Game Information
Game Title: Crimson Desert
Platforms:
- PlayStation 4 (Mar 19, 2026)
- PlayStation 5 (Mar 19, 2026)
- Xbox One (Mar 19, 2026)
- PC (Mar 19, 2026)
- Xbox Series X/S (Mar 19, 2026)
Trailers:
- 'Welcome To Crimson Desert' Final Trailer (4K)
- Crimson Desert - Official Launch Trailer
- Crimson Desert - Launch Trailer | PS5 Games
Developer: Pearl Abyss
Review Aggregator:
OpenCritic - 79 average - 78% recommended - 38 reviews
Critic Reviews
ACG - Jeremy Penter - Wait for Sale
"Fantastic exploration, amazing systems, but ultimately bugs and lots of idiosyncrasies bring this one down a peg or two."
But Why Tho? - Kate Sanchez - 9 / 10
This is a massive undertaking for any development team. It's ambitious to a point that it becomes curious that it was attempted. But unlike Captain Ahab, this is a level of investment and ambition that ultimately pays off in the highest order. The level of detail in Crimson Desert is unlike anything we have seen in this console generation.
CBR - Mark O'Callaghan - 9 / 10
Crimson Desert is everything I hoped it would be, and it has the potential to be one of the biggest titles of this generation of gaming.
COGconnected - Mark Steighner - 84 / 100
By both accident and design, there are times when clarity and user-friendliness temporarily disappear, and the game’s rough edges and opaque mechanics overshadow the fun. A lot of games over-promise and under-deliver. Crimson Desert is not one of them.
Daily Mirror - Aaron Potter - 3 / 5
If you hadn’t already guessed, Crimson Desert is a behemoth of an RPG that threatens to eat up all your time. If only it wasn’t primed to frustrate and test your patience as much while doing so.
DayOne - Jesse Norris - 8.5 / 10
A mediocre plot and bland writing can't hold back one of the most ambitious games ever made.
Stunning graphics, great gameplay, and excellent music carry you through hundreds of hours of systems-based fun. It somehow lives up to all the hype, with some rough edges in tow.
Digital Spy - Joe Draper - 4 / 5
Crimson Desert's sandbox playground and beautifully crafted world do a lot of the heavy lifting to just about overshadow its confusing elements, generic story, and boring characters. What's here is an overwhelming amount of content and the bones of an amazing game that has to be respected for its ambitions.
DualShockers - Christian Bognar - 9.5 / 10
It's simply one of the biggest games I have ever played, with an astonishing amount of high-quality content, an absurd amount of complex puzzles, and a world so gigantic that I still haven't come close to seeing everything after 100 hours of playtime. While the story isn't the best and some bosses seem downright unfair, those flaws do little to diminish Crimson Desert, an absolute marvel and one of the best open-world games on the market.
Eurogamer - Lewis Gordon - 3 / 5
A vast world and even vaster array of MMO-like activities mix with glittering fidelity in Crimson Desert, but what good is it without much character, texture or charm?
Game8 - Allisandra Reyes - 88 / 100
Crimson Desert is a sprawling adventure across a vast and living world that rewards every hour you put into it. The core gameplay evolves with your progress, introducing upgradable skills and increasingly demanding boss fights, with plenty of content to discover. While the narrative initially lacks direction and its threads can feel disconnected, this never outweighs the game’s many strengths. Crimson Desert is a slow burn that rewards time, patience, and curiosity.
GameRant - Josh Cotts - 8 / 10
Crimson Desert offers one of the most impressive worlds in gaming, but the deeper you go, the more it asks you to meet it on its own terms.
GameSpot - Richard Wakeling - 7 / 10
It might not always be the most cohesive game, mixing high fantasy with steampunk and sci-fi elements, but there's nothing else quite like it, and I can't help but be impressed by how little restraint Pearl Abyss has shown in its commitment to delightful absurdity. In some respects, Crimson Desert might not be too good to be true, but it's a world worth getting lost in.
