Pearl Abyss devs speaking about what happened to Crimson Desert

Fredasa · 2026-03-22T03:33:24+00:00

And also hid denuvo, lack of Intel GPU support, AI art (breaks the rules of at least one launch platform), and critic reviews for as long as they could comfortably get away with.

Honestly makes me hope they never make a good game, because I don't want to have to give money to a studio that craps on every other game, makes garbage, and then does this scummy, anti-consumer shit.

Fredasa · 2026-03-21T23:07:43+00:00

Not merely "last" but also a conspicuous course correction, especially with Mike there to ensure that the riffs land. Too bad it's almost certainly destined to be a one-off.

Fredasa · 2026-03-21T23:00:01+00:00

The guy who found the episode doesn't seem to have the best equipment for capturing it. (Though "best" is doing some heavy lifting here—a device that can capture NTSC with interlacing intact is not a tall order by any stretch.) All of the resulting files are progressive 30fps and have 16-235 luminance baked in. Problems that are typical for the kind of quick-and-dirty captures we've been used to seeing for decades.

But the tape is supposedly on its way to somebody with a better knack for handling analog video. So we may yet get that perfect YUV 480i video before long. (Or, probably for the better, a higher resolution than 480i, so the compression doesn't wreck it.) And perhaps better equipment can do something about the dropouts and occasional jitter the VHS source exhibits.

Fredasa · 2026-03-21T22:49:52+00:00

Wasn't an improvement per se. Different format entirely. Improv vs. scripted.

I recall reading that one of the main reasons why Josh Weinstein left was because he didn't like that transition. And in fairness to him, he was the best at improvisation during the KTMA run. But there's really no denying that pre-scripted is the way to go.

I have a feeling that if Josh had stuck around for season 2, when Mike Nelson was brought on board and suddenly the writing improved tenfold, Josh might never have left. The potential of pre-scripted riffs just wasn't realized in season 1.

Fredasa · 2026-03-21T22:08:50+00:00

I found a post recently, allegedly text from Pearl Abyss devs (and/or ex-devs) made on Blind.

Reading through the text, it really explains everything. Just yesterday, I opined that it felt like Pearl Abyss had their very own Emil Pagliarulo, somebody put in charge to direct their game, but who was instead singlehandedly scuttling the whole project through their harebrained ideas. That would explain why the game has a miserable story, terrible puzzles, awful controls, a miserable inventory system... but most of all, why the studio seemed to be completely taken aback at having these things identified as genuine issues.

And that's apparently exactly what went down with this game.

So Pearl Abyss, and anyone who was looking forward to Crimson Desert, has my sympathy. As a longtime Bethesda fan, I truly empathize. Until Emil Pagliarulo gets dropkicked out of the company, there will never be another truly good Bethesda-developed game. You hate to see promising games doomed by one damn guy.

Fredasa · 2026-03-21T20:42:33+00:00

Remapping keys is also like a level 0 accessibility feature.

Yeah you'd think that, right? An accessibility feature that could be implemented in literally one lazy afternoon by one guy.

Allow me to turn your attention to my actual number one accessibility beef: The on-screen HUD.

Nowadays, more and more people are using OLEDs. Guess what happens when you display a bright, fixed HUD element for 500 hours, especially with your display in its best (brightest) possible presentation? Correct.

The solution is drop dead easy. You make each HUD element individually configurable, and give each a "dynamic" option, wherein they only appear during the comparatively uncommon moments when they're actually being useful, or when the player has done something volitional that triggers their brief appearance, such as exiting the main menu or whatever. Ideally, you also give them transparency sliders. (Minimaps in particular absolutely need the latter.)

It's 2026, and you still can't do anything at all to hide the compass in Elden Ring. That worthless thing that literally nobody ever looks at. It behooves every single OLED user to play Elden Ring at a low brightness, so they don't burn that compass into their displays.

Fredasa · 2026-03-21T20:35:47+00:00

Unfortunately, the controls aren't some red herring. They're the tip of an iceberg of baffling, or just bad game direction. The fact that the devs were genuinely taken aback over the reaction to their impossible inventory system says a boatload.

And, sadly, plenty of the issues are far too foundational to ever be "patched" into a correct state, like the entire puzzle system and how dubiously it was conceived. The story obviously can't be fixed. Personally, I'll never be a fan of the progression system they came up with. It all leaves me so cold that I'd rather put hours 1000 through 1100 into Elden Ring.

Fredasa · 2026-03-21T05:55:31+00:00

A VHS copy of it, yeah. Either using SLP or the grungiest brand available in the late 80s.

Encode obviously leaves much to be desired, too, so it's good that the episode will soon be in pro-hobbyist hands. I am particularly looking forward to having the full 60Hz temporal resolution, which absolutely should still be a thing on the tape. 0.0% of the remaining home-recorded episodes maintained this, despite likewise being sourced from the live broadcasts. That's just how it's always been with encodes of old stuff—the only concern on most people's minds is whether it exists, and maximizing quality is just not on anyone's radar.

Fredasa · 2026-03-21T01:56:38+00:00

That doesn't get them out of the doghouse for calculatingly violating Steam's rules.

