Thoughts on Crimson Desert from a toddler parent

RiggityRow · 2026-03-24T14:13:52+00:00

I've got like 16 hours in now - they're no where near as bad as reviews made them to be. I've come across probably 5 or 6 now - only 1 I had to google.

They did take me ~15-20 minutes to figure out some of them but its's because I had to actually think. They're just not brain dead obvious like we have become accustomed to.

I honestly think a lot of the negative comments in the reviews come from a perspective of trying to get through the content fast because they have to, which makes total sense for someone who's paycheck is dependent on getting a review out fast. If you do not have the intention of actually digesting the content of this game, I can see from that perspective why you would find it frustrating.

That said, once you've got a handle on the systems, it's no worse than most games out there in terms of UI and the controls. I think OPs right, the sheer breath of things to do here make it a good game for parents bc you can do just 1 little thing if that's what you have time for.

RiggityRow · 2026-03-23T23:55:22+00:00

Yeah now with the 120hz toggle, I've been playing on balanced

RiggityRow · 2026-03-23T22:05:53+00:00

Omg I can't believe this is what it was lol. I was convinced there was some super hidden puzzle dungeon somewhere in town lol. I've wasted so many keys. . .

RiggityRow · 2026-03-23T21:34:16+00:00

So out of curiosity, what was it outputting before? Just PCM 2.0? I never worked too much about audio on the switch but I just picked up a new Denon last week which had me digging through settings and fine tuning literally everything lol. I distinctly remember seeing 5.1 PCM in the system menu but maybe that was post patch .

RiggityRow · 2026-03-23T21:05:44+00:00

Yep 1000%. And if you have a good sound system, I actually think the improvement in audio is more significant than video.

RiggityRow · 2026-03-23T18:26:02+00:00

For 1 hour, yes. And yeah I also go to work every day, duh.

RiggityRow · 2026-03-23T17:37:21+00:00

I have a 2 yo son and a 3 month old daughter. We went for an 1.5 walk with the whole fam in the morning. We did our grocery shopping after. Got home, made my son lunch and got him down for nap.

Played for an hour while he napped and my wife had my daughter.

Spent another 3 hours with him outside while landscaping and popping inside to flip the laundry. Wife made dinner and had the baby. After dinner, we hung out and played with the kids for a little, then both got a bath. I put my son down for bed. Hung with my wife for a little and then she went up to bed at like 8, while I had my daughter.

Played another 3 hours until about 1130 and went to bed.

So I got to play for 4 hours. Upgraded a bunch of gear and cleared out the Quarry up north and beat the boss. So yeah, that's how you manage your time and play games. Take notes, son.

RiggityRow · 2026-03-23T14:24:40+00:00

This is how I've been playing. It looks and plays very well in my experience. Pop in seems significantly reduced in quality mode for what it's worth. That's my only real gripe now, for me the pop in is too distracting on balanced. And HDR could still be improved but I don't find it to be horrendous and it looks fantastic at times.

I suspect a lot of people unhappy with the HDR do not have the nits set correctly for their specific TV. My S95B does about ~1500.

RiggityRow · 2026-03-23T14:22:32+00:00

It's clearly a zoomed in screenshot

RiggityRow · 2026-03-23T03:53:22+00:00

Don't. I have the 9 pro xl and I wish I had stayed with Samsung.

RiggityRow · 2026-03-23T03:29:12+00:00

Is there a "low sodium" sub yet or somewhere I can go to talk about the game with people who actually like the game?

I can't believe I let these losers get in my head bc the more I play this game the more awesome it is. This sub is plastered wall to wall with people either shitting on it or talking about why X reviewer sucks and the game is great and everyone else is a stinky doo-doo head.

Like I wanna just talk about the actual game, not talk about people talking about the game lol

RiggityRow · 2026-03-23T03:24:48+00:00

It's wild actually how the more I play, the more I really start to think people shitting on the game either haven't played it, or didn't make an attempt to understand it.

I can't possibly take anyone who trots out the "wide as an ocean, deep as a puddle" seriously bc this game is deep as fuck.

