Crimson Desert’s Introduction Almost Made Me Quit the Game

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Like many others, I was incredibly excited for Crimson Desert, maybe even more so. It takes a lot to grab my attention, so when a game does, I really get invested. I fell for the hype surrounding Crimson Desert – I watched every trailer, talked about it with friends, and wrote about it extensively. I was completely caught up in the anticipation and ready to play when it launched on March 19, 2026. I even stayed up late (10 pm in the UK!) and patiently waited for the update to download. Finally, the download finished, and I could start playing the game I’d been looking forward to for years.

I was really disappointed with Crimson Desert, as you might guess from the title of this article. It’s a terrible feeling when something you’re incredibly excited about turns out to be a letdown, and that’s exactly how I felt. I was so hyped for this game, and the initial experience was truly awful – I was staring at my TV at 1 AM, completely baffled by the opening. While the beginning is one of the worst I’ve ever seen, I want to encourage others to push through it, because the game gets much better. I’m glad I stuck with it, and I hope you will too.

Crimson Desert Has The Worst Introduction Of Any Game

The launch of Crimson Desert was met with criticism, and I believe its poor beginning was a major factor. I’d read reviews before release warning that the game required patience, but I didn’t expect it to be this difficult to get into. The first hour is a confusing series of unrelated tasks that don’t connect at all, making the experience feel bizarre and meaningless. One minute you’re arm wrestling in a tavern for no apparent reason, the next you’re inexplicably rescuing a woman from the sewers, while a beggar you just helped vanishes in a puff of smoke.

The early parts of Crimson Desert don’t do a great job of teaching you how the game works or telling you the story. I found the opening tasks confusing and pointless – for example, I was asked to clean chimneys with a broom, which didn’t seem relevant to anything. It felt like a random series of events leading to a bizarre moment where Kliff simply accepts magical wings and jumps off floating islands. It was even more frustrating to play than it sounds, and honestly, it almost made me stop playing altogether.

Your initial experience in Crimson Desert – the beginning of your adventure in Pywel – might lead you to think the entire game will be a series of random, unexplained tasks. The story doesn’t initially offer clear reasons for actions like cleaning a chimney or winning an arm wrestling match; you simply do them because the game prompts you to. However, this ends after the first hour. Once you reach Chapter 2, specifically after finishing the first chapter and the watch tower, the game stops relying on these arbitrary objectives.

Kliff is tasked with helping the people of Hernand, hoping to earn a new home for the Greymanes as the story progresses. This leads to a series of missions that initially seem unrelated but eventually reveal a larger conspiracy. It’s a fantastic part of the game, but easily missed if you stopped playing early on. Some say you need to play 100 hours of Crimson Desert to truly appreciate it, but I think getting past the first hour is enough to understand what the game is trying to achieve. After that initial period, the game confidently lets you explore its beautiful world, enjoy its fun activities, and experience its genuinely well-written story. This brings up the question: why is the opening so difficult? What was Pearl Abyss’ intention with it? And most importantly, can it be fixed? Fortunately, the answer to that last question is a clear yes – there’s a surprisingly simple solution to improve Crimson Desert’s beginning.

There’s An Easy Fix For Crimson Desert’s Abysmal Opening

The easiest way to fix the biggest issue with Crimson Desert – its slow start – is surprisingly simple: just remove it. It’s strange because that introductory section isn’t really needed at all. The game begins with Kliff’s death, moves to the sky islands, then back to land for an unnecessary arm wrestling scene, before returning to the sky islands and getting his wings. Cutting out the part where he returns to land wouldn’t affect the story at all, and would actually make the game better.

The game would be much easier to understand if, after Kliff dies and solves the sky island puzzles, he stayed up there to get his wings before flying down to meet Hernand and Barden Middler. This would naturally lead into the quests to help the townspeople. It wouldn’t change the story at all, but it would make the beginning less confusing and give players a better idea of what to expect. Honestly, this update feels crucial for Crimson Desert; the current introduction almost made me stop playing.

The first hour of Crimson Desert is so chaotic and unclear that it initially made me want to stop playing. You’re stuck doing uninteresting, one-time tasks instead of experiencing the game’s best features, and it’s hard to know if things will ever improve. With some players reporting needing to play for 10 hours or more to really get into Crimson Desert, many will likely quit before reaching that point.

I promise, if you stick with it, Crimson Desert is an amazing game – easily in my top five. It has a lot to offer, but you need to be patient and discover things for yourself. It’s similar to a more mature version of Tears of the Kingdom, and it’s incredibly rewarding, satisfying, and beautifully designed in almost every way. If you’re having trouble with the beginning, please don’t give up! I also hope Pearl Abyss will reconsider the opening and maybe remove the very first section in Hernand to make it a smoother and less frustrating experience for new players.

What were your first impressions of Crimson Desert? Share your thoughts in the comments and join the discussion on the ComicBook Forum!

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2026-03-27 18:16