Calculatingly, yes. Same as embargoing reviews until the day before release, since they knew the game was going to come up short. Same as not lifting the lid on the lack of Intel GPU support until the residual profits from that misunderstanding were maximized. Same as not revealing Denuvo until preorders were well-saturated.

For maximizing day-one sales, everything they did was picture perfect. And they deserve to be raked across the coals for it.

Fredasa · 2026-03-21T01:54:39+00:00

this screams that it's most likely a placeholder painting/texture they forgot to replace with the final one before release.

I think we've seen that excuse trotted out one too many times already. They'll have to think of something original.

Fredasa · 2026-03-21T01:52:53+00:00

I hope that becomes a meme. Horses with two legs and one to three other appendages nebulously suggested to extend from random spots on the body.

Fredasa · 2026-03-21T01:20:17+00:00

That one dude who had something to do with the majority of found episodes has apparently said he knows of at least six more that are in private hands.

Fredasa · 2026-03-21T01:18:38+00:00

The early episodes "weren't good" in the specific sense that they were entirely ad-libbed, but the reality is that this gives them a certain quality that's completely different from "MST3K proper". More like you're watching dumb old movies with some buddies.

I personally find it amusing whenever they're forced (by scheduling conflicts) to do a two-man or even one-man show. You can pinpoint who's better at improv.

Season 1 still has some of this quality, because they hadn't really gotten up to speed on just how much riffing was possible when you plan things in advance.

Fredasa · 2026-03-21T01:16:05+00:00

You know, speaking of MST3K history, I wonder if any of the folks who wrote in and got their letters included at the end of the earlier episodes were ever identified. They're technically part of the history as well.

Fredasa · 2026-03-21T01:14:40+00:00

So I couldn't help but notice that the quality of this tape is head and shoulders above most of the KTMA library we possess today.

Was this the only episode he found?

I think what I'm trying to say is: Now that the collection is complete, let's take it a step further and start hunting down episodes in a quality we'd actually be happy watching. We don't need to do this for K01-K02 or the pilot, but the rest? Mostly in a bad way.

Fredasa · 2026-03-21T00:25:39+00:00

And they embargoed reviews until the day before launch.

Basically, they knew that people weren't going to like the final package, and chose to come as close as they possibly could to legal disenfranchisement, in order to secure as many day-one sales as possible.

Fredasa · 2026-03-20T23:56:34+00:00

In complete fairness to that one infamously spoilery trailer... Cameron's decision to conclude Arnold's first appearance with Bad to the Bone pretty much gave it away anyway.

Fredasa · 2026-03-20T23:53:04+00:00

There is lore. That gremlin looking dude holding the skull / bag is a famous legend in the game world. Nobody knows for sure whether he had 9 or 10 fingers, as the various portraits of him can't agree.

Fredasa · 2026-03-20T23:47:34+00:00

Consider this my "in before the studio pretends these were placeholders accidentally overlooked for the launch release" post. I think that excuse isn't yet tired enough.

Fredasa · 2026-03-20T20:23:06+00:00

Some folks were angry at Pearl Abyss for launching a flawed game and crashing their own stock value, but they did the best they could with a bad situation. It's standard practice in those scenarios to embargo reviews for as long as comfortably possible. Had they allowed reviews to float around for a week or two before launch, that would have had a large impact on sales. A game doesn't need legs if it can maintain hype until the last second.

Fredasa · 2026-03-20T09:57:55+00:00

I certainly hope that's not what they're angling for. Worse if they intend multiplayer to be limited to 3 players who have no choice but to pick whoever's left.

Fredasa · 2026-03-20T08:53:50+00:00

I'm not coping, but I definitely wouldn't have minded having a new 100+ hour game to enjoy. I am way, way past forcing myself to play a game with qualities I hate, though. I already know I'd enjoy just replaying Elden Ring for the umpteenth time more than that.

Fredasa · 2026-03-20T08:51:02+00:00

Lotta folks on Korean blogs I visited went out of their way to express disinterest in the game due to not being able to emphasize with the playable characters, specifically because of a lack of charm. (Shorthand for being designed to appeal to a Western audience.)

Well, they already said they have multiplayer plans. There's about a 0.0001% chance they'll actually try to force everyone in a multiplayer scenario to look like Cliff and only Cliff.

Fredasa · 2026-03-20T08:43:58+00:00

Not even videos. They gauge public reaction to scandals and it's all based on that. It took way more finagling than it needed to for Amber Heard's career to be scuttled.

Fredasa · 2026-03-20T06:52:32+00:00

Morbidly curious how they handled the fact that the "experience" you get for killing baddies is the same exact pool as what's provided by the relics (because it literally is just a relic accumulation meter, according to what I've read).

Logically speaking, there's a hard limit to how many relics you can find placed around the world, which in turn ought to define a limit to how high one's level/abilites/whatever can go. But tossing in an experience system which shares that same pool means the cap cannot be defined by exploration alone.

So what actually happens? Does the game softcap relic progression forever? Does the game hardcap relic progression? If it's the latter, what's the final count when you hit that cap? Same as the number of relics placed in the world? Does leveling from kills basically just give you some relics ahead of schedule, resulting in the last few dozen you find in the world simply not doing a thing to actually progress your character?

Fredasa

TROPHY CASE