What is Crimson Desert?

Gaming as an adult with responsibilities is difficult. It is even compounded more so when you add a family to the mix. This has made some games out of reach at times, especially massive sprawling RPGs. But every now and then, that craving comes through for a long and immersive adventure. Enter, Crimson Desert, a massive open-world action-adventure from developers Pearl Abyss. The developers know a thing or two about massive games since their first, and only, previous title was Black Desert Online. To say Crimson Desert is massive is an understatement. The game is indulgent on so many levels, but that is exactly what makes it such a sublime experience.

Reviewer Note – Since this is a review in progress, the time stamps will be updated at the bottom of the post.

Developer & Publisher // Pearl Ayss
Platforms // PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
MSRP & Release Date // $69.99, March 19th, 2026
Reviewed On // PC

Version Tested: 1.03.01

PC Specs:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5700x
GPU: AMD Radeon RX6950 XT
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 32GB DDR4 3600Mhz

Chapters for Days

• 14 chapters in Crimson Desert that depict Kliff and his journey to reunite with his Greymane companions.
• Chapters unfold like episodes in a TV show.
• Chapter 6 opens a new area for players to explore in Deminiss.

In Crimson Desert, players step into the boots of Kliff and are plunged into the war-torn continent of Pywel. Kliff is a hardened Greymane warrior who is forced to navigate a fractured land after a brutal Black Bear clan ambush leaves his mercenary troupe scattered.

As Kliff traverses the rugged landscapes of Pywel, he must contend with more than just rival factions and blood-soaked battlefields. His journey is a desperate search for his lost comrades, leading him toward ancient mysteries and a dark, looming threat tied to the Abyss, a parallel magical plane.

In all, there are 14 chapters in the game, each with a distinct phase of Kliff’s journey. It can feel disjointed since there is a clear focus in each chapter, such as setting up your estate or finding other Greymanes. I would say that it has a similar vibe to a TV series, with chapters akin to seasons of a long-running TV show.

Currently in Chapter Six, the story is slowly opening the second mountainous region, Pailune. However, many players can easily spend dozens of hours in the game’s first region, Hernand. Similar to the Hinterlands trap in Dragon Age: Inquisition, it’s easy to get distracted in the first area of the game. Yet, Crimson Desert has a lot more going for it in its open world. 

Chapter 5 is a Highlight

• The Banquet from Chapter 5 is a highlight, showcasing Game of Thrones-like fantasy political drama.

So far, Chapter 5 has offered the best semblance of a coherent story outlining the dynamics of the different political houses. House Serkis, hosting a harvest festival banquet, invites the neighboring kingdom of Demeniss. Both Serkis and Demeniss have patchy relations, and the banquet offers an opportunity as a reset for both factions.

House Serkis invites Kliff and the Gre

ymanes to provide security during the banquet. However, as expected, all hell breaks loose when the Deminissians’s gift, a captured Kearush the Slayer (more on that below), breaks its chains. This setup feels straight out of something from Game of Thrones, and it captivated me to no end. Conversely, Game of Thrones isn’t the only influence found within the game.

Crimson Desert Wears Influences On its Sleeves

• Crimson Desert doesn’t shy away from its influences like The Witcher 3 and Red Dead Redemption 2.
• Climbing stamina management similar to Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Crimson Desert does shy away from wearing its influences on its sleeve. The game is clearly influenced by classics such as The Witcher 3, Assassin’s Creed, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Breath of the Wild. Mechanically, the dynamic climbing system is straight out of BotW and for good reason. The Zelda game helped modernize climbing and stamina-management mechanics. 

Reloading checkpoints puts Kliff in a meditative stance, similar to Geralt from The Witcher 3. While many quests will have you ride horseback next to your NPC companions, a nice cowboy nod to Red Dead Redemption 2. 

Other Characters Not Sold Separately

• Damiane and Oongka are other playable options.
• The other playable characters feel like afterthoughts.
• Recent updates gave Damiane and Oongka the same abilities as Kliff.

Pearl Abyss even throws two additional playable characters in Crimson Desert. Those are the vixen warrior Damiane and the orc brute Oongka. At first, they felt like afterthoughts, especially given that only Kliff can progress through the main storyline. Neither Damiane nor Oongka possess Axiom abilities as Kliff did. Though the recent patch 1.03.01 did patch the same exact skills Kliff has into the other characters. But it again feels like Crimson Desert’s indulgent nature of adding two additional characters without any real value or game design logic in their inclusion. 

Combat

• Crimson Desert combat is similar to Assassin’s Creed.
• Kliff can pull off lots of stylized movesets.
• No stamina management, special moves use Spirit.
• Combat special move prompts can be tricky at first.

The combat in Crimson Desert takes a lot of cues from the recent Assassin’s Creed games. Light and heavy attacks, shooting a ranged weapon with a single button (L2/Left Trigger), and blocking are all central combat commands. 

