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Crimson Desert - Final Preview and Impressions

Men_in_Boxes said:
Does Luke Stephens remind anyone else of the rich private school antagonist in a John Hughes movie?
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Just finished Arekkz preview. The TLDR is that from what they saw, about the first 4 hours of the game plus a late game save file, is that it's a game you play for the gameplay more than the story but all the crazy/awesome stuff we've seen in previous video is real. I adore Dragon's Dogma and that's exactly how I felt about it so that sounds perfect for me.

Cliffnotes are: Early game the story seems a bit disjointed. The world is quite massive and while there aren't all that many side quests outside of the towns, there's plenty of things to find which reward exploration. As you unlock more abilities everything feels better and better.

Let's see how the other previews compare!

Edit: KhrazeGaming preview

 
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ssringo said:
it's a game you play for the gameplay more than the story but all the crazy/awesome stuff we've seen in previous video is real. I adore Dragon's Dogma and that's exactly how I felt about it so that sounds perfect for me.
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Fingers crossed the game delivers the same sense of adventure than DD, with cool combat and interesting exploration but without being as half-baked and poorly balanced as DD2.

I'm still going to miss my pawn lol. :goog_relieved:
 
Skill-Up's complaint is that the game's introduction to it's systems is too much too soon, making the player have to remember a ton of things that won't be re-explained thus making it feel too convoluted at the start.

Also part of that complaint is around the default control scheme which felt a little odd to him (like pressing square to jump). It also includes button combinations for simple actions like shooting a bow (this is an issue that I feel happens for PC devs who are still new to console and think of a controller like a keyboard rather than a controller). You will be using every button on the controller and multiple different combinations for different actions or modifiers of actions.

Also there is no 'yellow paint' in the game, so he was stuck at a point where you had to climb a wall to solve a puzzle and the devs had to let him know that he was able to climb it (I consider this a fault of modern AAA developers training gamers for years to look for this, rather than building systems to encourage creativity and exploration).

Otherwise, he was having a really good time once he got the hang of things, and there were a lot of cool moments that I won't spoil but you can watch if you want.
 
March Climber said:
Skill-Up's complaint is that the game's introduction to it's systems is too much too soon, making the player have to remember a ton of things that won't be re-explained thus making it feel too convoluted at the start.

Also part of that complaint is around the default control scheme which felt a little odd to him (like pressing square to jump). It also includes button combinations for simple actions like shooting a bow (this is an issue that I feel happens for PC devs who are still new to console and think of a controller like a keyboard rather than a controller). You will be using every button on the controller and multiple different combinations for different actions or modifiers of actions.

Also there is no 'yellow paint' in the game, so he was stuck at a point where you had to climb a wall to solve a puzzle and the devs had to let him know that he was able to climb it (I consider this a fault of modern AAA developers training gamers for years to look for this, rather than building systems to encourage creativity and exploration).

Otherwise, he was having a really good time once he got the hang of things, and there were a lot of cool moments that I won't spoil but you can watch if you want.
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it's funny that an outlet called "Skill-Up" bases most of their complaints in having serious skill issues.

The complaint about this game not been your typical braindead open world slop is cringe.

I'm so happy that for once AAA devs treat the audience as smart people and filter out the yellow-paint sniffers.
 
Things I'm happy are confirmed:
- Slow motion skill
- Button combo moves. That seems challenging and I like that uniqueness.
- Bounties seem engaging
- Lots of verticality

Not for me
- Challenging puzzles (guess I'll be looking at guides)
- Poorly explained objectives

Questions remaining
- Is there a perfect block mechanic? (FightinCowboy confirmed a dedicated parry. I saw it and it does stin the enemy)
 
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I'm curious from the gameplay side and not ps5 pro performance side:

-How is difficulty and enemy variety?
-Is there lots of cool bosses to challenge you?
 
I watched Jor Raptor's and Skill Up's previews. I came away believing the game is not for me. "Static world"/NPCs, "numb" main character, difficult/frustrating puzzles, "gigantic learning curve" for first 4 hours, "possibly the most complex control scheme I've ever experienced in an action game...creates a lot of frustration early on," puzzles that are poorly explained or unclear... Those are the sorts of things that will turn me off a game, although they may not bother other people.

