Crimson Desert: 20 hours in, bigger open worlds aren't better

After spending more than 20 hours with Crimson Desert on Windows PC, the game feels vast but often empty. Developed by Pearl Abyss and announced six and a half years ago as a standalone from the creators of Black Desert Online, the title promises unlimited activities, yet it quickly became clear that scale alone doesn't make those activities enjoyable.

I had about 30 hours of official playtime while testing, but real playtime is closer to 20, and my rule is simple: if it isn’t fun after 10–20 hours, it’s hard to justify more time. The story unfolds through Kliff, a stoic, generic protagonist who opens the game by dying and being revived in an “abyss” before calmly moving on to Hernand.

He rescues a bound noblewoman, cleans chimneys, retrieves cats, and slips through portals into new abysses with little emotional reaction; his sparse lines — “Are you alright?” and “Have you seen any bandits around here?” — do little to give him depth.

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