"I do believe both parties have fair points, especially for the critics—they had to play the build that is not the exact same version of the launched game. Also they had limited time … But [in] Crimson Desert, our unique charm is spread all over our in-game world. All those tiny details that are hidden … I don't think critics had a fair chance to explore and experience them while in the review period," via The Game Business.
Honestly, I'm just glad to hear it's not only us feeling this way—our own Mollie Taylor, who reviewed the game, said as much: "I complained in my Crimson Desert review about a lack of storage, and four days after releasing? Boom. Private storage chest. Players complained about the chest's location, and it only took a few more days after that for it to move somewhere else."
Mind, we didn't come down that hard on Pearl Abyss' game, giving it a solid score of 80. Which, per our own review scoring system, is a "A great game with exceptional moments or features; touches of brilliance. We love it."
Even the story, which Mollie rightly criticised as being somewhat underbaked, has received a significant facelift in the intervening months—though on balance, some of its negatives did get worse. For instance, the fact that it's an overwhelmingly dense clump of systems and activities that'd give most people analysis paralysis. And that was at launch, here are some of the things that've been added since, or will be added soon:
- The Sims-style house building and customisation.
- 133 new trading posts and economy overhauls via supply and demand.
- 20 new types of small animal. Also a shotgun.
- Pinball.
- Birdwatching.
- A pond for keeping fish. I only just learned about this one.
And that's all already on top of the pre-existing camp management, minigames, pet loyalty and collection system, transmog, market manipulation and banking, cooking, fishing, mount collecting, bounties—and I am almost certain I've missed some stuff. But hey, maybe that's actually an improvement, based on your personal tastes. For instance, Fraser Brown, our online editor, loves the messiness.
At any rate: Yes, Crimson Desert is a different game since we reviewed it. And judging on the blistering pace that Pearl Abyss has managed, it'll be a different game in a year from now. I very much look forward to (throwing a dart at a list of videogame mechanics) beer distillation, dressmaking, and an RTS mode or something. Chuck 'em in there.
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Harvey's history with games started when he first begged his parents for a World of Warcraft subscription aged 12, though he's since been cursed with Final Fantasy 14-brain and a huge crush on G'raha Tia. He made his start as a freelancer, writing for websites like Techradar, The Escapist, Dicebreaker, The Gamer, Into the Spine—and of course, PC Gamer. He'll sink his teeth into anything that looks interesting, though he has a soft spot for RPGs, soulslikes, roguelikes, deckbuilders, MMOs, and weird indie titles. He also plays a shelf load of TTRPGs in his offline time. Don't ask him what his favourite system is, he has too many.
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