Hope those who are into the game enjoy it. No doubt it has strengths -- gigantic world, lots of systems to play with, complex combat, good graphics, interesting exploration. It sounds like it's not for me, though.
 
Arsic said:
I'm curious from the gameplay side and not ps5 pro performance side:

-How is difficulty and enemy variety?
-Is there lots of cool bosses to challenge you?
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I know theres 5 areas with ratcheting up difficulty. Enemies don't scale. So if you're really good at the 2nd or 3rd area, they'll plow through area 1 kinda thing. Weapons scale, not the character.
 
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"With an enormous, gorgeous open world, Crimson Desert can be pretty graphically demanding, and Pearl Abyss will leverage the PlayStation 5 and PS5 Pro to help deliver some impressive visuals, particularly at long distances. The PS5's SSD is key for streaming the huge world, for a start, and developers will make heavy use of the PS5 Pro's High CPU Frequency Mode to make viewing and moving through the world as seamless as possible.

Pearl Abyss also told me it optimized Crimson Desert for the PS5 through a number of features to help maintain all that detail at its large scale, making use of Geometry Shader Oversubscription and NGG Culling to render lots of elements without losing detail. On PS5 Pro, the recent upgrade to PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) makes it possible for Crimson Desert to hit 4K resolutions at higher frame rates, and its raytracing capabilities make lighting effects more realistic and natural."
 
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I watched the Skill Up one and wasn't too impressed. It reminds me a lot of their other game, BDO. That game struck me as looking awesome on paper, but felt very soulless once I played it. This game strikes me as a mishmash of ideas that don't really flow together along with a bad story. But I will wait for reviews to see if I am wrong.
 
Angry_Megalodon said:
it's funny that an outlet called "Skill-Up" bases most of their complaints in having serious skill issues.

The complaint about this game not been your typical braindead open world slop is cringe.

I'm so happy that for once AAA devs treat the audience as smart people and filter out the yellow-paint sniffers.
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Watch the video, game is confusing and that in many places.
 
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You have become so complacent that any game that ruffles the status quo is confusing...
I dont understand the complain of the controls? How do you want to implement so many type of moves and scenarios on 8 buttons?
 
It's been my experience that games with annoying puzzles start to get easier cause you become aware of the type crap they pull for their puzzles.
My concern is having to relearn this game. There's no way I'll complete this game anytime soon, i'll be playing it off and on for years.
I hope it doesn't take too long to relearn the controls over and over and over.
 
Nice I like multiple button presses for moves for combos . It helps my combos be easier instead of swapping shit out. It's looking good
 
blog.playstation.com

Crimson Desert hands-on report: four hours in the RPG’s massive open world

A huge world awaits in Crimson Desert, with plenty to do and explore starting March 19.
blog.playstation.com blog.playstation.com

PS5 and PS5 Pro enhancements
With an enormous, gorgeous open world, Crimson Desert can be pretty graphically demanding, and Pearl Abyss will leverage the PlayStation 5 and PS5 Pro to help deliver some impressive visuals, particularly at long distances. The PS5's SSD is key for streaming the huge world, for a start, and developers will make heavy use of the PS5 Pro's High CPU Frequency Mode to make viewing and moving through the world as seamless as possible.

Pearl Abyss also told me it optimized Crimson Desert for the PS5 through a number of features to help maintain all that detail at its large scale, making use of Geometry Shader Oversubscription and NGG Culling to render lots of elements without losing detail. On PS5 Pro, the recent upgrade to PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) makes it possible for Crimson Desert to hit 4K resolutions at higher frame rates, and its raytracing capabilities make lighting effects more realistic and natural.
 
benzy said:
blog.playstation.com

Crimson Desert hands-on report: four hours in the RPG’s massive open world

A huge world awaits in Crimson Desert, with plenty to do and explore starting March 19.
blog.playstation.com blog.playstation.com

PS5 and PS5 Pro enhancements
With an enormous, gorgeous open world, Crimson Desert can be pretty graphically demanding, and Pearl Abyss will leverage the PlayStation 5 and PS5 Pro to help deliver some impressive visuals, particularly at long distances. The PS5's SSD is key for streaming the huge world, for a start, and developers will make heavy use of the PS5 Pro's High CPU Frequency Mode to make viewing and moving through the world as seamless as possible.

