Well, everyone, it has been almost a
week as of the time I'm recording this
video since the launch of Crimson
Desert. And I figured it was about as
good a time as any to do a bit of a
pulse check, talk about the launch, the
aftermath, and everything that happened
in the last week with the game. As you
guys know, I'm a big fan of Crimson
Desert. When I reviewed it, I said as
much, but I stressed that this was going
to be a game that some people would love
and other people would hate. I also
stressed that there was a lot of clunk
with the game, some bugs, some
eccentricities, let's say. But I
stressed in the video that this was
something I wouldn't be surprised if
they had patched within a week because
this team works so ridiculously quickly.
And since launch, they have done a
number of updates to the game. one major
one that hit just a couple of days ago
which changed like the control scheme
patched in a bunch of new fast travel
locations and as you can see Cammy here
collected all of the major patch notes
and mentioned that they reduced health
and damage of certain bosses to make
them more approachable. Let's just say
uh because some of them were rough. They
added a storage chest to the camp so you
can now keep your goods in there.
Increased healing from food. Trees can
be cut down with standard attacks. the
vision like helmet that you put on to
relive memories and stuff now
automatically equips itself. Previously,
it would prompt you with like the start
button in the bottom right to put it on
after you scanned a memory basically,
but some people didn't see that and
would manually put the helmet on in the
settings. So now they just automatically
put it on for you. So there's no excuse
for missing it, you know, to try to make
it just streamlined. the horse will
approach players, increased
responsiveness of the jump, increased UI
uh menu responsiveness and like cool
downs on switching tabs quickly, stuff
like that. Uh reduce difficulty of arm
wrestling and archery miniame, improved
keyboard and mouse controls, and they
are going to be overhauling controller
uh controls at some point in the near
future. There's even one thing they
tweaked which I just want to point out
because it's one of those things you
take for granted until you don't have
it. All through the review process,
there was no like exit game button. I'm
not joking. If you wanted to quit the
game, you would have to go to title
screen and then hold down B or escape
and then close the game from there. Now,
you can see this was previously just a
blank rectangle in the menu. Now, it's
been replaced and there's an actual exit
button there, which is a very nice thing
to have. And to be clear, a lot of these
overhauls and improvements that they've
made were in the works before reviews
went up, before launch. It's just that
they landed, you know, a couple of days
after launch. So, people are like, "Wow,
they did that in 2 days. It took them
like a week." Not that that's not crazy
impressive, but still, it's it's based
on the feedback they're getting. They
are very very quickly working their
butts off to get stuff done, and it
makes a difference. You can really tell
and appreciate it. One of the other
things that's become readily apparent is
that this is very much a game, as
predicted, that takes a bit to get into.
The onboarding is pretty rough,
honestly. And it takes a number of hours
for you to really get your feet under
you. And this is one of those things
where it's totally fair if you play a
game like Crimson Desert and it just
doesn't click with you. You don't get
it. You're not having fun within 3 to
four hours. I get it. Like, yeah, if
you're not having fun, it's it's that
old like acquired taste problem where
people tell you, "Hey, if you keep
trying this, eventually you'll love it."
Like, you know, really good whisies or
caviar. They're like, "If you engage
with it, eventually you'll love it." And
it's like, I get that, but I really like
McDonald's right now, you know, like I
don't I don't feel the need to acquire a
taste at this point. I'm good with where
I'm at. Uh, and I I think that that's a
totally valid and fair perspective to
have. But I will say when Crimson Desert
clicks with you, it clicks all across
social media. Yeah, and I'm sure even in
the comment section of this video,
you're going to see people that are
praising it and saying that they can't
put it down. There's videos going viral
of people figuring out new stuff like
how to get cat armor in the game and
like where to go to to get that. There's
all sorts of different ones you can get.
You can get like a bulldog puppy and uh
put like actual animal armor on him as
he follows you throughout the world,
which is awesome. There's so much to
this game and it's one of those games
that really rewards you for taking your
time for exploring and finding all of
these little little bitty things in
every nook and cranny. And like even now
I'm still learning stuff about the game
that I didn't know before, such as the
fact that as Blaine points out, you can
apparently ride cows as well. It's not
just dragon mounts, you can ride a cow,
too, cuz why not? Nick Tech also clipped
this one where you can find like a
pirate ship in the game. And while you
can't sail it yet, I don't know, maybe a
future expansion or something, there are
items to be found within them, like a
unique pirate hat that has all sorts of
unique abilities tied to it as well.
