Crimson Desert Launches with Mixed Reviews: Stunning Visuals but Shallow Gameplay Disappoints Players
The ambitious action Crimson Desert from the South Korean studio Pearl Abyss has reached its release — it is already available on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series.
The developers promised an incredibly large-scale and diverse game in which everyone would find something interesting, and journalists even previously called Crimson Desert one of the main contenders for the title of 'Game of the Year'.
Yesterday we learned that critics were divided in their opinions about the game, and although it received high ratings, the reviews were mixed.
Now the first reaction of gamers has appeared
Steam users received Crimson Desert with a significant amount of criticism, the game received 67% positive reviews based on almost 5000 reviews. Players primarily praise the high-quality optimization and overall visual style, while all other aspects of the game evoke mixed emotions: for some, its vast open world and abundance of mechanics are a plus, while others consider the game unjustifiably stretched. There is indeed a variety of activities, but they are all superficial and not very interesting. The storyline, dialogues, and presentation receive the least positivity, these aspects are done at an average level and more reminiscent of a classic MMORPG, even though it is a single-player game. The combat system is spectacular, but it also lacks depth and complexity.
The peak online reached about 240 thousand people, which is not a bad figure, but clearly below what the developers expected.
It is evident that in the near future Crimson Desert will receive many patches, followed by a content update, but for now, it does not seem that this game will become the main hit of 2026.