Crimson Desert: reviews 48 hours after release, between visual slap and frustrations

78 on Metacritic. This is the number that shook Pearl Abyss on March 19, 2026. After seven years of development, trailers that sent heavy and a hype that rose crescendo, Crimson Desert finally arrives — and the least we can say is that the reception is far from being unanimous .

In 48 hours, we've had it all. A 30% stock market crash for the Korean studio, Steam players tearing each other apart between "misunderstood masterpiece" and "half-finished game," and a French press giving ratings ranging from 5/10 at Gamekult to 19/20 at JeuxActu. Never seen such a wide range in a long time.

We have peeled off the reviews, Reddit forums, Steam feedback, and impressions from several tens of hours of gameplay shared by IGN and other media. That's what emerges from it.

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Rarely has a game divided critics so much. On the international press side, the Metascore peaks at 78/100 out of 93 reviews, with an OpenCritic score of 79. "Generally Favorable" according to the official terminology, but clearly below what investors were hoping for — hence the stock market crash we will address just after.

Here is an overview of the notes circulating at the time of writing these lines:

The gap between JeuxActu, which compares the game to Red Dead Redemption 2, and Gamekult, which speaks of "unacceptable technical wanderings," perfectly sums up the situation. Millenium drives the point home by saying that "the best moments of Crimson Desert are when one thinks of the game it could have been" . It stings.

On the international side, same fight. Windows Central rates it 4.5/5 while Eurogamer gives it a 3/5. IGN US has not yet published its final score — their reviewer Travis Northup has spent over 100 hours and still hasn't finished the game at the time of the embargo. And what he says in the "review in progress" is... informative.

Let's start with the positive, because there is a lot. Almost unanimously, everyone agrees on one point: The open world of Crimson Desert is a slap . An immense, varied, living universe. Autumnal forests bathed in volumetric light, deserts, mountains, castles. The fauna is rich, NPCs react dynamically, and there are spontaneous events everywhere.

Technically, it's a monster. Pearl Abyss's in-house engine delivers heavy stuff: ray tracing, realistic day/night cycle, dynamic weather, dense vegetation. PC Gamer talks about a "overwhelmingly chaotic" game but admits to being hungry for more after 6 hours. Several testers have compared the exploration sensations to Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom - this feeling of constantly stumbling upon unexpected things.

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And the combat? We talk about it. The fights are described as "superb" by GamesRadar+. Wrestling moves, parries, meteoric strikes, the ability to swing trees at enemies — yes, trees. The interchangeable mercenaries system adds depth, and there is real satisfaction when you pull off a perfect parry. The game even borrows from GTA V with its multiple playable characters.

Exploration is also enriched by various mounts — combat horses, raptors, and even hot air balloons. You can fly, you can swim, you can transform. There is an assumed sandbox aspect that many compare to Dragon's Dogma, but with significantly superior technical means.

Now, the flip side of the coin. And it's a tough one.

Controls are the big downside. Almost all testers mention it. On keyboard, you find yourself pressing improbable key combinations. On controller, you have to hold buttons and combine joystick clicks. And the inputs are not remappable. The IGN US reviewer described the first few hours as a ordeal - not because the game is hard, but because you are fighting against the controls as much as against the enemies. Gamekult speaks of a "staggering heaviness" and Millenium drives the point home on "maneuverability".

The boss fights are another hot topic. Travis Northup from IGN explains it very well: boss fights are "real bad". Not a question of difficulty a la Souls — he knows the genre — but of tuning. Bosses have absurd life pools, fights drag on for hours, and you never know if you're supposed to farm for better equipment or just take the hits while chomping down 50 meat rations. The difficulty goes from "easy Dynasty Warriors" to "unpassable wall" without transition.

And then there are the bugs. The IGN reviewer lost his save file because of a game-breaking bug — forced to go back 7 hours or borrow a colleague's save file. Another tester (Mitchell Saltzman) missed a mandatory skill in chapter 2 and the game told him to play until chapter 9 — 80 hours later — to recover it. Quests breaking, sounds disappearing, textures acting up. For a AAA game of this scale, it's concerning.

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The narrative also divides quite a bit. VG247 drops a killer sentence: the game "could be among the best of this generation if it benefited from a complete overhaul of 99% of its scenario" The characters are described as forgettable by several testers. The scenario tries the chivalrous register with touches of oriental fantasy, but it doesn't always work. IGN compares the atmosphere to The Witcher 3 mixed with Red Dead 2 for the long rides, but the result lands more in the area of Two Worlds 2 — a janky but endearing game.