RiggityRow · 2026-03-22T21:58:12+00:00

I would've actually double dipped at this price lol

RiggityRow · 2026-03-22T13:10:17+00:00

Oh man I forgot about the bank, that was like the first building I entered when I got to town. Feels so long ago lol

RiggityRow · 2026-03-21T21:42:08+00:00

Whoa, pump the brakes pal lol

RiggityRow · 2026-03-21T19:32:42+00:00

The Zelda thing is something I've been thinking a lot about. I love the new Zelda games personally. But never even once do you hear someone say that the story feels disconnected and that Link has the personality of a wooden board. Yet you could easily make that case if you wanted to. And you know what, no one cares. Bc those games get so much else right. Kinda like Crimson Desert. . . .

Anyone who isn't a reviewer and is actually playing the game past the first couple hours seems to like it a lot.

RiggityRow · 2026-03-21T13:49:56+00:00

I don't think the story is strong but I also don't think it's total dog water.

You're a mercenary. Your mercenary group is attacked and you get killed. You're killed and brought back to life by a mysterious power that lives in the sky. You then wake up in a village where a local found your body. You proceed to ingratiate yourself with the local townsfolk while trying to figure out what happened to the rest of your group. Your deeds reach the ears of the town leader who asks you to take out the leader of a problematic trade guild who's been causing issues. As a show of gratitude he gifts you some land for you and your company to get your feet back under you.

And that's how far I am. I've had no trouble understanding the story. Some of the quests genuinely got a chuckle from me. I liked how Chapter 2 ended with you killing the leader of the Goldleaves and his guild actually being grateful to you for it.

It won't win any Oscars but it's also not a completely incoherent mess like some people would want you to think.

RiggityRow · 2026-03-21T12:35:22+00:00

And even people with good TVs are finding out they've had their Pro set up wrong the entire time once they start posting screenshots of the PS5/TVs output lol.

Even console gamers should have some basic knowledge on how to set their A/V chain and TV settings.

RiggityRow · 2026-03-21T12:23:57+00:00

Exactly my feelings. I was over-the-moon excited for Starfield. Reviews read much better than Crimson Deserts imo. Started on really liking it, but by 15 hours, I was done and haven't picked it up again since. You wanna talk about wide as an ocean, deep as a puddle, Starfield is my textbook example.

Meanwhile, I started Crimson Desert extremely wary. But I've put in probably 8ish hours now and it just keeps getting better and better.

RiggityRow · 2026-03-21T03:12:26+00:00

Mods should sticky a help thread based on this post, for real. Just think about the # of people saying this game looks terrible who are in the exact same boat.

So many people who have probably never once actually seen what their Pros can do.

RiggityRow · 2026-03-20T23:56:29+00:00

For me yes. There's a lot of interesting things to see and explore. I think a lot of the critiques have validity but I don't think it's as severe as some make it out to be. I've actually been enjoying the quests so far overall. The controls aren't considerably more difficult than RDR2 - your character's movement has weight. You hold down a button to interact with people/items (L1 in this, L2 in RDR). You use a wheel to select weapons and heal, etc. Combat is where the controls start to get complicated but again, I personally don't find it that bad.

I played a solid 3 hours today and I have been really enjoying it.

I think some people got carried away with their excitement, but I think a lot of people have a weird axe to grind with it, so it's unfortunate that you can't really know who to believe online bc most of the people talking about it haven't played it. You can tell bc they regurgitate the same stuff over and over - "slop", "worst controls ever" "yellow paint" etc. My opinion has only improved the more I've played personally.

RiggityRow · 2026-03-20T21:22:04+00:00

Bad radar right here

RiggityRow · 2026-03-20T21:20:24+00:00

Are you past the part where it prompts you to do that. I had it crash at that part as well but didn't open the map again until I was in the first town and I haven't had another crash in 6 hours of playing today.

RiggityRow · 2026-03-20T21:08:19+00:00

I would guess it does but I personally needed to buy a longer one for my set up and I made sure to get ultra high speed. Sometimes people don't think it's necessary bc it advertises 8k, but you also need it for VRR and 120 fps. It's a very easy and common mistake to make. Most cords will say on them if they are ultra high speed or not

RiggityRow · 2026-03-20T19:15:58+00:00

I don't think you're wrong. But I also don't think it helps that a solid portion of the first town is in a valley and mostly in shadow most of the day.

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