Mastodawn

COMPU73E ❄️Mar 23

caved, and bought Crimson Desert on PS5, downloading now. 85GB! I played Black Desert Online for three years and I like Pearl Abyss as a developer and this looks pretty much like a single player version of that game

I never played a game with as big a world as BDO, it was phenomenal. no fast travel* and it took an hour to sail across the ocean, and you could literally get lost in the desert

*well technically there is fast travel but you needed one of the rarest items in the game to do it. that may have changed now but when I last played the Archaeologist's Map was really hard to get, literally days of grinding for the 0.000000001% chance to get the pieces to drop. I'll never forget the feeling when I finally made it and people saw the server announcement

COMPU73E ❄️Mar 24

"well met, stranger. I'm sweatier than a pig's arse!"

...is what one of the first random NPCs I talked to in Crimson Desert said to me earlier 😄

game is great. movement is very slow and weighty, and the combat has a great feel to it. my experience playing Black Desert means I feel right at home already with some of the systems, and I can see myself getting lost in this game for hours

looks and runs great on my base PS5 at 1080p in Balanced mode

COMPU73E ❄️

Crimson Desert combat is a mash up of a few classes from Black Desert, mainly warrior. even some of the skill names are the same! like Spinning Slash. it's all about learning the button combos to pull off the moves, can see the better players doing some crazy shit. the combat will have a very high skill ceiling I think

the tutorials are utterly awful though, I've had to Google about 20 things already (including "how to put my weapon away")

spotted a couple of characters from BDO already, too! Alustin (who was an Alchemist in BDO and is some sort of Abyss Priest here) and the little Shai Rulupee. so cool

COMPU73E ❄️Mar 25

raging at the boss at the end of the Quarry and his "disappears underground then pops up to one-shot you" bullshit attack 😤

I got him, but as the first boss most players will likely face they could've toned it down a bit. took me about 20 attempts

COMPU73E ❄️Mar 25

I knew nothing about the story in Crimson Desert before buying it, and I am now starting to suspect that this game might just be a prequel to Black Desert. We have Alustin (who I was always suspicious that there was more going on than we knew about in BDO), Rulupee, and now Shakatu, all turning up

if we end up in a little port town called Velia at some point I will squeee

I really really hope the black spirit turns up at some point, I love that little guy 🤔 I have the beginnings of a theory but it's just a wild stab in the dark

COMPU73E ❄️Mar 26

spent over an hour just fishing last night 🙏🏻 listening to the sound of the river and the ambient noise, the game is gorgeous

I wonder if there's a rare chance to fish relics 🤔 (BDO again) you can get accessories like earrings and other items the fish have swallowed

COMPU73E ❄️Mar 26

this is the Black Spirit from Black Desert Online, a major character in the game as it possesses the player character right at the start of the game. you never find out what its true intentions are, or even what it really is

most of the time it appears as a cute little blob thing however there are times when you see its true form (second pic)

the symbol on its forehead is used for your stamina meter in #CrimsonDesert and I am pondering if there are any lore implications of that... 🤔

COMPU73E ❄️Mar 26

"if we end up in a little port town called Velia at some point I will squeee"

AAAAAAA SQUEEEEEEE! it's the same, the approach to the town, the coastline, everything! 😭

(in BDO town faced North and you couldn't see a far coastline, it was open ocean)

one of the first things I did when I started BDO way back when was make a little rowing boat. and look what I found 😭

COMPU73E ❄️Mar 26

the scale of this game is absolutely fucking bananas

COMPU73E ❄️Mar 28

just fought the boss at (I assume) the end of chapter 3 and it was SO cool, like something out of The Wicker Man. they absolutely nailed the atmosphere, and the cut scenes during the fight were incredible

had to force myself to turn it off for the night

COMPU73E ❄️6d ago

yes you can pet the cat

just like in BDO you can get pets that follow you around and collect loot for you.

