Crimson Desert
Most streamers rate Crimson Desert a mixed bag.
14 streamer verdicts· Released 2026-03-19Streamer Verdicts
14 of 14
Ambitious action RPG with exceptional world design but bugs and unfair boss design warrant waiting for a sale.
Asmon flips hard, explicitly calling it 'a genuinely bad game' and saying it could be 'worse than a six' by the time he finishes. The complaint is about bad design (no universal interact button, arbitrary lantern/dagger puzzles, friction everywhere) rather than intended difficulty.
An ambitious action RPG with captivating story, exceptional combat depth, and stunning visuals. Hampered by clunky controls and excessive padding. An 8/10 that could reach 9-10 with refinement.
Ambitious open-world with great exploration and combat but tedious first 8 hours. Push through for reward.
Called the worst game in 35 years of gaming. Controls are broken with hardbound keys, graphics look blurry, and writing is atrocious.
Gorgeous massive open world but poor story and jank mechanics. Exploration shines despite issues.
Ambitious open-world with exceptional combat but irritating design choices. Shallow story.
Technically impressive with solid graphics optimization and scaling across PC hardware.
Genuinely massive open-world RPG with exceptional combat and exploration. Hampered by weak early narrative and technical issues.
Critical discussion of Crimson Desert's development challenges, unclear direction, combat complexity, and technical issues despite years of development.
Beautiful open-world action RPG with strong world design and engaging combat, but released unfinished with rough intro. Developers patching quickly post-launch.
Captures the magic of Skyrim with massive rewarding exploration. Marred by problematic boss design and jank but deeply ambitious.
An impressive action RPG with lush visuals and generous world size that represents one of the first must-plays of the year, though imperfect and requiring patches.
Crimson Desert has the ingredients to be historic with a fantastic sense of adventure, but most of its systems are only partially operational and excessive ambition causes failures in attempting too much. There's an audience that will love it, but it needs significant improvement to be truly revolutionary.
About
- Released
- 2026-03-19
- Genre
- Adventure
Creator Mentions · 16
Force Gaming😐 mixed
“The creator absolutely loved Crimson Desert, enjoying 160 hours with its massive world, dense systems, difficult boss encounters, and variety of combat options. Despite unfinished and story not clicking with everyone, they adored it as a fantasy sandbox.”
Watch- JJake Baldino😐 mixed
“A fascinating game with excellent exploration, visuals, and combat gameplay that really clicks after the rough 8-hour opening, but hampered by a weak story, poor tutorial, finicky controls, and a design that won't appeal to everyone.”
Watch - MMortismal Gaming👍 positive
“A compelling exploration-focused action-adventure with deep systems and rewarding progression, but hindered by weak storytelling, slow early game pacing (30+ hours to get fun), and a general disrespect for player time despite having an engaging core underneath.”
Watch - CClick4Gameplay😐 mixed
“Crimson Desert shows incredible promise with its physics-based climbing mechanics, destructible environments, and ambitious feature set that could deliver what Dragon's Dogma 2 fell short on. The reviewer is highly anticipating the game's release despite cautiously managing expectations.”
Watch - 깐깐😐 mixed
“A game with solid combat and exploration mechanics, but severely undermined by illogical storytelling, unintuitive controls, and poor fundamental design philosophy that prevent full enjoyment despite 60 hours of gameplay.”
Watch - おおーでしゲームレビューch😐 mixed
“A massively content-rich open-world action game with exceptional depth in exploration and combat freedom, but severely hampered by poor tutorials, unintuitive controls, and numerous polish issues that will frustrate casual players. Rewarding for those who persevere past the initial difficulty.”
Watch - SSheshounet😐 mixed
“An ambitious open-world game with excellent exploration, diverse activities, and impressive content depth, but hampered by a terrible introduction, imprecise controls, and frustrating puzzle design. Despite initial disappointment, the responsive developer has improved it significantly through patches.”
Watch - Aarhn.eu😐 mixed
“An ambitious sandbox that impressively blends Zelda exploration, Red Dead detail, and action RPG systems, but struggles with a weak narrative and shallow mechanics despite its vast scope. An interesting experiment that can either captivate or disappoint depending on what you seek.”
Watch - いいちごうのゲームビート😐 mixed
“An open-world action RPG with significant rough edges (slow pacing, poor UI, confusing quest design, lack of explanation) that has caused many players to quit early. Despite these flaws, the game possesses a unique appeal through its massive scale, vast open world, and intriguing incomplete design philosophy that creates a sense of discovery.”
Watch - NNautilus😐 mixed
“After 40 hours exploring Crimson Desert, the creator expresses admiration for the game's exceptional world design, particularly the city of Hernando, which creates a compelling sense of place through thoughtfully constructed districts, highly interactive environments, and dynamic NPC systems that reward exploration.”
Watch - GGame Two😐 mixed
“An ambitious open-world adventure with a beautiful, expansive world and engaging exploration, but undermined by chaotic controls, weak story, poor difficulty balance, and quality-of-life frustrations. Worth playing if you want to lose yourself in a huge world, but expect significant friction and disappointment in narrative and combat mechanics.”
Watch Max0r😐 mixed
“Crimson Desert is a bloated, forgettable open-world game with terrible narrative design, problematic themes, and almost no meaningful player agency except in its farm-building minigame. Despite numerous mechanics, the core experience is a painful slog of pointless questing and empty world exploration.”
Watch- Hhabie147👍 positive
“The creator expected a story-driven RPG like Red Dead but found an open-world game that requires players to create their own narrative. Despite weak storytelling and a poorly-written protagonist, they appreciate the excellent gameplay systems, vibrant hand-crafted open world, and deep immersion mechanics.”
Watch - CCultura VJ👍 positive
“Alex acknowledges Crimson Desert's troubled development and mixed critical reception, but appreciates the vast open world, strong technical performance, and how Pearl Abyss responded to feedback. Despite narrative weaknesses and initial control issues, the game resonated with players and the creator personally enjoyed it.”
Watch “The reviewer found Crimson Desert substantially improved after 5 months of updates, with meaningful quality-of-life fixes, better UI, expanded inventory, difficulty modes, and improved boss balancing, though the game remains niche and not radically transformed.”
Watch- TThe GamerCritic😐 mixed
“The creator is captivated by Crimson Desert's massive open world and sense of discovery, finding it absolutely fascinating despite acknowledging weak storytelling, complicated controls, and disappointing boss design. The exploration and environmental beauty far outweigh the flaws.”
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