Like apparently the hat itself kind of
puts off a glow when you're near
treasure, which is just kind of a fun
little touch. Makes sense. Pirate
treasure. Yeah, it checks out. But
there's also other things that we're
learning about the game through players
testing. Like, as you can see in this
shot right here, I just showed you,
there's like puddles. When the the game
has like a rainstorm come through and it
creates a puddle on the ground, which
already is crazy, it will apparently dry
faster in these sunny areas versus the
areas with a lot of shade. Somehow the
game is tracking how much shade is on a
certain area and that affects how
quickly the water puddle clears up and
dries back to normal, which is like
I don't like it's I'm I'm speechless.
Like that's crazy. And seeing some of
the other armor sets and stuff that
people are finding that make you look
like you're straight out of Lord of the
Rings, it's like really engaging. Gets
you excited to be like, I wonder where
that is. And it's not a $20
microtransaction. Okay, now for sake of
spoilers, I loaded into an earlier game
save just cuz I didn't want to
potentially spoil cuz I'm currently in
an area that Digital Foundry mentioned
with some uh robotic,
let's say, bugs of of a sort. And so, if
you don't want to see that until you
reach that point, that's totally fair. I
won't spoil it for you. This is just
kind of generic forest area. But, I will
say there is so much to see and find in
the game. It is outrageous. like it's
actually ridiculous and it's it's made
me think of something that I think is
really coming to a head in 2026 more so
than I expected and that is this like
gap between certain types of players but
also just like the broader games media.
So like don't let a place like IGN
convince you that I wish there was more
to find than it beautiful locations.
Like you can say a lot about Crimson
Desert. Criticizing it for like a lack
of content is crazy work. Like that's
wild. Now, to their credit, in the
actual article, there is a bit more
nuance, but it basically boils down to
the story is not the focus. When you go
out and explore, you'll have more fun,
which I feel like anybody could have
told you. And I feel like that was
already communicated by everybody who
experienced the game. But, you know
what? I I don't know. I guess I
shouldn't be that surprised anymore. But
I think that type of gap has opened
between a lot of players where like if
you go into a game with with the wrong
expectations, you may not have that good
of a time. Like I think a game like this
is the most fun.
There we go. When you are are just kind
of exploring openly. This is spooky. um
openly and freely and you're not really
trying that hard to stick to a specific
quest line or to uh stick to a very
particular set of quest objectives. It's
just not that kind of game. But when
people go into it expecting it to be
like that, they end up frustrated. They
end up feeling like, I don't know what
to do. And that's what the first like 7
to 8 hours of the game for a lot of
people feels like where they just don't
really know, for lack of a better term,
how to play it, you know? And that's
true of every game. Some games that take
too a while to settle into them. Like
Red Dead 2, one of my favorite games of
all time, it's pretty slow in the start.
I mean, it's like a meme that the snowy
sections are really dry and it takes a
little while for the game to get going.
And that's very much true. But once you
get past that, once it clicks and you
start living the cowboy fantasy, dude,
it there's just nothing else like it.
It's awesome. But I think that is what's
really cool about Crimson Desert is that
once you kind of give yourself over and
you just start to wonder, I wonder
what's in that waterfall. Or like right
here, as you can see, when I focus,
those little lights glow in the
distance. Those are little points of
interest or pieces of treasure that I
should seek out. And if I seek them out
with this, you can see certain things
are really highlighted as points of
focus that I should seek out. And once
you learn to use these types of tools
and to just explore the game for the
sake of exploring it, it opens up a a
world that's unlike Oh no, I got
attacked by the bush. Or no, by the
thorns. It's not a bush, it's a thorn
bush. God damn it.
Felt like I just had a stroke. That was
weird. Anyway, I I think once you kind
of learn how the game wants you to
engage with it, you have a lot more
time. And that's what I was trying to
communicate and mention in like my
preview coverage of the game, which was
that this is a game some people will
love and hate based on how they engage
with games. If you need more, for lack
of a better term, yellow paint or
guidance, you're just flatly not going
to have that much fun straight up. And
that's okay. There's certain games I
don't have a lot of fun with. I suck at
fighting games. I'm really bad at them.
