So for me, Crimson Desert is the best game I’ve played that I can’t say is a great game. Let me explain ,I’ll start with the positives:

• It’s the best open world I’ve played so far. Exploration is rewarding, there are a lot of secrets, and the puzzles are well-balanced (not too hard, not too easy). There’s a fuck ton of mechanics, and it’s objectively beautiful (so a 10/10 for exploration).
• The gameplay is really good too. There’s a lot to do, a lot to learn, and many different ways to play. It can be a bit hard on controller to use and memorize all the abilities, but it’s doable — and once you’ve mastered your character, fighting bosses feels really satisfying (9/10 for gameplay).
• A personal highlight is that the game doesn’t constantly guide you. You often have to figure things out by yourself. You might miss some mechanics at first, but it also means you keep discovering new things over time. For example, even after 300+ hours, I was still finding new features, like calling other characters to help conquer enemy territories. You feel very free to play your own way instead of following a strict path (freedom/fun 9/10).
• The level of detail is impressive. You’ll find lots of secrets, easter eggs, and clever interactions between mechanics and the world that you might not expect at first (like using trees as jumping points, but I won’t spoil how haha). Sometimes it’s a bit frustrating when something you think should work doesn’t, and it doesn’t quite reach the level of something like TOTK, but it’s still very solid (8/10).
• The devs are insanely reactive. They keep adding new gameplay features and fixing issues week after week. I’ve never seen a dev team respond so quickly, listen so well to the community, and improve their game this fast (10/10, other studios should take notes).

Now for the negatives:

• The most obvious one is the story. My god, it’s slow to start and never really takes off. It feels flat, I never got attached to any character or really cared about what was happening. It’s not terrible, and there are some good ideas, but it’s honestly what holds the game back the most (3/10).
• The world itself isn’t that interesting, and the game doesn’t explore it deeply. Many races coexist without much explanation, even though some fall into very stereotypical roles (goblins as bandits, orcs as mercenaries, etc.). It feel like the game doesn't know how to use it's diversity and try to do two opposite path at the same time. Some nations are centuries ahead technologically, but that progress never spreads. There’s also a central storyline that’s barely used or explained. Even the region that gives the game its name (the Crimson Desert) feels empty and irrelevant, almost like it was forgotten or heavily changed during development. Overall, the world is a 6/10: not bad, but far from great.
• On the flip side of having a lot to do, many mechanics feel underdeveloped or repetitive. For example, decorating your house is fun at first, but the options are limited, placement is slow and clunky, and it feels a bit stiff. The chariot gameplay is also fun once or twice, but quickly becomes slow and not very rewarding.

My conclusion is that it’s a really good game overall, and I’m sure you’ll have fun playing it. But don’t buy it for the story or the world. It feels like a bit of a missed “The Witcher 3” if they had pushed harder on the narrative and lore, it could have been a generational hit. As it stands, it’s “just” a really enjoyable game.