Before its release on March 19th, Pearl Abyss gave a look at gameplay for their open-world adventure game, Crimson Desert, through PlayStation’s Japanese “Play! Play! Play!” video series. The video features project manager Kim Min-young and host Taiga Kishi as they demonstrate the game’s world and the choices available to players.
This 20-minute video provides a comprehensive look at Crimson Desert, covering its story, open-world environments, and exciting combat—all running on a PlayStation 5. Sony plans to release a second video later that will highlight dragon riding, side quests, and further exploration of the game. This first video concentrates on the action-packed gameplay.
The game features environmental puzzles, including one where you use magic to rotate tiles and direct energy flow. Successfully completing this puzzle unlocks a wizard’s tower, which will likely be a hub for additional quests. Throughout the game, the characters Min-young and Kishi discuss the two distinct worlds of Crimson Desert: the familiar continent of Pywel and the strange, otherworldly Abyss. Pywel offers a traditional gameplay experience focused on exploration, while the Abyss embraces a more fantastical and physics-defying environment.
I’ve been following the Crimson Desert gameplay reveal, and it’s exciting! Sony hasn’t said whether the footage was from a regular PS5 or the new PS5 Pro, but Digital Foundry recently reported that the PS5 Pro handles the game really well. Apparently, it almost consistently hits that smooth 60 frames per second when you prioritize performance, which is a great sign!
The PS5 Pro will offer different visual modes to suit your preferences. ‘Balanced’ mode aims for 40 frames per second, displaying video up to 4K resolution, but works best with a 120Hz display. Those with variable refresh rate monitors can even achieve 48 FPS in this mode. Alternatively, ‘Quality’ mode prioritizes visual fidelity, locking the frame rate at 30 FPS while rendering games in full 4K resolution without upscaling.
The report mentioned the PS5 Pro test version of Crimson Desert used an older version of a technology called PSSR. Pearl Abyss has confirmed the final game will use a newer version, PSSR 2. During testing, some visual glitches related to PSSR were easily noticeable.
According to Digital Foundry’s John Linneman, a second version of PSSR is coming out soon. However, he currently can’t assess the image quality fully, noting that the typical visual issues with PSSR – like blurring around leaves and some noise from ray tracing – are still present. He anticipates improvements when the upgraded PSSR is released and is eager to see the changes.
Crimson Desert is coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
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2026-03-17 16:11