I now have a cat mewing in the background of all the very serious cutscenes. best game ever

COMPU73E ❄️6d ago

each time you pick up the cat and pet it you gain 5 trust, can do this a max of 5 times a day. once trust gets to 100 you bond with the animal and it becomes your pet, so it takes 4 in-game days. you can drop meat for +10 trust to speed up the process a bit

can have up to 30 pets it looks like, with probably 5 out at a time, if it's the same as BDO, eventually I plan to be a big gruff Viking bloke followed around at all times by a swarm of cats

COMPU73E ❄️6d ago

I am disappointed to discover that you can only have one pet out at a time, if you try to summon a second one the first one disappears 😥 boo

Chris 👾6d ago

@COMPU73E File a complaint, the number of issues they've just patched is astonishing - it's like they've been listening to my inner monologue 🙌😄 https://crimsondesert.pearlabyss.com/en-US/News/Notice/Detail?_boardNo=76

- added button prompt before using keys -🙏 ✅
- Changed stealing to not decrease Contribution before an NPC witnesses the act 😅
-Movement speed increases by tapping the running key once - instead of tapping like a lunatic ✅
- Reduced Flight's stamina consumption, longer Batman gliding yay ✅
- Improved the interaction range to make interacting with NPCs more convenient - that was driving me nuts, you had to stand directly in front of an npc ✅
- PlayStation 5] Added a “Fixed 4K Output” option to provide a sharper gameplay experience, regardless of whether the display natively supports 4K, allowing for a sharper image.
- and a ton of other fixes and improvements 🙌

[Updates] Patch Notes Version 1.01.00 | Crimson Desert

Fellow Greymanes,Here are the fixes and improvements that have been added this patch. Major UpdatesThis patch adds 5 summonable mounts, decreased loading times for fast travel and revival, and some more changes to controls as part of our ongoing efforts to improve the game's controls. Update Sc...

Crimson Desert

Chris 👾6d ago

@COMPU73E Woke up and patch is live already on PS5, they are cooking

COMPU73E ❄️6d ago

@chris "Improved locked doors so that an interaction button is displayed, allowing players to choose whether to use a key to open the door."

yes! drove me nuts that did

Chris 👾6d ago

@COMPU73E The number of times I've inadvertently used a key because I went through some back door just to find the main door wide open - or I've used a key and there was absolutely nothing inside 🙄 Thing is, there are certain buildings/doors where you actually need a key to progress or get to a recipe and coming back later or reloading from a save sucks, so I'm really glad that's fixed!

Manic Emo Dream Ghoul 6d ago

@COMPU73E SCREAMING IN MEOW

IrgndSonDepp 6d ago

@COMPU73E Völgar the Catomancer. 🤩

Chris 👾6d ago

@COMPU73E 😄 Not yet. I'm going to adopt that fat cat I've seen in one of the mansions. And some of the dogs are really cool too. You can also dress your pets in armor like palico in Monster Hunter but I have no idea how, just unlocked the camp.

COMPU73E ❄️5d ago

the more I play of #CrimsonDesert the more convinced I am that they basically made a singleplayer version of Black Desert Online, which is fine by me

In BDO you recruited workers and could send them off to locations in the map to gather resources for you, farm crops, that kind of thing. they were present on the map and you could go to the specific farm and see your workers toiling away in the fields etc

in this game you recruit Greymanes for your faction and can send them out on jobs, here are my four guys building a wolf statue in town. they even created a half finished model of the statue in case you went to have a look

Pearl Abyss are absolutely insane and I love it

COMPU73E ❄️3d ago

Pearl Abyss are amazing

Why Crimson Desert's Water Tech Is Next-Level (RDR2 Artist Breakdown)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtpajrHsckQ

Why Crimson Desert's Water Tech Is Next-Level (RDR2 Artist Breakdown)

