Crimson Desert’s “Other Aspects” Make Up For its Weak Story, Says Performance Capture Artist

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It’s well known that the story in Crimson Desert isn’t very strong – even the game’s CEO has admitted it. However, Trevor McEwan, who served as the performance capture artist and model for the main character Kliff, recently pointed out in a Reddit Q&A that the game excels in many other areas despite its narrative shortcomings.

Responding to a Reddit user who pointed out the game’s story feels simplistic, Pearl Abyss’s Roy McEwan acknowledged the criticism but argued that Crimson Desert excels in other areas. He highlighted the game’s rich worldbuilding and lore, noting that players who enjoy reading can discover a lot of hidden details throughout the game.

Alec Newman, the voice actor for Kliff, has talked about the difficult development process of Crimson Desert. He mentioned that he encouraged the developers to add more detail to the main character’s history.

He explained that for the first year and a half, he thought they were just creating a demo. Then, they announced they were finally starting to record properly, which he found confusing since they’d already been working on it for a long time. Newman himself had dedicated five years to the project, noting that it went through phases of both calm and intense work.

So, about two and a half years into making the game, the Pearl Abyss team realized they really wanted the main character to feel relatable. That meant they started focusing on showing Kliff genuinely caring about his friends and allies, and they actually rewrote parts of the story to emphasize that. It was a big shift to make him someone players could really connect with.

We slowly introduced humor into the game, emphasizing it whenever possible. However, those opportunities were limited. Ultimately, we wanted a main character who was relatable and expressive, because it’s difficult for players to connect with someone who never shows emotion over such a long game – around 150 hours of playtime.

This project was unusual because the objectives seemed to shift as we went along. We initially recorded descriptions of the different characters and factions within Pywel – things like who belonged to which group. But I kept asking what the overall story or purpose was, beyond just listing those details.

Honestly, the story isn’t amazing, but it hasn’t stopped people from buying Crimson Desert! Pearl Abyss just announced that the game has already sold 5 million copies across all platforms, which is pretty awesome. It’s great to see so many people enjoying it, even if the narrative isn’t the strongest part.

The studio announced that Crimson Desert has sold over 5 million copies globally. They expressed gratitude to all players, calling them ‘Greymanes,’ for joining them on this adventure, exploring the world of Pywel, and supporting the game. The studio emphasized that reaching this milestone wouldn’t have been possible without the players’ support.

Crimson Desert is now available to play on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. The game’s CEO, Heo Jin-young, has also stated that the team is exploring the possibility of bringing it to the next Nintendo Switch.

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2026-04-20 16:11