Hands On: Crimson Desert Runs Well Enough on PS5 Pro, But What About That Intro?

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No matter your experience with video games, Crimson Desert feels like a fresh start. This new open-world game is incredibly unique and surprising – it challenges expectations in almost every way.

This game exemplifies poor control design. Players will be forced to use unfamiliar button combinations, and even basic moves like jumping and running will feel awkward because they’re assigned to controls that go against years of gaming experience.

You’ll sprint by pressing the Cross or X button and jump with Square – whether you enjoy it is another matter. This game is strangely outdated, feeling like a design from fifteen years ago that was never updated with modern improvements. It’s as if it was created in isolation, ignoring everything developers have learned since.

Crimson Desert is a game that requires patience and an open mind to truly enjoy. But is it actually worth the effort? It’s complicated. There are definitely good parts, but also some drawbacks.

Performance is the main concern for Crimson Desert on consoles, but it generally runs smoothly on the PS5 Pro. It’s a perfectly enjoyable experience, especially when using Performance Mode.

For some base PS5 footage of Crimson Desert, please see below:

Even though Performance Mode prioritizes a smooth frame rate, the game’s world still looks great – all the screenshots in this article were captured using that mode on the PS5 Pro. It’s not without issues; we were able to consistently crash the game using the map, and textures sometimes load slowly up close. But overall, it’s a playable and enjoyable version of the game – it gets the job done.

What’s so baffling about it, then? Almost everything else.

Crimson Desert has one of the strangest and most unusual beginnings of any video game ever created.

The game starts with you playing as Kliff, a Greymane, who is suddenly attacked while at camp. After being defeated and falling into a river, you’re brought back to life by a magical bracelet. Once you navigate a mysterious sky island, you return to the larger world of Pywel.

I was down, and this guy just appeared and helped me up onto a horse! We rode together into this town called Hernand, and honestly, I don’t know what I would have done without him.

The game then simply tells you to go to a tavern to find information, but all you can do is participate in an arm wrestling match – and you don’t learn anything useful. Next, you’re instructed to give a coin to a beggar, then enter the sewer through the grate he’s near. Down there, you free a woman who immediately vanishes after handing you a letter.

Even while you’re still navigating the sewers, the game suddenly asks you to rescue a cat from a rooftop. These tasks feel completely disconnected – no characters explain why you’re doing them or give you new objectives after each one. They just pop up unexpectedly, like random events or side quests, and are strangely combined to create the main storyline.

However, this is the core storyline, and Crimson Desert requires you to begin it surprisingly early – within the first half hour of gameplay.

Before the game even launched, many people worried that Crimson Desert wouldn’t have a very compelling story, and the beginning of the game seems to confirm those concerns. The plot feels confusing and it’s hard to tell if the strange events are simply part of the game’s world. The main character, Kliff, doesn’t seem bothered by anything and rarely shows any emotion.

We finished our first time playing as chapter two began, and were a little confused by how the game started. Luckily, the opening section has a good payoff: you earn wings that allow you to glide safely down from the floating islands.

I was surprised by how little fighting there was at the very beginning – it’s pretty peaceful if you don’t go out of your way to look for trouble! When you do fight, you use the shoulder buttons, and you slowly unlock new moves through a skill tree, which is cool. But honestly, some of the button combinations, like pressing R1 and R2 together, just felt really clunky and unnatural. It’s a shame you can’t change the controls, because that’s a bit frustrating.

Crimson Desert is visually impressive, though it’s not perfect. While the game can sometimes look cluttered or overly bright, when the lighting and environment align, it delivers some of the most beautiful graphics you’ll find on consoles in 2026.

Pearl Abyss has created a visually stunning world with diverse environments. From what we’ve seen, especially from the breathtaking views on the sky islands, each area boasts unique colors and landscapes.

The biggest question is whether the game offers anything genuinely interesting to do. While it might look good, players need a compelling reason to actually explore it. We’re concerned that the quests don’t flow well together, and the story feels like it was added later rather than being a core part of the experience.

We should meet again once our complete PS5 review is finished. However, if you were waiting for performance details on the PS5 Pro, you’ll be glad to know Crimson Desert runs well on the standard PS5.

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2026-03-20 19:07