YouTube

COMPU73E ❄️13h ago

had a mission to send 8 guys from the camp out to build a bridge, looks pretty cool now it's finished! it's opened up a quicker route to the north of the map, too

COMPU73E ❄️10h ago

Crimson Desert is 100% the most astonishing open world I've ever seen in a video game, even better than my previous favourite, Elden Ring (a game I put over 750 hours into)

Pywel just feels so alive. everywhere you go there are animals, and people going about their day. the adventures I've had, and the things I discovered, the puzzles I solved. and the gold bars I stole from the house of a noble 😇 the game is PHENOMENAL

screenshots do not do this game justice, the scale and attention to detail is staggering. everything you can see from up on the floating islands is somewhere you can go

COMPU73E ❄️10h ago

started building another bridge so I went to check on it, this is 13% completed

99% of players will never see this, but Pearl Abyss added multiple stages of bridge construction just so the 1% of players who bother to go check it out see something cool. game is bonkers

99% of the time the answer to the question "I wonder if I can.. ...in this game?" is "yes of course"

COMPU73E ❄️3h ago

from the latest #CrimsonDesert patch notes

"Added 1 new armor set and helmet for cats." 😸

BEST GAME EVER

https://crimsondesert.pearlabyss.com/en-US/News/Notice/Detail?_boardNo=80

[Updates] Patch Notes Version 1.02.00 (Revised: 2026/04/04 05:00 UTC) | Crimson Desert

Fellow Greymanes,Here are the fixes and improvements that have been added this patch. Major UpdatesThis patch adds the Headgear Visibility option, private storage capacity expansion of up to 1000 slots depending on the Greymane camp's expansion level, and more.Additionally, for those who preferr...

Crimson Desert

Chris 👾2h ago

@COMPU73E Haha, was about to post this. Already live on PS5 over night! Also: storage increased to 1000 from 240 for hoarders like me, yay

@COMPU73E i like how they're actually building it. when you first started posting about "sending guys to build a bridge," i figured it was like those mobile games or whatever, where it's all just menu-based stuff and, after a certain amount of time, the bridge just shows up or something.

COMPU73E ❄️3h ago

@f0rrest yeah, it's like that with all the jobs you can send workers to. like if you send them to guard the mansion house of a noble to earn money for the camp you can go there and they'll be patrolling round the grounds outside the house. or if you send them to a fishing spot they'll be standing by the water with all the other fishers with a fishing rod and line

there's a place you can craft a hot air balloon so I might do that today 😄 some towns have research trees where you can unlock new stuff but I haven't done any of that yet

you construct a small ranch at your base and there's a whole animal raising thing. I have chickens and a goat at the moment. I started with 10 chicks and they grew up and now I have a mix of roosters and hens and they made more chicks 😅 you can catch wild animals and raise them for meat and leather, etc

or you can completely ignore all this stuff and just play it like an action game if you want

Chris 👾2h ago

@COMPU73E 60 hours, still chapter 5 and I'm like "Wait, you can do this?!" all the time 😄 This game is full of surprises. Thought I'd try something funny just last night - and of course it worked!

Out of Print Archive (meppi64)13h ago

@COMPU73E
They are just blatantly copying Frieren now. 👀
Any birds nesting in the vicinity?

Ruth / Anarchae 13h ago

@COMPU73E That's so cool.

COMPU73E ❄️11h ago

@anarchaeopteryx honestly, this game is astonishing. 100% the best open world I've ever seen in a game, and I've probably only seen about 15% of it so far

Rakuno 🐀5d ago

@COMPU73E That is pretty cool!

And honestly more companies should make single-player versions of their MMOs. And I mean the actual MMO, not a souless spin off.

That could help a lot to deal with the pain of the eventual demise of said MMO.