It's not even that entertaining to
watch. It's just bad. And that's okay.
It just means that those are not my type
of games. It doesn't mean those games
are bad. It means I'm bad at them. You
know, here's the uh the point that was
glistening and boom, I got a fast travel
point because I I looked in the
environment, found a point of interest,
and sought it out. You know, that's how
it works. But like I was saying, if
you're a player that wants more
guidance, this is just not the game for
you. It's it's not designed that way.
And that's one of its strengths, I
think, but it's also going to for some
people be its weakness. It's precisely
because it's not designed for everybody
that it excels at being for somebody
like me uh that really likes the
open-ended exploration. And uh that's
why, you know, some people bounced off
of Breath of the Wild, for example.
There are some people that played it and
were like, I don't know what to do. I'm
just going around shrines. I don't like
it. Where's the story? And that's a fine
feeling to have. It probably just means
it's not your type of game, which is
cool. That's fine. It doesn't mean the
game is bad, though. But I think that's
what was so revealing during the review
process is that there were a lot of
people where the game clearly was just
not for them. They were critiquing it
for not having that compelling of a
narrative, for the characters not being
as much in focus as they would have
expected. Constant comparisons to The
Witcher 3 or Red Dead 2 and its story.
And so they ended up scoring the game
because it wasn't what they wanted, not
based on what it actually was. And when
you meet the game where it's at and you
play it for what it is, you end up
having a great time with it. And I think
it's just, you know, the nature of the
beast when it comes to reviews is that
sometimes a game is not going to be a
for a reviewer. And so you end up in
this weird spot where certain content uh
in the game you just don't enjoy. But
it's not because the content's bad. It's
just content that you don't find that
engaging or interesting, you know. Oh my
god, dude. Look. Look. This is This
ain't just a pirate ship. This is a
whailing ship. Do you see what's on the
shore over there
with the birds circling over top?
Dude, they went whaling.
What?
That's cool, dude. I didn't know that
was a thing over here, but there you go.
See? still learning new stuff. Oh, he's
a good boy. Oh, he's a good boy. It
looks like my cat, Hermione.
Oh, that's a good boy. Oh, yes. My dog's
jealous.
Do you want some seafood? I got some
seafood for you. Honest question, would
a cat like whale? I don't actually think
they would. Aren't they blubbery? I
don't think they would even like a
whale. But here, my gift to you. My gift
to you. Oh. Oh, you give it to pets.
Give it to pets. Good kitty. Okay. Set.
Set him down.
This is yours now. Enjoy.
Enjoy all the seafood you want.
That's baller, dude. That's crazy. But
anyway, I think it's opened up a lot of
discourse around like what makes a a
game good for reviewers is not
necessarily what's going to make it good
for the individual, you know, gamer that
uh is looking for just something
different. There's all sorts of
stereotypes with games nowadays where,
you know, it's uh it's kind of like a
movie being Oscar bait, you know, where
it's like, oh, this wasn't made for
general audiences, it's made to get
awards. There's this feeling that
there's certain games that are designed
for reviewers and then games designed
for like quote unquote gamers for for
more typical gamers that are not
interested in like the really cinematic
stuff or or the type of thing that
reviews really well. I love the spear
dude. This one's so good. And honestly,
I don't think that that is totally fair.
I don't think it whittleles down that
simply. I think it's a little more
nuanced than that. I think it's just an
artifact of how big companies try to
assign reviewers to stuff. There's going
to be games that don't click with
certain reviewers, but because everybody
has to put a number on the game, it
leads to situations where a game gets a
bad score, not because it's a bad game,
but because it wasn't something the
reviewer was ever really going to like.
And when you bring up that point, the
reviewer gets like kind of offended and
insulted that you disagree and then they
kind of crash out.
