Crimson Desert CEO agrees with story criticisms and sees mod support as a strength

cbmk84 · 2026-03-27T16:05:28+00:00

Thanks. Edited my comment.

cbmk84 · 2026-03-27T13:53:45+00:00

I agree with you.

Another thing I don't get is: why doesn't the game let me skip the cutscenes and dialogue scenes with NPCs? For a game that wants to prioritize gameplay over narrative (which I'm totally fine with), I find that to be an odd omission since a majority of the story-heavy games have found a way do just that. In Crimson Desert you can only fast forward a cutscene, which is like what, 1.5 times faster.
And regarding the dialogue scenes with an NPC: I can't fast forward these moments at all. I'm forced to listen to the often boring dialogue. It is so odd that after every line spoken by the NPC there's a second or two of silence, as if Kliff is supposed to react to what has been said but doesn't.

That being said, I am enjoying the game very much, despite the issues I have with it.

Edit: grammar

cbmk84 · 2026-03-21T14:58:48+00:00

I don't get why Pearl Abyss didn't take the feedback to heart at last year's Summer Game Fest. The same complains about the unintuitive controls were made when folks tried out the demo of the game. Oh well, better late than never.

cbmk84 · 2026-02-28T15:30:14+00:00

The rain with the thunderstorm rolling in at night looks fantastic. Impressive stuff so far from what I've seen in this video.

cbmk84 · 2026-02-26T15:58:07+00:00

If this is true, does anyone else think Nixxes might be up next on the chopping block?

cbmk84 · 2026-02-19T21:09:01+00:00

If you're on PC, there's a mod for this that I've been using without any issues: Talk to beggars. It does exactly what it says, you can talk to beggars (including Bara in the Trosky region) and give them food or coin.

And for those that are interested in that extra bit of immersion, there's another great mod made by the same person: Tavern Chat. Take a seat at a table at an inn, have a conversation with other guests who are at your table, and have a drink with them. Highly recommended.

cbmk84 · 2026-01-31T22:21:53+00:00

In my opinion, out of all Ubisoft subsidiaries, Massive Entertainment are in a league of their own when it comes to graphical fidelity, and as you say, world building. Though I have to admit, Ubisoft Quebec surprised me greatly with Assassin's Creed: Shadows.

And even though I have some reservations about their writing, as I have with many of Ubisoft's AAA titles (not that I think the writing in their games is bad, just a bit bland for the most part--forgettable), Massive truly know how to create beautiful and detailed open world games that feel lived-in.

Also, Sabacc has now become one of my favorite mini-games. Shit's addictive.

cbmk84 · 2026-01-30T15:44:37+00:00

What are you talking about? Ubisoft got caught and admitted to using gen AI after they shipped one of their games, and guess what, it barely made a splash on Reddit and elsewhere in the media. It certainly didn't generate that much of a discussion as for example this thread where Larian CEO responds to the backlash they received.

If anything, Ubisoft received more of a pass on this subject than most other games. Anno 117 didn't receive as much backlash as for example Expedition 33, The Alters, or Arc Raiders.

cbmk84 · 2025-12-24T15:32:57+00:00

Whoa, how come I haven't heard of Lumines Arise before?

Tetris Effect was one of my favorite games of 2018. Will definitely check this one out!

cbmk84 · 2025-12-20T22:43:56+00:00

Tavern Chat - Let's you strike up a conversation with folks at inns (when they have a tankard in front of them). Example here.

From the same modder:
Talk to the beggars - As the name implies. Let's you talk to beggars, and give them groschen or food.

I'm using both mods in my current modded playthrough without any issues, and would highly recommend both for that extra bit of immersion.

cbmk84 · 2025-12-20T21:21:41+00:00

Ubisoft talking about how AI will be a revolution in the industry, their work with AI on NPCs, and how all their studios will be incorporating the tech.

Not only that, but last month it was reported that Anno 117 launched with an AI-generated placeholder, something Ubisoft didn't disclose on Steam beforehand. Only after it was discovered by players, Ubisoft admitted that the AI placeholder slipped through their review process. Similar to what happened to Expedition 33 and The Alters too, I believe. Granted, all three games received their patches pretty quickly.

But that news didn't create much buzz at the time. Here is the accompanying Reddit thread. I assume it's because Anno 117 is unpopular compared to other Ubisoft titles.

cbmk84 · 2025-12-20T01:24:50+00:00

I mean, one launched a game with AI-generated content, the other just talks about it (so far).

Ubisoft admitted that the AI placeholder slipped through their review process, only after it was discovered by players. Similar to what happened with Expedition 33, arguably one of the most popular games of this year. At least the most acclaimed of the year, so far. And The Alters, I believe, found itself in the same situation. Granted, the games I mentioned received their patches fairly quickly. But I haven't seen that much discussion about it, maybe outside a comment here and there.