Gamers Heroes - Blaine Smith - 100 / 100
Dark Souls has often been used to measure one's gaming prowess, but that measuring stick has changed with Crimson Desert. Not only does it boast some of the most challenging boss battles ever seen in the industry, its required levels of patience, determination, and ability have set a new gold standard.
GamingBolt - Ravi Sinha - 8 / 10
Crimson Desert is as expansive as promised, dwarfing pretty much every other open world currently with its scale. Its content doesn't always stick the landing, but the combat shines, and the sense of discovery is hard to deny, even with the lackluster story.
IGN Spain - Mario Sánchez - Spanish - 7 / 10
Crimson Desert offers a vast and visually stunning open world, full of freedom and exploration, but its simplistic story and unclear objectives may frustrate many players.
Loot Level Chill - Mick Fraser - 9 / 10
Crimson Desert is frustrating and buggy and can be very player-unfriendly, but it's also beautiful, deep, seemingly endless and monumentally, perhaps detrimentally, ambitious.
MMORPG.com - Joseph Bradford - 9 / 10
I can confidently say that Crimson Desert is a modern masterpiece, despite its shortcomings.
PC Gamer - Mollie Taylor - 80 / 100
Vast and obtuse in a way that is going to frustrate some and exhilarate others, Crimson Desert is a fascinating journey, even when the destination isn't all that.
PCGamesN - Paul Kelly - 6 / 10
Crimson Desert is huge, and it's beautiful, but it can't pull itself out of the bog standard narrative trenches. Combat feels clunky, especially when facing off against one of the many frustrating bosses, and there feels like there is little reward for exploration. I wanted to like this, but it left me feeling empty.
PowerUp! - Clint McCreadie - 8.5 / 10
It might not be the cleanest contender in the open-world arena, but it’s easily one of the most interesting. A sprawling, slightly chaotic, thoroughly entertaining swing that connects far more often than it misses.
The GameSlayer - Callum Marshall - 9 / 10
Crimson Desert isn't a perfect game. It's not a game for everyone, and it's got as many good ideas as it does poorly implemented ones. However, what cannot be denied is that this game is a generational game and an open-world experience like no other. It's visually outstanding, mechanically dense, and immersive beyond compare. Yet, it's also one of the most laborious games to get to grips with in recent memory, meaning a lot of players may bounce off this title. However, what I would say is 'stick with it'. As Crimson Desert is a game that doesn't respect your time, but certainly deserves it.
The Nerd Stash - Julio La Pine - 9.5 / 10
Crimson Desert is a breath of fresh air for those looking for true ambition and adventure, as it delivers one of the most experimental combat systems and an open world on par with anything Rockstar Games has ever made.
The Outerhaven Productions - Jordan Andow - 5 / 5
Despite a few minor issues, Crimson Desert sets a new benchmark for this style of open-world experience, one that will be extremely difficult for future games to match.
TheGamer - Harry Alston - 4 / 5
It’s highly ambitious and one of the most intriguing triple-A games I’ve played in years, but I just wish so many parts of the whole weren’t inherently flawed. Now my journey in Pywel has come to an end, I’ll be leaving this one on the shelf for a while.
The story is pretty average, and the beginning can be brutal, but if you're the kind of person who loves big, sandbox adventures, this one is worth the ride (and $69). $1.29 at Amazon $59.49 at Fanatical(PC) $69.99 at GamersGate $69.99 at Green Man Gaming
VG247 - James Billcliffe - 3 / 5
As it stands on release, the best parts of Crimson Desert are buried deep under layers of absurdity.
WellPlayed - Nathan Hennessy - 5.5 / 10
Proving that looks aren't everything, Crimson Desert's stunning visuals and strong performances aren't enough to save it from being a disappointing experience. Jam-packed with content and systems that make it feel like a Jack of all features, master of none with an unenjoyable gameplay loop, Crimson Desert is really just a single-player MMORPG in all but name.