@COMPU73E this is where i get my gaming news, from COMPU73E

Chris 👾4d ago

@COMPU73E This is absolutely wild. Other games had this mechanic before where you send out palicos, retainer or NPC companions to gather things and do stuff but this is the first time I've seen them ACTUALLY doing all these things in-game. Like, they walk or ride there and do all these tasks. Maybe that's something your companions do in farming sims?
But at this scale it's such an insane amount of work for something that some people might never notice. I just found out that you can open the map, go to 'details" (triangle?) and you get a bird's eye view of their current mission location. You can even zoom in and watch your people doing what they are doing 😂 👏

COMPU73E ❄️4d ago

@chris heh, I sent a couple of them out to farm cabbages, and I was walking past the farm at 3am and there they were crouched down in the field, felt a bit guilty. I wonder if they'll walk back to the camp with little backpacks full of cabbages like in BDO. must remember to check next time

Chris 👾Mar 28

@COMPU73E It's really hard to put down, incredible game. Can't wait to continue tonight, still in chapter 2 and I haven't even left the starting area yet 😂

COMPU73E ❄️6d ago

@chris I'm utterly in love with this game, have you got a pet yet?

Chris 👾6d ago

@COMPU73E Epic fight and a tough one, they've clearly watched a lot of samurai and wuxia movies! The cutscenes 🤯I made my way up there at night, scary AF 😅

@COMPU73E he cute

Ruth / Anarchae Mar 26

@COMPU73E Maybe something like - the black spirit is powering your body and actually you're already dead?

COMPU73E ❄️Mar 26

@anarchaeopteryx your character does die and is resurrected at the start of both games, so you might be on to something there

Ruth / Anarchae Mar 26

@COMPU73E Hmm, interesting! My computer theoretically meets the minimum specs for this game, but IDK how well it will run on my older GPU driver + Linux so I'm disinclined to spend full price on it. And also I won't have time for it for a few days anyway. But I might pick it up in April.

COMPU73E ❄️Mar 26

@anarchaeopteryx time, and a lot of it, is one thing you definitely need for this game. it's absolutely huge

Chris 👾Mar 26

@COMPU73E How do you actually catch the fish? I've got a few bites but the fish always gets away and there is no indicator in which direction to pull before reeling in? I tried the fishing mini game for 15 minutes until I gave up for now. Standing in shallow water and just grabbing the fish with my bare hands took about 10 seconds until I've got that tench 😂

That being said, the river ambience is just stunning, I can't remember I've ever seen such level of nature ambience detail in a game: the way the birds take flight in a flurry and dragonflies skim across the water... I wouldn't be surprised if some bear shows up and starts catching salmon or something.

COMPU73E ❄️Mar 26

@chris it took me a while to figure out, when you get a bite press R2 and then use the left stick to pull in the opposite direction the fish is swimming, keep this up for a while and it will stop moving, then rotate the right stick clockwise to reel it in

if it starts moving again stop reeling and pull in the opposite direction again

it's tricky!

Chris 👾Mar 26

@COMPU73E Thanks, I'm pretty sure I didn't use R2 so that might be it! 😄

Judeau (EatTheRich)Mar 25

@COMPU73E Are you referring to the MMO, Black Desert Online? That would definitely be interesting if this were a prequel. Is Crimson Desert made by the same developer?

COMPU73E ❄️Mar 25

@Judeau yes, and yes! both games made by Pearl Abyss. I played BDO for over 3 years and over 10k hours (I used to leave my PC on 24/7 for all the afk stuff that game had, lol)

Judeau (EatTheRich)Mar 25

@COMPU73E Dang! That's a few hours you put in! Haha! That's really cool though. I didn't realize that it was the same developers. It makes sense that they could potentially build out the world that they already created for Black Desert.

@COMPU73E I’ve heard about this boss, but somehow I missed it. I’ve just been doing the story quests and I’m at the beginning of chapter 3, so I’m assuming it’s optional?

COMPU73E ❄️Mar 25

@68000 yeah, it's one of the faction quests for a noble in the first town, House Roberts, the first stage is called "First Trial of Trust"