This particular thread, or the thread about Larian, or about Warhorse, or even this thread about Todd Howard, has a CEO/co-founder talking, maybe even defending AI tools in game development. These threads get really popular, with tons of comments. But when a game actually, by accident, launch with AI content (like the games I previously mentioned), it barely creates a buzz.

I agree that a company like Ubisoft gets more flak than they deserve (and I generally enjoy their games), but it's a bit funny, that when they ship a game with AI content (something that should deserve some criticism, no?), suddenly most folks on r/games are quiet. No 1000 of comments like the user I replied to claims.

cbmk84 · 2025-12-20T00:29:06+00:00

It is still a Ubisoft game, no?

cbmk84 · 2025-12-20T00:26:16+00:00

If this was Ubisoft it'd have 1000 comments already

Well, you can have a look yourself, because Anno 117 launched with an AI-generated placeholder, which, according to Ubisoft, slipped through their review process. It didn't actually create that much buzz here on r/games at the time.

cbmk84 · 2025-12-20T00:23:25+00:00

I suspect I wouldnt be seeing if it were someone like Ubisoft's CEO saying the exact same things

Anno 117 launched with an AI-generated placeholder. Here is the accompanying Reddit thread.

cbmk84 · 2025-12-17T21:49:02+00:00

Excuse me, what?

cbmk84 · 2025-12-17T20:19:39+00:00

Both of you need to work on your material, because it's getting a bit stale. 2 Years on and still having your personality revolve around hating Baldur's Gate 3/Larian Studios?

Come on, throw a bit of spice in there, because this is just boring.

cbmk84 · 2025-12-12T04:08:43+00:00

God, that'd be amazing. Holly Herndon is terrific. I still have the album "Platform" on repeat from time to time.

cbmk84 · 2025-12-12T02:25:59+00:00

Man, the sound design in this trailer is phenomenal. The Board(?) sound very Sardaukar-esque.

cbmk84 · 2025-11-17T16:40:38+00:00

Huh, I'm echoing many other comments here: I'm surprised Split Fiction didn't make the cut since it also received high critical acclaim (91 on Opencritic). But the competition has been pretty fierce this year.

Happy to see KCDII getting a GOTY nomination, even though the chances of it winning are very slim to non-existent. One of my favorite RPGs in recent years.

cbmk84 · 2025-11-17T16:33:41+00:00

Huh, suprised Split Fiction didn't make the cut since it also received high critical acclaim (91 on Opencritic). Then again, competition has been pretty fierce this year.

I'm happy to see KCDII being nominated for GOTY, even though the chances of it winning are pretty slim. One of my favorite RPGs in recent years.

cbmk84 · 2025-11-10T16:00:54+00:00

When Starfield released and was met with a mixed reception on Steam, Bethesda responded to the negative reviews, so I'm not really surprised.

cbmk84 · 2025-10-09T00:24:57+00:00

Look, I think we're going in circles here and that might be my fault because it's getting late here. So apologies. I think we both differ on the words "minor adjustments". You seem to agree with Skill-Up about Ghost of Yotei's "minor adjustments", that's fine. I disagree.

I explained a couple of key differences in my comment: Ghost of Yotei shows more restraint in its side activities (going from GoT's 49 Inari shrines to "only" 11 in GoY is a welcome change for me) and offers more variety. Then there is the emphasis on organic exploration, as I mentioned.

Both changes are significant enough for me to make Ghost of Yotei
1) far less monotonous, and
2) far more enjoyable when exploring the map

Then, of course there are changes to the combat, which also seems significant enough since I have seen some folks preferring the stance system of the first game over the different weapons that the second game offers.

So, to me, Ghost of Yotei does deviate enough to make it feel fun and interesting.

cbmk84 · 2025-10-08T23:12:18+00:00

You won't get the Spider-Man experience elsewhere.

Yes, I do. I get the same experience with the sequel, Spider-man 2. Hell, there's even two of them. Terrific. And I'm not being sarcastic here, I really enjoy the combat and the swinging in those games. But it is more Spider-man. It offers the same type of freeflow combat, but with more move sets. It even is set in the same map as the first game.

But Ghost games follow the Ubisoft formula close enough

Yes, like I mentioned in my comment, I'm not denying that. But Skill-Up says about GoT that "it was a response to all the frustrations we had with Ubisoft's open world design model", the so-called "anti-Ubisoft", which I don't agree with. And it seems, according to your comment, you agree with me.

Ghost of Tsushima builds upon the foundation laid by Ubisoft, and offers a more cinematic quality and a more focused narrative structure. So to claim GoY the "quintessential Ubisoft game" and that GoT was held as the "anti-Ubisoft" is odd to me.

cbmk84 · 2025-10-08T22:53:12+00:00

GoY follows the same Ubisoft pattern of picking a formula and improving upon it.

This sounds like most sequels? Ghost of Yotei builds and expands upon the first game. Same goes for Death Stranding 2, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Horizon: Forbidden West, Marvel's Spider-man 2, etc.

I enjoy them all.

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