On the players' side, the temperature is not any calmer. At the time of writing this article, Crimson Desert displays a status "Mixed" on Steam — about 45% of negative reviews on the initial evaluations, with nearly 5,000 negative reviews posted within the first 12 hours. It's massive.

What comes back most in complaints? Non-remappable controls, input delays, a tiny inventory at launch (since fixed by a patch to 50 slots), the temperamental camera, and blurry visuals if your config isn't beefy. On Steam Deck, it's playable but it lags in busy battles. In short, the PC version clearly needs polishing.

But — and it's important — the positive reviews are also very passionate. Players talking about a world so vast that after 30 hours, they have only explored 25%. Nervous combat with deep skill trees. Mini-games everywhere — arm wrestling, fishing, unexpected stuff. And above all, a sense of wonder reminiscent of the best moments of Zelda BOTW.

On Reddit, discussions are just as heated. The r/pcgaming reviews thread compiles dozens of opinions and the debate is lively between enthusiastic "early adopters" and those who find the game half-finished. Fans defend tooth and nail while the disappointed point out "beginner mistakes" in the game design.

Well, let's talk about the thing that made the most noise outside of pure gaming. On March 19, the release day, Pearl Abyss's stock plummeted by 27.9% , falling to 47,300 won. In one session.

Why? The Metascore of 78. It's as simple as that. Investors had bet on a score above 80 — the psychological threshold in the video game industry, the one that separates a "good game" from a "very good game" in terms of commercial potential. Seven years of development, millions invested, and the result falls just below the mark. The markets did not forgive.

GamesRadar+ sums up the irony of the situation: the game has committed "the cardinal sin of being perfectly correct" . Neither revolutionary, nor catastrophic — just... good. And in a market where expectations were excessive, "good" is not enough.

That said, the user score on Metacritic is 7.7 with 73% positive reviews out of 1,761 ratings — which puts the stock market panic into perspective a bit. Players are generally more enthusiastic than the press, as is often the case with divisive games.

A crucial point that everyone raises: no console version has been tested before launch . Pearl Abyss only distributed PC codes to the media. It's reminiscent of a scenario we know well — yes, Cyberpunk 2077, exactly.

Now, we need to put things into perspective. The game is already running on a very optimized in-house engine in terms of raw performance. But control and polish issues could be amplified on console, especially if the port is not up to par. We are keeping an eye on it and will update when the first PS5/Xbox Series feedback comes in.

Honestly? It depends on your tolerance for jank.

If you're the kind of person who loved Dragon's Dogma 2, Elex, or even Kingdom Come Deliverance in its early months - ambitious but imperfect games - then Crimson Desert will probably please you. The world is gigantic, the combat is spectacular when it works, and there really are dozens of hours of content to discover. Those who get hooked, get hooked hard.

But if you want a clean and well-finished RPG like Baldur's Gate 3 or Witcher 3, you might be disappointed. The controls require a big adaptation effort, the boss fights will drive you crazy, and the bugs can seriously spoil the experience. The IGN reviewer hovers around a 6/10 - "okay" but not recommendable in its current state.

Our advice: if you are tempted, wait for at least one or two patches. Pearl Abyss has already started fixing things (inventory, in particular). With a few updates, the game could go from a rough diamond to something truly remarkable. But as it stands, on March 21, 2026, it's a gamble.

As of March 21, 2026, Crimson Desert has a Metascore of 78/100 based on 93 press reviews (PC), and a user score of 7.7/10 from 1,761 ratings. On OpenCritic, the average is 79/100.

It's a very divisive game. The open world and combat system are widely praised, but the controls, bugs, unbalanced boss fights, and writing bring down the average. A patient player tolerant of flaws will love it. A player demanding in terms of polish will be frustrated.

Investors were counting on a Metascore above 80, a symbolic threshold that conditions the commercial potential of a AAA game. The score of 78, after seven years of development, triggered a massive sale of shares on the day of release.

The raw performance (framerate) is correct on a recent gaming setup thanks to the in-house engine. However, battles with many enemies can cause drops, and low settings result in a blurry output. On Steam Deck, it is playable but not optimal.

It is probably the best strategy. Pearl Abyss has already patched the inventory (increased from 20 to 50 slots) and other fixes are in progress. The game has the potential to improve significantly in a few weeks, as we have seen with other ambitious titles at launch.

The main story takes about 80 to 100 hours. With side quests, exploration, and endgame, easily exceeds 150 hours. Some players report having only explored 25% of the map after 30 hours of play.