TLDR Review: Crimson Desert - PS5
Pros
- •Delivers a massive, beautiful, and immersive open world that encourages exploration and adventure, reminiscent of classics like Skyrim and Red Dead Redemption 2.
- •Offers many hours of engaging gameplay with diverse regions and dynamic events to keep players invested.
- •Combines elements from popular titles such as Elder Scrolls, No Man’s Sky, and Red Dead Redemption 2, creating a unique and nostalgic experience for older gamers.
- •Provides a balanced mix of storriven progression and relaxing free-roaming, with enjoyable side activities like flower picking, fishing, hunting, and wood chopping.
- •Combat is impactful, fast, and surprisingly deep, incorporating dodging, blocking, parrying, and different attack types for tactical engagement.
- •Developers actively release patches to fix glitches and improve performance, showing commitment to the game's longevity.
- •The story and characters become more engaging as you progress, adding meaningful content beyond just the open world.
- •The game does not offer online multiplayer, which some players appreciate for an uninterrupted, peaceful experience.
Cons
- •Requires a constant online connection despite being a singllayer game, which is not clearly disclosed upfront—leading to frustration among buyers who expect offline play.
- •Visual and accessibility issues are notable: poor contrast at the start, small and haro-read text that worsened after updates, and lack of integration with console zoom and large text features.
- •Controls can be frustrating with tiny, monochromatic interact buttons and a complex scheme that may take time to master but initially feels awkward.
- •The game does not save user settings properly, forcing players to reconfigure options daily, which breaks immersion and convenience.
- •Customer support has been reported as unresponsive with a nounctioning ticket system, leaving players without effective help for issues.
- •The overall gameplay can feel overwhelming to newcomers initially, and some players note that it leans more towards exploration and gathering rather than deep gameplay complexity, which might disappoint some RPG fans.
- •Performance problems persist, and patches are urgently needed to improve gameplay smoothness and stability.
Bottom Line
*Crimson Desert: Standard Edition for PlayStation 5* offers a rich, sprawling open-world adventure with a strong nostalgic vibe and deep, tactical combat that fans of large RPGs will appreciate. However, the mandatory online connection for a single-player experience and several usability and accessibility issues could rub some players the wrong way. If you want a highly polished, offline-friendly RPG with a similar epic feel, you might want to hold out for more updates or explore comparable titles like Final Fantasy 16 for a more streamlined and polished action-RPG experience.
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How we researched this
About this review: We pulled together findings from professional reviews and hundreds of user reviews, and cross-referenced them with ShopSavvy's pricing data from thousands of retailers to give you the short version.
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