Crimson Desert is, without a doubt, one of the most anticipated games of 2026. The teasers and reveals made it look so grand that a lot of RPG genre fans thought it would not deliver the promises, or might never come out. As the release date came closer and closer, the tension and excitement were at their peak for this title among the fans.
I personally was very excited to try out the game, what it has to offer, which routes I can take, whether it gives me the freedom that an RPG should, and so much more, and oh boy, the game delivered almost in every way. While I was playing the game for this review, I thought countless times that Pearl Abyss, the creators of Black Desert, an MMORPG, made this.
Crimson Desert is for $69.99 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, macOS, and PC [Steam and Epic Games Store].
Story and Setting – Generic Tail of Revenge
The story and narrative of Crimson Desert feel slow and take too long to find momentum, especially in the early hours. It is mainly because of the uneven pacing of the narrative and the underdevelopment of the characters that keep the player engaged with the story. Crimson Desert takes place in Pywel, a vast, diverse land scarred by war and betrayal.
Crimson Desert cities are huge
The story itself is more of a mercenary survival rather than a heroic destiny. The narrative follows Kliff (the main protagonist) and his fellow Greymane Clan members during a period of conflict in Pywel.
At the start, the Greymane Clan gets ambushed by a rival faction called the Black Bears. The Black Bears attack at the Greymane camp in the Pailune region, killing most of the clan’s members. During the ambush, Kliff also gets beaten up, stabbed, and thrown into the river, but somehow he survives.
After the prologue, I got the sense that the story is about betrayal and revenge, and it certainly is. However, the setting for this whole story is much grander and also introduces a darker and mystical world of the Abyss with supernatural elements.
Combat has so much variety from shields to elemental damage
As there is so much going on and so much to digest in the beginning hours of the game, one person cannot simply put it together and go with the flow. I personally felt that the vastness of Pywel is what overshadows the story and narrative of Crimson Desert.
As you progress through the story, you will get to meet Damiane and Oongka, allies who also happen to be playable characters. Moreover, you will secure a camp point at the Howling Hill, where you can bring in the Greymane survivors from the ambush.
World and Exploration – The Biggest RPG World I Have Ever Witnessed
Now, before I get into the Gameplay and mechanics of the game, I really want to talk about Pywel and its exploration, because it is one of a kind, and probably a new standard from now on. As Chapter 1 begins, the game will bring you to Hernand Town in Hernand region. At this point, the game gives you the freedom to do whatever you like.
One of the biggest worlds in a videogame
There is no holding hands nor yellow paint to guide you on what to do first, and this is what makes an open-world experience worthwhile. Upon arriving at Hernand Town, I got my first “lost for words” moment when I opened the map. I honestly thought that the map would be a bit bigger than the Forgotten Lands (Elden Ring), but I did not expect it to be that vast, a terrain of multiple regions with diverse biomes, cultures, and conflicts.
There are five main regions on the land of Pywel, including Hernand, Pailune, Demeniss, Delesyia, and Crimson Desert. Each region has unique characteristics, offering new landscape exploration and challenges. Hernand is a big, lush green region with snowy mountains to the west. Pailune is a harsh, snowy region.
Your Mount is helpful during such massive distances
Demeniss is the capital of Pywel and a military hub. Delesyia is a land of science and technology. Lastly, Crimson Desert is an arid land of lawless red sands. You are free to explore and enter any region without any loading screen. Each region has unique enemies and difficulty, and I learned that the hard way.
Every region you explore and head to its main city, you will meet lively NPCs. You can greet every NPC, whether it’s a shopkeeper, a soldier, or children playing around.
Abyss and Secrets
Exploration in Crimson Desert is very rewarding, but it comes at a cost of various challenges and keen eyes. For the first few hours, I was roaming around Hernand without even the essential skills, like Force Palm, Focus, Flight, etc., making me realize that I cannot go much further or explore to my full extent.
Pursuing the main story up until Chapter 3 is very crucial to unlocking all the basic skills that will help you explore, solve puzzles, uncover secrets, and deal with enemies.
On top of the land of Pywel lies the Abyss. A chain of floating islands in the sky that you can access through the Abyss Gate. Each floating island requires you to power it so that you can access the next Abyss in line. The Abyss puzzles are some of the trickiest ones in the game, as each puzzle is unique and requires you to use a bunch of skills precisely.
Abyss is a whole another world
Powering up Abyss might not feel like progression at the start, but it is worthwhile, as each Abyss will reward you with an Abyss Artifact. In addition to the mystery of the Abyss in the skies, there are a plethora of secrets on the land. There are caves to discover, waterfalls to go through, and Sanctums to find across the land of Pywel.
Sanctums are ancient ruins, and each one of them has its own puzzle with a great reward. The best rewards lie in the treasure chests, which are mostly in caves and behind movable walls. There might not be fake walls in Crimson Desert, but there are movable walls that you can turn with a Force Palm and discover a treasure chest.
Crimson Desert offers various ways to navigate its world. You can use Kliff’s person horse, Hespia, to navigate the world, or you can tame other legendary horses and other mounts. There is so much variety for mounts, especially after the addition of 5 new mounts recently. This is what I like the most about this game: the Devs are constantly listening to the feedback of the players.
