- Hashem Habibian
- 2026-04-27
- 12:29 pm
Publisher: Pearl Abyss
Developer: Pearl Abyss
Release: Mar 19, 2026
Reviewed on: Xbox Series S
You’ve probably seen those small, quiet restaurants before—places that are out of the way and not too fancy or expensive. They don’t seem very interesting at first glance. But the taste of what they serve stays with you long after, and you can’t get it back.
Some video games make you feel the same way. You don’t expect much from them when you first step inside—maybe something routine or even boring. But if you give it some time, like that meal you’ll never forget, their true charm will start to show. In this review, we’ll look more closely at how Crimson Desert puts a new spin on what modern Zelda-inspired games can be.
In today’s world, where there are too many games on the market all the time, the prologue has become a game’s storefront. The modern player doesn’t have much patience for long introductions because of the rise of short videos like YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and quick-stream clips. Games now have to keep their openings short, and they also have to naturally include core mechanics instead of using heavy-handed tutorials like they used to.
One way developers can make a prologue longer without losing players’ interest is by using interesting, layered storytelling—creating narrative hooks that are strong enough to make players forget they’re still in the opening act. Clair Obscur Expedition 33 is a great example of this kind of game. Its hour-long prologue, even though it was long, kept both critics and players interested with its unique way of telling the story. Crimson Desert, on the other hand, has trouble with this very thing, which makes it one of its most obvious flaws.
But things do change as you go along. After about 36 hours of playing the game, you start to notice small hints of a more thought-out story, both in the main plot and in the side plots. There is a clear effort to add depth by telling stories in different places. Even though there are some good things about Crimson Desert, its weak lore keeps the story from being good all the way to the end. It looks and reads like a beautifully bound book, but at its core, it feels empty.
The game is built on a mix of the classic three-act structure and the well-known twelve-step story structure. Environmental cues, logs in the game, item descriptions, and dialogue all work together to try to put together the pieces of the story that are missing. But not everyone agrees with this effort. The music and overall performance don’t do much to support the story, and they often feel like they don’t fit with the experience.
But gameplay is where Crimson Desert really starts to show its true colors. It feels less like a copycat work and more like a game with its own unique voice. It’s clear from the start that the game doesn’t use the usual level-up system from RPGs. In addition to the well-known health and stamina stats that have been a part of character strength in Zelda-like games for a long time, the game adds a third stat called Spirit, which works like mana in traditional RPGs. To get these three traits and open nodes in the skill tree, you need a resource called the Abyss Artifact.
You can get this item in a number of ways. You can earn it by completing quests, defeating enemies, and gaining experience points, which is the most basic way to do so. But as the game goes on, the XP curve slows down to a crawl, making it less and less useful to rely on combat-based progression.
This design choice says a lot. Crimson Desert makes it clear that true progress comes from curiosity and going off the beaten path to connect with the world on a deeper level, even though it never says so directly. This is where the game really starts to shine. There are so many different things to do, from helping villagers with everyday tasks to exploring hidden caves and finding long-lost treasures. This makes for a very rich exploration experience that always rewards players for being proactive.
Crimson Desert uses its huge map to make sure that each area feels different. This is done not only by having different types of wildlife and climates, but also by having unique NPC populations and stories. Each new area has its own story, characters, and sense of place, which keeps you wanting to explore more of the world.
You think you know how to customize your character in the game, but then a new NPC comes along and changes everything. Each system adds important new features to the game. For example, witches help you improve and customize your build, research facilities are spread out across different areas, and the KUKU engineering division lets you make robots, weapons, and other mechanical devices.
What really stands out, though, is how carefully these parts are spread out. The way the game is paced and the levels are designed make sure that nothing seems out of place; everything is put there on purpose. Players can get really into the game because of the right mix of variety and space that makes them naturally move from one activity to the next.
It’s also important to point out a key point that changed how I looked at the game as a whole over time. Crimson Desert had a big problem when it first came out: it had too many complicated mechanics and a user interface that was hard to use. To be honest, it was one of the game’s biggest flaws at first.
However, during my time playing—and thanks to a number of big updates from the development team—around 90% of these issues were fixed and even better than before. New mechanics were added, old ones were improved, and even new skills were added to the experience.
With a wide range of weapons, from swords and shields to spears and bows, and a flexible set of combat skills, you can try out different fighting styles on the fly. Instead of forcing you to stick to one class, Crimson Desert lets you fight in a variety of ways, so different playstyles can work together and enhance each other.
In addition to the main character, the game lets you play as two other characters, one male and one female, each of whom adds their own unique elements to the game. They add new weapons and tools to the battlefield, like guns and handheld cannons, which makes it even more interesting. That being said, Klif is still the main character, and he will always be in the spotlight during the game’s most important story events.
All things considered, Crimson Desert truly goes all out when it comes to gameplay. Its wealth of engaging and varied quests, a wide selection of mounts, deep combat customization systems, and the sheer scale and diversity of its world come together to create an experience that stands among the finest open-world games of the past two decades. Crimson Desert is a story that looks like two different things. It looks amazing from an artistic point of view, but from a technical point of view, it’s not quite there.
When you play in Quality mode, the game shows off some of the most beautiful scenery you’ll ever see in an open-world game. The way the environment is designed, the details in the buildings, and the wide range of creatures all work together to make frames that often look like works of art that were carefully put together. At first glance, this world always impresses.
But this desire to look good comes at a price. Even in Performance mode, the game can have trouble staying stable on the technical side. It’s not uncommon for the frame rate to drop a lot, especially during big battles. In some cases, these dips get so bad that they cause crashes, which ruins the whole experience.
That being said, it’s only fair to recognize the steady progress that updates after launch have made. Over time, performance has become more stable, and some rough spots, like the camera system that was limited at first, have been improved into a much more flexible and customizable setup.
If you’ve never played on a Nintendo or played any of the many Legend of Zelda games, Crimson Desert is one of the most modern games that is inspired by that legacy. It takes a lot of design ideas from games like Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. This influence is most clear in how it explores and designs levels, where a sense of freedom and discovery is at the heart of everything.
In the end, this game turns out to be one of the best open-world RPGs to come out in a long time. Even though it had a rough start, especially with the gameplay systems at launch, it has become one of the most fun and rewarding experiences of the current generation thanks to a lot of updates.
Crimson Desert Review
In the end, this game turns out to be one of the best open-world RPGs to come out in a long time. Even though it had a rough start, especially with the gameplay systems at launch, it has become one of the most fun and rewarding experiences of the current generation thanks to a lot of updates.