kliff. Switching characters can be cool in concept, but the game rarely gives you a compelling reason to invest in the others. That imbalance becomes a problem during missions that require you to use characters you did not bother to level up.

Boss fights and difficulty spikes

Regular fights are flexible and fun, but boss encounters can be brutal and sometimes unfair. Some bosses are thrilling, like the Reed Devil battle across a marshy field. Others lean into cheap moments that punish you with long recovery frames and tight windows for dodging. Kearush, a giant gorilla-like fight, is an example of a battle that felt poorly tuned and overly punishing.

Controls can feel inconsistent under pressure. Button input timing and dodges occasionally respond differently in identical situations. That makes some boss battles devolve into frantic, consumable-dependent slugfests rather than thoughtful showdowns.

Performance and presentation

Performance impressed me. On a mid-range PC the game held steady even when rendering hundreds of combatants and animals at once. That stability is a major win for a world of this scope.

There are visual compromises. Character models can look a little plastic and emotionless, and texture pop-in is common. I would trade some model fidelity for the rock-solid frame rate any day, but the look can sometimes undercut the drama of cutscenes and character moments.

Verdict

Crimson Desert tries to do so much that it sometimes loses focus. It is not a perfect game, but it does many things very well. Combat is excellent, exploration is frequently rewarding, and the sheer scale of the world is impressive. Story pacing, tutorial gaps, and friction from certain systems hold it back from greatness.

If you have patience for a sprawling, uneven epic and love tinkering with systems, there is a lot here to enjoy. If you prefer a tightly edited, consistently polished narrative experience, this might frustrate you. Either way, it is a bold first step from Pearl Abyss into single-player territory and an experience worth trying if you like big open worlds with bite.