You will often face off against multiple enemies at the same time. There is no stamina bar, so you can mow down enemies left and right. Killing an enemy results in a highly stylized finisher that is always a joy to watch.

Of course, Pearl Abyss added their own flavor to the combat with intricate movesets requiring simultaneous button presses for moves like spinning attacks, dash attacks, and more. Of course, these movesets consume spirit to pull off. Some combinations are easy to pull off, while others require a lot more dexterity or uncomfortable grips (looking at you, RB + RT prompt). This all goes to show how dynamic the combat is in Crimson Desert. 

Despite the gymnastics your fingers will go through, combat is highly satisfying. The tight controls and numerous animations really make CD’s combat stand on its own, despite the finger gymnastics needed for some of the moves. 

Boss Fights Galore

• Crimson Desert has a variety of different, unique, and fun bosses.
• Marni Excavatron looks like Big Daddy from Bioshock, but burrows and attacks from the ground.
• Kearush the Slayer is a tough soulslike boss that will have you using all of your healing items.

Crimson Desert features a ton of boss fights that are unique and engaging. Besides the mammoth health bars and sometimes armored yellow outlines. These boss fights can be quest-related or entirely random, just from natural exploration. Either way, they are always fun and can put up a great challenge.  

The boss Marni’s Excavatron found in the Karin Quarry is just a Big Daddy from Bioshock, but on crack. The Excavatron will regularly burrow and shoot up from the ground to attack. It was a highly engaging boss fight from the Hernand region. 

In contrast, the Kearush the Slayer boss was a pain in the rear end. Believe me, the beast is well deserved for its slayer title. Kearush is the most soulslike boss, even though the game isn’t soulslike at all. The boss is a multi-phase fight, will jump around and attack you, dodge roll everywhere, and hang on to pillars to jump down to almost one-shot you. I used a lot of food (healing items) during this fight, but it was quite memorable, especially given how much I healed during the fight. 

Healing System

• Good healing system in the game, where you can heal or restore spirit in the middle of fights, unlike The Witcher 3.

It is worth noting that even though Crimson Desert is clearly inspired by The Witcher 3, it at least didn’t follow through with The Witcher 3’s atrocious healing system. Unlike The Witcher 3, in Crimson Desert, you can heal as much as you want with the press of the right d-pad as long as you have enough food in your inventory. The complete opposite of Geralt in this adventure, which required him to drink potions before fights. It was even more frustrating as you would chug numerous potions only to have a short or not difficult fight. 

Systems Overload / UI

• Crimson Desert has a ton of Systems to learn, which can be overwhelming at first.
• Navigating the inventory menu is not easy, and it lacks modern quality of life features such as the cursor automatically moving to related items.
• Initially, the Crimson Desert controls are tricky. But over time, you get used to them.

Undoubtedly, a lot is going on in Crimson Desert. The game is piled with so many systems that, honestly, at first, it was a lot and overwhelming. There are systems to focus on speaking character by pressing the LB/L1 button. Pressing Left on the d-pad brings up the ever-so-useful Inventory Quick Access Menu. Here, you will quickly equip different items needed for the various activities in the game. 

It’s here that you will equip the different items needed for the different activities available in Crimson Desert. This includes pick axes, fishing rods, lanterns for taking a peek into another plane, brooms ( yes, brooms), going unarmed for non-lethal brawling, and more. The left d-pad button is also used to stow away your weapons. 

Navigating the inventory menus can be tricky at first. Especially when using the analog stick, the cursor glides across the menu, which is a pain. Also, there are some missing typical quality of life features that modern games usually sport. For example, when you want to equip a certain type of item, say gloves, it doesn’t highlight all the gloves available in your inventory. You have to manually scan your inventory, which is a first-world nuisance to say the least. 

More Tutorials!

• In Crimson Desert, tutorials still appear even after 20 hours.

By hour 22 of my playthrough, the game was still throwing tutorials at me. The latest tutorial was learning how to pet and adopt a dog. The latter of which I still haven’t figured out yet (working on it, I promise). However, this goes to show how deep and indulgent the game can be, which is a rarity these days. In fact, our very own Lord Digital even made it abundantly clear that even in hour 60, expect to see more tutorials, which is just bonkers, but I love it. 

Some Things Are Better Explained, Sometimes

• Crimson Desert doesn’t hand-hold.
• But it also lacks explanations when needed for game mechanics.
• The story has some clear gaps that are not explained either.

Modern gaming involves a lot of hand-holding. Debates online have raged against and for guiding players with yellow paint and items. It’s nice to see that Crimson Desert takes it to the other extreme and throws every mechanic under the bus – including chimney cleaning, by the way- and then some. It was frustrating at first because it was overwhelming, and a lot of these mechanics were half-explained, including cleaning chimneys and adopting dogs. 

