By: Pearl Abyss

Genre: Action RPG

Release Date: March 19, 2026

Platform Used: Windows/Steam Deck

Rating 4/5

This game was a disappointment. Not because it was bad, or somehow lacking – but because I had the hammer of Orcus ready to bring dawn upon this game for all its claims leading up to release. M1 compatibility? Ambigious. Steam says no, the game initially said it would be compatible, and the game was unplayable on M1 mac despite the app store claiming it is supported. Switch 2 compatibility? Was teased, announced, and then quietly swept under the rug without consequence. And hey – game respect game. I once ended an entire plane of the multiverse out of petty spite for a lost game of oathbreaker (and in case readers are wondering – Orcus the Vile’s signature spell is murder). Returning to the actual game though, I cannot remain angry at them because once I installed the game on a suitable device, it worked like a dream.

The gameplay is fun, robust, and easy to pick up. Unlike a lot of ARPGs this game does not punish you for not dodging or not parrying, and you are not dependent on and increasingly spiking learning curve to survive. Perhaps this was a conscious decision to offset the lack of difficulty levels. Who knows? One thing the gameplay lacks that is now offered by many next generation triple A roleplaying games, is that freedom and emergent gameplay that is increasingly trickling down from the realm of immersive sims. Its not hugely important, but it would be fun to have the option to throw the badger you just killed off a cliff. It would also be nice to do something like take the pebble you just picked up and throw it at an NPC. That’s the other thing – NPCs really can’t be killed or threatened unless you have the specific item that lets you do something other than greet them (more on that later). It would probably be a nightmare to code, but once more, the expectation for games of this caliber is usually a degree of interaction with the environment beyond greeting.

Masks or face coverings make a bunch of fun options open up, like stealing or threatening NPCs. It really allows for more varied gameplay, and I like the touch of you having to don a mask to actually conduct crimes. What I don’t like however, is how we have the option to steal earlier without it ever being explained why you cannot steal a box when the option is right there visible on my screen. Orcus the Vile is a notorious looter, eighty percent of the Templars’ treasure came through my direct despoiling – when I am offered the option to steal, I do not expect to be turned down. Though I do suppose there is a certain demographic that has grown tired of increasingly obvious tutorials and this game is meant to appease them in that way. There is definitely a lot of exploration in this game and its refreshing learning about the world one animal at a time and needing to experiment a little to find out how stuff works.

The story and worldbuilding definitely go above and beyond what you normally get with big games nowadays. I appreciate that there is an ongoing mystery and you continuously learn about the world and its hidden secrets as you go. And having the tease of something just beyond what you have already seen is something I haven’t seen much outside flat-out mystery games. There is a sense of wonder and amazement in this game and I feel like it was captured perfectly not just in-game but also through the loading screens and the subtle orchestral music. It can be said however, that the designers had the advantage of working with a preexisting world when they came up with the game. My understanding is this game is set as a prequel for Black Desert, an MMO also by pearl abyss (if there were trolls in that too I would jump at it).

The graphics is a huge selling point, and I don’t know when the graphics became such an important category to choosing the games we do but make no mistake – if your graphics card supports this game it does look beautiful – but I’d say its worth it even without the graphics. Heed me carefully, as Orcus the Vile is not a soft man, and will not speak thusly again soon: it doesn’t matter if this game looks pretty or not – Orcus enjoyed it on the unimpressive looking graphics the steam deck presented, and he enjoyed it on the only slightly more impressive computer screen (which reminds me I need to send forth a winged abomination to acquire me a new graphics card sometime). If you’re here for the graphics its here, but you’ll enjoy it without it.

Crimson Desert was marketed as an open world game. And it certainly does deliver on that selling point. There’s lots of exploration and you definitely don’t feel railroaded while playing. The fact that you can collect creatures and learn more about them as you go, and the journal entries with lore about almost everything in game helps incentivize the exploration that is so integral to the open world element.

Orcus the Vile has now stowed away the hammer of dawn – Crimson Desert is a game to be spared from petty vendettas and wrath. It was fun getting into the game, and I will continue to enjoy what it has to offer. For the sake of avoiding spoilers we have only scratched the surface, but once I complete this game there will probably be a retrospective coming on it. I recommend this game to anybody who have considered checking it out. It will sink a lot of your time in the way only a really good and immersive game can.