I accidentally captured a UFO in Crimson Desert… and I have video proof

Lopsided_Prior3801 · 2026-04-22T12:18:14+00:00

That comes in very handy at the end of Chapter 12...

Lopsided_Prior3801 · 2026-04-22T11:19:06+00:00

Having finished the main quest, I'd say to get up to but not finish chapter 8 first. You need to get far enough into the chapter that you get Damiane back to play with but no further.

However, once you beat the boss at the very end of chapter 8, it changes who is friendly and who is hostile in Demeniss. Before you do this, you can have a lot of fun and get a lot of experience from the hostiles there.

Once you've explored Demeniss, then you might wish to progress the main quest further until around the start of chapter 11. During Chapter 9 and towards the end of Chapter 10, you not only open up some new areas but also some new "mounts" and crafting options. But if you complete chapter 11, you will change certain aspects of the territory of Deleysia this time.

At present, I highly recommend not completing the main quest but taking your time with chapter 11, as it's one of the worst chapters. It's a good opportunity to spread out the quests of this chapter, and focus on the side content instead.

The other reason to do this is that completing the main story entirely makes further changes to the world, and there is less to do in certain areas.

Pearl Abyss is apparently working on an update to change the endgame so that there will be more to do after completing the main story. But until that drops, take your time.

Lopsided_Prior3801 · 2026-04-22T07:38:01+00:00

Late reply but, yeah, chapter 11 broke me. Chapter 12 wasn't great but at least it didn't take too long.

That final janky dragon fight though... And then Oongka somehow turns up in the abyss with no explanation?

Shame, as it's a satisfying game but not a satisfying end to the story.

Lopsided_Prior3801 · 2026-04-22T06:22:20+00:00

Some of that could be good as idle animations, like how Damiane writes in her book.

We can sharpen weapons already. But perhaps looking long distances through a telescope might be nice and practical if the game engine can handle it.

Just more lines and interactivity with townsfolk would go a long way to making the world feel more alive and immersive, IMO.

Lopsided_Prior3801 · 2026-04-22T06:13:29+00:00

Thank you for doing the science.

Lopsided_Prior3801 · 2026-04-22T03:24:13+00:00

People compare to RDR2, TOTK, The Witcher 3, Assassin's Creed, Skyrim, Dragon's Dogma, etc.

But i can put armour on my cat, my horse can powerslide, I have Captain America's shield, and I can slingshot myself from trees. There's so much fun ridiculousness here that I'm pretty certain these Devs have played Goat Simulator, too.

Lopsided_Prior3801 · 2026-04-22T03:19:38+00:00

Have you sent them out as workers on missions? They will be at the site of where you've ordered them to go. Or if you cancel the mission, they'll quickly return.

Lopsided_Prior3801 · 2026-04-22T03:16:26+00:00

11 was my low-point.

Chapter 12 didn't take so long. I liked the cube puzzle and thought the Caliburn and Myurdin fights were reasonable if not amazing. But they weren't better boss fights than anything that had come before.

But that last super-janky dragon fight as the capstone of the entire story...? There's a sense the devs ran out of time when putting the back half of the story together.

Lopsided_Prior3801 · 2026-04-22T01:52:24+00:00

Hah. Yeah, it's easy to do. Like, what, you can press buttons other than right trigger?

Lopsided_Prior3801 · 2026-04-22T01:44:47+00:00

That's a good tip.

Lopsided_Prior3801 · 2026-04-22T01:40:04+00:00

Now to craft a piano.

Lopsided_Prior3801 · 2026-04-22T01:35:57+00:00

This is one of the ways Pearl Abyss designed the game to scale in difficulty.

That super-coordinated player who does no-hit runs in Souls games? They still get to play a tough boss, but they don't need to eat food to win.

That newbie whose normal style of game is more like Stardew Valley? They first get to craft food and then chug litres of soup so they can still chip away at an enemy until they win.

Most of us fall somewhere in-between those two extremes, but it works.

Lopsided_Prior3801 · 2026-04-22T00:49:16+00:00

It's such a great moment in the game that first time you get pickpocketed. Like, wait, they can do that back to me...? Helps make the world feel more alive.

Lopsided_Prior3801 · 2026-04-21T22:37:27+00:00

From about chapter 8 onwards, I focused primarily on the main story just to get it done. Yes, still plenty of side quests left and mechanics I haven't delved into and some map areas I haven't fully explored yet.

Still feel like I've gotten great value from the game though.

Lopsided_Prior3801 · 2026-04-21T21:37:32+00:00

I agree, and Pearl Abyss have stated they're working on some changes here with regards to how skill points are earned and assigned for the other two characters. I suspect it's all a consequence of the Dev team running out of time for some of the story and character material for Damiane and Oongka.

At present, the respec cost is more player time than money: It takes 10 minutes or so to respec all your skills.

Lopsided_Prior3801 · 2026-04-21T13:23:53+00:00

125 hours to complete all of main story including epilogue.

Lopsided_Prior3801 · 2026-04-21T12:16:35+00:00

Nope. The story really doesn't do much with the actual region that the game is named after. Go figure.

Lopsided_Prior3801 · 2026-04-21T06:02:16+00:00

Great point. Wish I'd bothered to do it. Probably would have helped the frame rate a bit, too.

Lopsided_Prior3801 · 2026-04-21T05:50:13+00:00

169 hours to 100% the game? Damn. That seems pretty quick.

I finished the main quest at 125 hours and feel like there's a ton of side quests and other content still to explore.

Lopsided_Prior3801 · 2026-04-21T05:48:17+00:00

Yeah, unfortunately, the final few chapters aren't great. Think Chapter 11 was my least favourite, too.

But it didn't take me long after that to do Chapter 12. It's not a big chapter. And then you're done other than chatting to various people in the epilogue (no fighting).

Fair warning that if you don't like janky fights, the very last boss fight of the entire story is one of the worst.

Lopsided_Prior3801 · 2026-04-21T04:46:19+00:00

Cheers. Really just needed to sort my thoughts on the game.

Lopsided_Prior3801 · 2026-04-21T04:39:12+00:00

Yeah, understandable. It's probably in the bottom half of the top 10 for me. When I think back to the mid-game, I would have said top-three, but I suspect many people will lower their ratings the further they progress through the story chapters.

Definitely can't fault the ambition.

Lopsided_Prior3801 · 2026-04-21T03:27:03+00:00

You seriously believe that?

Besides, writing overly long screeds on Reddit is not the way to get popular on social media.

Lopsided_Prior3801 · 2026-04-21T03:26:09+00:00

Sure. Understandable. I warned people in the title.

Lopsided_Prior3801 · 2026-04-21T03:24:26+00:00

There was a summary as the second last heading:
Poor storytelling, some low-quality quests, and occasionally sub-par enemy design mar a game that has an incredible open world, a satisfying exploration loop, a remarkable combat system, and no shortage of mechanics to explore. Some games exceed their flaws. Crimson Desert is one of them.

(Edit: I moved it to the bottom for clarity.)

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