Pearl Abyss also told me it optimized Crimson Desert for the PS5 through a number of features to help maintain all that detail at its large scale, making use of Geometry Shader Oversubscription and NGG Culling to render lots of elements without losing detail. On PS5 Pro, the recent upgrade to PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) makes it possible for Crimson Desert to hit 4K resolutions at higher frame rates, and its raytracing capabilities make lighting effects more realistic and natural.
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FightinCowboy said that he asked about the console performance and they said anything they said, people wont believe them, so they sent a console copy to DF to analyze and make a video.
 
I received this game for free when I purchased the Asus Rog Flow z13 64gb. Didn't really care much for it, but now I'm a bit excited. I'll test it out on the z13 for sure, but I'm wondering how well it will it run on my main PC (Ryzen 7 5800X3D, 32gb, RTX 3090).
 
From what I've seen, this isn't some "Korean Witcher" - the story is more of a backdrop than the core of the game.


Not sold yet. There's an insane activity overload: you can fish, hunt, gather resources, craft, cook, build and manage your camp, plus companion quests, mini-games, puzzles, and a ton of other stuff. :D Some people will say it's optional content, but not really –-without crafting and food you don't regen HP, so the game basically forces you to grind anyway.
 
Angry_Megalodon said:
I'm so happy that for once AAA devs treat the audience as smart people and filter out the yellow-paint sniffers.
Click to expand...
I have to be a bit fair and say that I can't blame him 100% for this. This stuff has been happening since the PS3/360 generation and that generation is now two decades old.

It was a strong course correction from every generation before it where tons of people were stuck at certain points in games (even popular ones) due to either non explanations, random one-time occurrences, or simply being obtuse in general.

It means that many gamers of today in their 20s and early 30s were subjected to, and trained on, the idea that anything 'climbable' has to be highlighted along other such 'assisted' gameplay techniques to help push them along.

I think breakout hits like Dark Souls have swung some people back in the other direction but there are still times where gamers are unsure if they can actually climb stuff or just 'climb stuff' because a certain section of a game allowed you to do so.
 
I don't wanna hear any complaints about controls from people who called the last 2 zelda pinnacle of gameplay where you jump with fucking triangle in these games...(But if you change control scheme now you run with fucking triangle :lollipop_grinning_sweat: )

Not to mention the dogshit, arcaic lock on or the lack of an evade move outside of lock on in 2020s🥲
 
Humdinger said:
difficult/frustrating puzzles, "gigantic learning curve" for first 4 hours, "possibly the most complex control scheme I've ever experienced in an action game...creates a lot of frustration early on," puzzles that are poorly explained or unclear... Those are the sorts of things that will turn me off a game, although they may not bother other people.
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Hey! I'm one of those lol. I love getting a new game and having to learn how to play it, getting better over time and having to make an effort to beat the challenges it throws at me. Reminds me of the old times haha.

Abysse said:
Finally the Zelda next gen.
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You jest but the game was giving me "BOTW for adults" vibes for a while lol.
 
March Climber said:
I have to be a bit fair and say that I can't blame him 100% for this. This stuff has been happening since the PS3/360 generation and that generation is now two decades old.

It was a strong course correction from every generation before it where tons of people were stuck at certain points in games (even popular ones) due to either non explanations, random one-time occurrences, or simply being obtuse in general.

It means that many gamers of today in their 20s and early 30s were subjected to, and trained on, the idea that anything 'climbable' has to be highlighted along other such 'assisted' gameplay techniques to help push them along.

I think breakout hits like Dark Souls have swung some people back in the other direction but there are still times where gamers are unsure if they can actually climb stuff or just 'climb stuff' because a certain section of a game allowed you to do so.
Click to expand...

It's been awhile, but I recall having some issues with horizon forbidden west cause they took away the paint, but you couldn't climb on everything. So it was some guess work.
I recall being in a fight or two and jumping at something I thought I'd cling to but didn't.
 
All missions feature voice acting and motion capture; they did not use the static camera tactic on the characters' faces seen in "RPGs". Very nice.
 
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