However, it was when I was venturing to the Abyss side felt so disjointed and a lot to take in at first, and confusing at first. Why was Kliff there? How is he able to travel to this plane? There were so many questions that confused the hell out of me that it almost detracted me from playing any further. But by my third hour, I was just riding my horse around Hernand and came across a random temple with an intricate puzzle inside, and then, it all clicked. That sense of curiosity and exploration was riveting and spoke to my gaming soul.

Phenomenal Exploration in Crimson Desert

• Exploration is great in Crimson Desert, and is a big part of its pull for players.
• Random exploring is also usually worth the time, with good rewards waiting for Kliff.

Crimson Desert promises the sky and then some. These games are a rarer commodity these days in terms of scale alone. Similar to Skyrim, Crimson Desert follows a “if you see it, you can go there” approach. The impressive draw distances seamlessly complement that vision, where any terrain is accessible by Kliff. Best of all, the recent update version 1.03.01 made the draw distances even more impressive with additional details. 

This is where the game shines the most. The sense of exploration and a path that usually leads to a reward (loot, valuable recipes, new quests, etc) is exquisite and feels fulfilling. You never feel like you’re wasting your time in the game. Even if you’re going after wanted criminals, you feel like you’re leaving your mark on the world. A true feeling of agency in the game. 

Immersive NPCs

• NPCs are unique and dynamic.
• The NPCs have routines and perform unusual, but cool behavior like trolling.

To my surprise, a lot of the immersion found within Crimson Desert comes through the many random NPCs. It’s subtle as well. You will see different NPCs go through routines throughout the day, and finish their day by coming home to sleep. I have even witnessed NPCs at a lumber farm where NPCs are teaching younger ones to chop wood. There was even a famous video floating around the internet of NPCs trolling each other in such a convincingly realistic way. 

It’s this attention to detail that truly makes Crimson Desert stand out and help create that intense immersion the game is clearly going for. Of course, it doesn’t do anything in terms of gameplay, but that indulgence is more than welcome in my book.

Graphics & Art Style

• Crimson Desert is going for a gritty, realistic art style, even for the fantastical creatures like orcs, gnomes, and trolls.
• Vistas are the stars of the show, often looking spectacular.

Crimson Desert is going for a realistic, gritty look. Characters and textures are meticulously detailed. The different creatures, like the trolls, gnomes, orcs, and other creatures, also look fantastic and fit within the game’s high-fantasy, yet grounded look. Though it is clear that Crimson Desert was built upon the assets from Black Desert Online, which is fine in my book, because the game is just gorgeous, especially the environments.

Let’s not beat around the bush; the environments are by far the stars of the show here. Spawling vistas in Crimson Desert will constantly have you stopping to enjoy the view. Hell, even the game also nudges you to stop for a moment and take a look.

Seeing different skyscrapers and mountainsides in the distance is breathtaking – as breathtaking as a virtual world can be- but I digress. Seeing the Hernand Castle or Spire of Stars far off in the distance and actually going to those locations brings me back to simpler days of playing Skyrim on the Xbox 360. 

Performance

• Pearl Abyss did a great job optimizing Crimson Desert on PC.
• Ray Tracing and Ultra settings are achievable.
• Steady framerate in an industry that is plagued with optimization issues.

Pearl Abyss has really gone above and beyond when it comes to graphics and optimization on PC. Setting all the graphical options to Ultra – equivalent to high in other games, where the highest setting is Cinematic – along with the ray tracing option on, I was averaging well above 70 frames. Best of all, my playthrough was entirely smooth once the shaders cached. I did not notice any noticeable frame dips or oddities. In fact, the game even performed well in indoor locations during intense boss fights with NPCs on the periphery as well. 

In this day and age, where optimization has unfortunately taken a back seat, it is refreshing to see a company go above and beyond to deliver stable performance with ray tracing. Usually, I am the type of gamer who shies away from Ray Tracing. However, in Crimson Desert, the game performed admirably, and I might start becoming a believer in Ray Tracing, although it must be optimized first!

Closing Thoughts on the Crimson Desert Early Access Review

As a gaming dad of three, it’s difficult to find time to sit down and log in for some long sessions of Crimson Desert. Yet, I still think about Pywel when I’m not playing. That is a testament to what Pearl Abyss created. The game challenges so many conventions that I want to be engrossed in its world. 

I know I am only about a third of the way through this massive, sprawling, and quite frankly indulgent game, but it is so refreshing. There are no micro-transactions or battlepasses that force you to play. No DLCs (as of writing) are being brandished on the main menu. No, it’s just the adventure of Kliff of trying to get back his Greymane buddies and a massive sandbox adventure. A complete product with no strings attached. In 2026, that is quite refreshing.
Crimson Desert is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. At first, it was difficult to wrap my head around the controls. Fortunately, the controls have drastically improved with update 1.03.01. Crimson Desert is so immersive, and its multiple systems are a part of that. And I cannot wait to jump back into Pywel.

Time Stamps:

April 16 2026 – Review in Progress Published.