Crimson Desert is great because it's a total mess, not in spite of it, and I hope Pearl Abyss doesn't change too much

Crimson Desert is great because it’s a total mess, not in spite of it, and I hope Pearl Abyss doesn’t change too much | PC Gamer Skip to main content Open menu Close main menu PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES US Edition UK US Canada Australia Subscribe Sign in View Profile Sign out Search Search PC Gamer Games Hardware News Reviews Guides Video Forum More PC Gaming Show PC Gamer Clips Software Codes Coupons Movies & TV Magazine Newsletter Affiliate links Meet the team Community guidelines About PC Gamer PC Gamer Magazine SubscriptionWhy subscribe?Subscribe to the world’s #1 PC gaming magTry a single issue or save on a subscriptionIssues delivered straight to your door or device From$1Subscribe now Don’t miss these Action Crimson Desert review: The Forza Horizon of action RPGs Action After 6 hours, Crimson Desert is one of the most overwhelming, chaotic, madcap videogames I’ve ever played—and I’m hungry for more RPG Players are starting to click with Crimson Desert as it climbs up to Very Positive on Steam and reaches 3 million sales—but Pearl Abyss promises more improvements Action If there’s one thing I’ve learned playing Crimson Desert for 75 hours, it’s that you should absolutely treat this game as a slow burn Action Here are 9 incredibly specific and petty beefs I have with Crimson Desert Action Crimson Desert launches to 239,000 players on Steam but ‘Mixed’ reviews, and it’s mostly because of how dense and cryptic the whole thing is RPG Crimson Desert is the most hyped game I’ve seen in a minute RPG It’s only March, but I’m calling it: Esoteric Ebb is 2026’s best RPG and the first worthy successor to Disco Elysium Action The new Crimson Desert patch adds private storage at base camp and nerfs a few bosses—also, Pearl Abyss knows the control scheme isn’t great RPG After 2 years in early access, Greedfall: The Dying World still feels unfinished RPG Esoteric Ebb isn’t just the best Disco since Disco, it’s the closest anyone’s come to the magic of tabletop D&D in a videogame Adventure Pathologic 3 review: One of the most compelling mystery adventures since Disco Elysium Action Crimson Desert’s soundtrack is criminally inoffensive but that hasn’t stopped one song from driving me insane Roguelike Mewgenics review: The creator of The Binding of Isaac has transcended his own past work with this sprawling, ridiculous, and endlessly surprising roguelike Action Crimson Desert has the most diabolical lock and key system I’ve ever seen PopularSpring SaleClipsCrimson DesertMarathonBest PC gearQuizzes Games RPG Crimson Desert Crimson Desert is great because it’s a total mess, not in spite of it, and I hope Pearl Abyss doesn’t change too much Features By Fraser Brown published 25 March 2026 Let’s get weird. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Pearl Abyss) Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter PC Gamer The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? 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Signup + Every Wednesday Switch 2 Spotlight Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo’s new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play. Signup + Every Saturday The Watchlist Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we’ve got you covered. Signup + Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! Signup + An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter Fraser Brown, Online Editor (Image credit: Future)Last week: I found a good excuse to wheel out our beloved Big Geralt image in my RPG column.This week: Crimson Desert has taken over my life. No, please, don’t send help. I’m having a lovely time.A strange narrative regarding Crimson Desert started to sprout up after the reviews for Pearl Abyss’s peculiar RPG first appeared—that it was somehow a disappointment. The very respectable 78 Metacritic score was held up as evidence of this, implying that a game is only great if it garners universal acclaim.This aggregated review score quickly became a cudgel wielded by timid investors. The share price of Pearl Abyss dropped by almost 30%. Was this because it was a bad game? No, of course not. But in the world of speculative investments, where trading is based on soothsaying, not achieving 90+ scores across the board implied something had gone terribly wrong. (Image credit: Pearl Abyss)After Seoul Economic Daily’s story on the share price broke, that quickly became the story. The Korean business site framed it as a response to “disappointing preview reviews”, or as we’d call them, “reviews”. When Insider Gaming picked up the story, it said “Crimson Desert might be all style and no substance”. Eurogamer, meanwhile, claimed that “enthusiasm may have waned” (it hadn’t), and that reviews were “sitting at a very middling average” (they weren’t).Article continues below You may like Crimson Desert review: The Forza Horizon of action RPGs After 6 hours, Crimson Desert is one of the most overwhelming, chaotic, madcap videogames I’ve ever played—and I’m hungry for more Players are starting to click with Crimson Desert as it climbs up to Very Positive on Steam and reaches 3 million sales—but Pearl Abyss promises more improvements It was painful to watch, because it’s obviously such bullshit. The share price and its Mixed review status on Steam were being treated as immutable, when these things a