Final thoughts after completing the main story after 85 hours

Review: Crimson Desert is definitely fun, I’m not denying that at all. The combat feels good, the world looks amazing, and there’s a lot to do on the surface. But if you look at it properly, it’s also a very flawed game. It tries to do way too many things at once—RPG systems, survival mechanics, puzzles, exploration—and instead of feeling deep, it ends up feeling unfocused and inconsistent. The biggest issue is the open world. It’s massive and visually impressive, but a lot of it feels empty or filled with repetitive content. You’re basically doing the same types of activities over and over—bandit camps, fetch quests, random encounters—without much real impact. It gives the illusion of depth, but most of it is just padding. And no, this has nothing to do with “skill issue.” That argument doesn’t even apply here. People aren’t complaining because the game is hard—they’re criticizing the design. Things like weak storytelling, clunky systems, poor pacing, and repetitive content have nothing to do with how good you are at the game. Saying “skill issue” is just an easy way to avoid actually addressing those points. Also, calling it game of the year or even game of the decade is way over the top. Games at that level are polished, focused, and consistent in what they do. This game clearly isn’t—it has great moments, but also a lot of obvious flaws holding it back. The double standard is what really stands out. If a Ubisoft game came out with this exact structure—huge map, repetitive side content, weak story—people would immediately call it generic and bloated. But here, the same things are being defended as “immersion” or “freedom.” That doesn’t make sense. And honestly, what are people even doing spending 50 hours in Hernand alone? There’s no way that’s all meaningful content. Most of that time is just wandering, grinding, and repeating similar activities. That’s not depth, that’s just stretching playtime. It really feels like a lot of the defense comes from people who’ve already invested so much time into the game that they don’t want to admit its flaws. That’s normal, but it doesn’t change the reality. You can enjoy the game and still admit it has serious issues. Acting like it’s flawless or shutting down criticism with “skill issue” just makes the discussion worse.