Animals are cute and friendly mostly
At the launch, there were only horse mounts and some temporary mounts. Now, you can tame wolves, bears, deer, a dragon, and more as your personal mounts. Moreover, there are several boss mounts that you get to summon after defeating them.
In addition to navigating on foot and using the mount, you can use Crow’s Wings to fly and jump off heights without the fear of dying. Crow’s Wings is an ability of Kliff, called the Flight, which you unlock early in the game. As you do a lot of climbing throughout the adventure, combining Force Palm with Flight lets you reach new heights without consuming much stamina.
For precise navigation, you can make use of Abyss Nexus, the fast travel points. There are numerous Abyss Nexus throughout Pywel, both on land and in the skies. These are square platforms that you can activate by stepping on them and then teleport to them from anywhere. This makes navigation across Pywel very effective.
Another great thing about the Pywel world that I cannot skip is the ability to turn strays into your loyal pets. You will see a variety of stray animals (Dogs and Cats) in the major cities and villages. Pet and feed them to gain trust with them and make them your pets. Bring one pet along on your journey, and it will gather items from the dead bodies.
Gameplay – Seems Simple but Complex
At first glance, the gameplay seems simple and resembles other medieval/fantasy titles, but only for a bit. It is a single-player journey that you can experience both in third-person and first-person perspectives. As you progress through the initial two chapters of the story, you will get to learn a lot of new mechanics, which might throw you off a bit.
Crimson Desert Region
Not to mention, with a lot of mechanics comes a lot of things to remember. The basic gameplay mechanics are as simple as managing stamina and spirit during fights, solving elemental puzzles, and navigating. The real complexion comes in when you have to use multiple skills in real time, because the keybind mapping is not great.
You would have to press three different buttons at a time on a controller to use one skill, and then follow up with another skill that also requires a similar mapping. One wrong button and you can get into trouble of either taking a hit, falling from a height, etc. Despite the ridiculous keybind mapping, it will grow on you eventually. However, it does require practice so that you can tackle the situations effectively.
Combat – It’s Not a Button Mash
Crimson Desert offers real-time combat with chaining weapon skills and combos for fluid battles and encounters. As much as it looks like a button mash from afar, it is not. You have multiple skill trees that expand Kliff’s capability in combat and exploration. Moreover, there are numerous weapon types that you can choose from to tackle all sorts of enemies.
Bosses make Crimson Desert feel like a hardcore action game
You have one-handed, two-handed, and ranged weapons that you can use freely to come up with unique strategies. Each weapon type is unique and includes some of the best weapons with unusual powers. These powers come from the Abyss Gears socketed into the weapons.
On top of that, you can socket the Abyss Gears yourself into your favorite weapons and armor pieces for a particular build. The game does not hold you back from experimenting with different gears and skills, and this is where the combat shines the most. As the threat is unique in every region, and every boss fight is different from the other, you might not perform well against one like the other.
Strategizing in combat is crucial for a better experience in Crimson Desert. Instead of mashing one button to throw combos, prefer dodge/block/parry and wait for a perfect moment to unleash your powers.
Challenges and Minigames
Progressing the main protagonist in Crimson Desert requires a bit more grinding than usual RPGs. Every skill upgrade and high-level tier upgrade for weapons and armor requires an Abyss Artifact. The one you get from solving Abyss puzzles, completing challenges, and clearing out hordes of enemies. Challenges play a crucial role in character progression.
Mining is a good source like always
There are hundreds of challenges categorized into different types. Completing each challenge earns you 1 Abyss Artifact. To unlock challenges, you must find Sealed Abyss Artifacts placed all over Pywel, requiring you to explore the world thoroughly for character progression.
In addition to exploring the world of Pywel and progressing your character, there are also fun side activities, including minigames. You can arm wrestle, participate in duels (shooting contests, spear duels, unarmed duels, wrestling matches), and play card games. All of these activities are also part of the challenges I mentioned above. Immerse yourself in these activities and push to the limits to become a champion at every minigame.
Graphics, Sound, and Optimization
The world of Pywel is one of the most fascinating worlds that I have visited, and it would not be the same without the breathtaking landscapes, snow-covered mountains, and all the visual design that the Devs put in. Visual presentation of Crimson Desert is immaculate. The texturing of the biomes, dynamic weather, and skill and combat animations all enhance the immersion of this great adventure.
Towns
The sound design of Crimson Desert is amazing. You get to listen to unique sounds within each biome of Pywel, including wind bustling through forests, cold breezes on snowy peaks, sandstorms in the desert, and much more. I also want to give props to the voice actors for their amazing performance in adding depth and liveliness to the world of Pywel.
Crimson Desert is well optimized and offers a ton of performance options for you to crank up to get a smoother experience. I personally kept everything on Cinematic at 1440p with 2x DLSS (Quality), and I was ranging about 120-130 fps without any major drops.
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- Bounties give you extra money and rewards
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- Crimson Desert biomes are huge
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- Yes there are giant walking tree monsters
Crimson Desert was reviewed on PC (Steam) with a key provided by Pearl Abyss.
