Amongst open-world RPGs, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a real masterpiece; it’s so simple as that. Over a decade in the past, CD Projekt RED’s recreation turned a brand new benchmark for the style — and hasn’t been surpassed but with regards to characters, fundamental story, environment, and quests. The Witcher 3 always dominates gaming lists and discussions, not solely of one of the best open-world releases however of the best video games ever made generally, standing as one of many universally acclaimed and best-selling titles in historical past, whose legacy and impression are simple.
However, it’s all nonetheless forward for Crimson Desert — the new rising star of the open-world style that’s already proved to be one of many hottest releases of the 12 months, surrounded by fixed debate. Even for the most important followers of the sport, it’s onerous to disclaim how uneven the Crimson Desert expertise is, with very excessive highs and extremely irritating lows. Ever since its launch, the gamers have been divided into the glazing Crimson Desert camp and skeptics who level towards its quite a few flaws. The reality, as all the time, is someplace within the center, however that’s a subject for one more day.
9 Issues Crimson Desert Would not Inform You
Crimson Desert’s vastness might be overwhelming, and the sport does not like to offer any clues on what to do. The following tips will cease your errors.
So, the very first thing to know right here earlier than we transfer additional is that Crimson Desert and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt are very completely different video games that prioritize various things and possibly shouldn’t be immediately in contrast within the first place. In a means, Crimson Desert is the other of The Witcher 3, with Pearl Abyss even intentionally not calling their recreation an RPG and admitting its weaker deal with story and quest design to prioritize sandbox gameplay and free-form exploration with no handholding as a substitute. Nonetheless, only for the enjoyable of it, let’s focus on some main widespread issues that Crimson Desert does objectively higher than The Witcher 3, avoiding elements that each video games strategy otherwise by design.
Seamless Open-World
Pywel Is Really Subsequent-Era Open-World Delivered to Life on an Unprecedented Scale
Not that the world of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is small by any means — it’s nonetheless one of many largest and longest open-world RPGs on the market — but Crimson Desert is much more spectacular in each side. No shock actually, given we’re taking a look at a 10-year technological hole between each titles. As a substitute of separate massive open-world zones like in The Witcher 3 (Velen, Skellige, White Orchard, Kaer Morhen), Crimson Desert presents a complete seamless Pywel continent to lose oneself in, and it may be fairly overwhelming at first.
All 75 Bosses & Places in Crimson Desert
Gamers can discover 75 bosses in Crimson Desert, and we have listed every of them beneath, from fundamental quests to aspect missions to secret ones.
From towering mountain peaks and even floating Abyss isles, to dense forests, swamps, rivers, monumental cities to outshine even Novigrad, and, after all, deserts, few open worlds can match the ambition of Crimson Desert’s Pywel, with a few of the most gorgeous vistas within the style ever, intricately detailed interiors, in addition to physics-based destruction. Many gamers have already acknowledged that the world of Pywel is turning into their favourite fantasy world to rival even Skyrim and Elden Ring, because it’s actually onerous to resist its endless wonders.
World and NPC Reactivity
An Formidable Try to Attain RDR 2’s Ranges of Reactivity
What’s greatest, it’s not simply the scale and visible splendor that Crimson Desert presents with its sprawling Pywel continent. The sport’s world and NPCs are simply among the many most reactive within the style up to now, surpassing The Witcher 3’s with a transparent generational leap. Crimson Desert gamers have numerous methods of interacting with the surroundings, with most likely much more nonetheless undiscovered mechanics and prospects. Utilizing working instruments like shovels, axes, and brooms, fishing rods, or Abyss skills, coupled with physics-based destruction of virtually all the pieces surrounding the participant, typically ends in pure sandbox chaos.
Crimson Desert is the Definition of “Not for Everybody”
Crimson Desert has been one of the crucial anticipated launches of 2026, however it’s already clear that the sport is an acquired style.
In the case of NPC habits and reactions, Crimson Desert is miles higher than The Witcher 3’s nearly static characters, nearly rivaling Purple Useless Redemption 2. Gamers can speak, greet, reward to, steal from, threaten, seize, or kill nearly everybody round them, with a full legislation and punishment system, pure reactions and habits to varied dynamic encounters, and distinctive voice-over responses. There’s additionally literal crowds of individuals in Crimson Desert’s cities, settlements and buying and selling posts, and in enemy camps as nicely. Throughout the first hours, it’s an actual pleasure simply to wander round and observe roaming and dealing NPCs all throughout Pywel and their interactions.
The Protagonist
Kliff Macduff of the Greymanes Is Only a Higher Character Than Geralt of Rivia
Obtained you on this one, didn’t I? Calm down, don’t rush into the feedback part simply but. I’m simply messing with you. Kliff is already referred to as not being too nice of a lead, with an nearly non-existent character, so Geralt’s place is safe. Let’s simply transfer on to the subsequent entry, jokes apart this time.
Fight System
Versatile and Different Fight Coupled With Three Playable Characters
If there’s one side of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt that has been criticized probably the most through the years, it’s the outdated and considerably simplistic fight system. Some gamers nonetheless love what’s on supply right here, however there actually aren’t that many strikes, abilities, and prospects in Geralt’s arsenal to remain participating for over 100 hours. Crimson Desert approaches fight rather more severely, constructing missions and actions round clearing enemy camps and fortresses on an enormous scale, in addition to offering dozens of distinctive boss encounters.
Crimson Desert Is My New Favourite Zelda Recreation
I didn’t count on Crimson Desert to really feel just like the Zelda recreation I’ve been lacking, however the extra I play it, the more durable that comparability is to disregard.
Whereas the character development won’t be the strongest in Crimson Desert — for example, utilizing the shared Abyss Artifacts for leveling up each abilities and gear — there’s only a a lot greater collection of abilities, strikes, and skills for gamers to grasp and get inventive with. Not like Geralt, Kliff may also use quite a lot of secondary weapons aside from swords, together with spears, shields, bows, maces, daggers, and extra, or go totally unarmed for some WWE-style chaos. On high of that, Crimson Desert options three playable characters, every coming with their very own talent tree, skills, most well-liked weapons, and fight techniques. Add the already talked about physics-based destruction and literal armies of enemies that Crimson Desert gamers face always, and the fight here’s a clear win over The Witcher 3.
Number of Aspect Actions and Mini-Video games
If You Can Consider One thing to Do, Crimson Desert In all probability Permits It
Along with fight flexibility and selection, Crimson Desert extends this strategy to all the open world design, shifting the main focus from sturdy narrative and quests like in The Witcher 3 to pure gameplay sandbox selection, justified by the world’s reactivity. Storytelling is the king in The Witcher 3, however other than fight, dialogue, detective work, and, after all, Gwent, there’s nearly nothing to do in its huge world. Crimson Desert is a completely completely different breed, drawing from video games like Breath of the Wild and Purple Useless Redemption 2 to squeeze in nearly any exercise and mini-game possible, for higher or worse.
I am Already Mourning Vanilla Crimson Desert
Crimson Desert is already enhancing in all the suitable methods, however in doing so, it might be shedding one thing that made its earliest hours so unforgettable.
Throughout the opening hours, Crimson Desert throws all the pieces at you: from wrestling, rock-paper-scissors, and numerous tabletop mini-games, horse racing, fight and archery contests, and gathering pets to different puzzles with zero hints, fleshed-out cooking and fishing, useful resource mining, and the checklist simply retains happening. All of that comes even earlier than the gamers unlock their very own Greymanes camp with layers upon layers of administration, constructing quests, and life-sim actions like farming and ranching. Even when the larger a part of the mechanics crammed into Crimson Desert may serve little function aside from kinda being there, the sport can shock for hours on finish because the gamers unlock increasingly more distinct actions and prospects whereas enjoying, eliminating the query of what to do in Pywel very early on.
Motion, Traversal, and Quick Journey
Benefit from the Exploration on Your Personal Phrases
The ultimate factor that Crimson Desert does miles higher than The Witcher 3 — or perhaps even higher than nearly each different open-world recreation up to now — is the motion and traversal mechanics. In The Witcher 3, gamers can solely use the trusty, non-customizable Roach horse to journey quicker on land, use boats to discover waters, and infrequently confer with teleports to succeed in new areas dictated by the story. However, Crimson Desert options numerous methods to navigate Pywel aside from horseback using and boats. Nothing can cease Kliff from reaching any level within the recreation’s world, as he can climb something like in Zelda video games, so far as stamina permits.
Crimson Desert Revives Certainly one of Kingdom Come: Deliverance’s Most Infamous NPC Annoyances
Crimson Desert revives a habits Kingdom Come: Deliverance made notorious, the place the smallest mistake could make each passerby really feel like an enemy.
There are additionally numerous obtainable mounts, together with wolves, bears, or flying dragons; completely different skills that can be utilized for traversal creatively, together with leaping within the air from the bottom, gliding and flying; complete mechanical armed robotic mounts and jetpacks, in addition to hidden prospects like performing pole vaults whereas equipping a banner or utilizing the bushes to catapult into the air. The identical freedom and comfort go for quick journey in Crimson Desert, as gamers can teleport from anyplace on the planet relatively than solely from particular factors on the map, like in The Witcher 3.
Crimson Desert
- Launched
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March 19, 2026
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Blood, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Robust Language
- Developer(s)
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Pearl Abyss
- Writer(s)
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Pearl Abyss