A tale as old as time. It's okay if you
don't like certain games. That's totally
totally fine. You don't have to like
Crimson Desert. You don't have to like
Marathon. You don't have to like uh Red
Dead 2 or Breath of the Wild or The
Witcher 3. There's plenty of people who
who are diehard gamers who are really
passionate about the hobby that don't
like some of those games that are
critically acclaimed that a lot of other
people have in their best ever, you
know. But I think the uh the discourse
around Crimson Desert has just been
really fascinating because it's been so
polarizing. The people that love it
really love it and the people that don't
just do not understand why people are
connecting with it. They're they're
thoroughly flabbergasted. And maybe it's
just because the controls are a little
clunky. Maybe it's because they need a
story that is really really compelling
to keep them motivated to go through a
story or to go through a campaign and
and explore a world, which is totally
fine. But for others, they see a world
like this and this is all they need to
to know. like this is all they need.
They see that spire over there, they
want to climb it, which by this point in
the game, you will have already done.
Spoilers. You want to climb that spire,
you can do that, too. You want to know
what's behind that waterfall, you can.
When I started the video, we were up on
that little cliff right there. We were
up there and then we jumped down. We
went over here. We went down to the
fishing village. Did all that. No
intention beyond one like light
reflecting in the distance. And that's
what motivated us to run all the way
down there. Did you see that?
There's one down there. Let's go find
it. And there are quests. There is a
story here. There are characters that
that I find, you know, entertaining and
engaging. But it's just one of those
games that either you get it or you
don't. And it's just been fascinating to
see the disconnect with some people. But
what I do know is that I'm having a
great time. I'm thoroughly enjoying it.
I mean, even Joe, like, dude, the water.
Look at the water. The waves crash in
and simulate around the rocks. That's
crazy. I saw an article that just went
up about how one of the developers on
Red Dead 2 was thoroughly impressed with
the water system in Crimson Desert and
said it was more advanced than anything
he was aware of in any of the other
games that they've been working on.
Like, it's just very, very impressive.
And I believe it cuz I haven't seen
in-game water that looks that crazy
good, I think, ever. which is saying
something cuz there's been a lot of
effort put into some in-game water over
the years. It's just very impressively
done here. But listen, at the end of the
day, I'm just glad that people are
playing the game. They gave it a shot
and they're having a great time. And it
seems like the very very quick
turnaround on patches, the uh later
people get into the game, the more they
get hooked into it. And it seems like
the discourse around Crimson Desert now
is shifting from uh but IGN said it's
bad and now it's shifting more towards
bro I found out that you can put your
cat in armor and I found out that you
can use a cow as a mount. That's
awesome. And so people are starting to
focus on the game itself instead of the
discourse around the game which I think
is where of course most games are going
to excel. And so while in the initial
aftermath of the review scores dropping
the stock plummeted 30%. Like no joke
just today the stock recovered 26%.
Which is crazy. Like it's just crazy.
But it's cuz investors saw oh they sold
3 million copies now. Oh what are the
hour engagement times like? Oh and all
of a sudden again the narrative stops
being about like the narrative of the
narrative around the game. It becomes
about the game itself which is where I
think it's going to excel. And my guess
is they're going to continue breaking
records on concurrent player counts,
especially like on the weekends. Uh
right now we're in the middle of the
work week and they're still getting to
like roughly 200,000 concurrent players
in the middle of the workday, which is
crazy. Uh on Sunday, they reached a new
all-time peak of 248,000
players just on Steam. And I wouldn't be
surprised if they hit another all-time
peak this weekend as word of mouth
continues to spin and spin. As you can
see, the reviews have also skyrocketed
up significantly. They were like fully
mixed when the game first launched due
to like performance issues or due to
controls and some stuff like that that
they've already fixed or addressed,
which is wild. And I can at least say
that anecdotally, I've had friends and
family that were not interested in the
game at launch that have started to see
like Tik Toks and YouTube videos and
Facebook posts about the game and about
some of the stuff that's in the game.
and it's tickled their interest. They've
they've gotten intrigued by just how
massive this game is. It's starting to
tickle the veil of like the mainstream
veil. And uh I wouldn't be surprised if
it continues to make gains and gain
momentum as uh the next few weeks go by.
As people get deeper and deeper into the
game and find new stuff, I think there's
going to be even more people who are
willing to jump in and give it a shot.
Add on to that some of the other stuff
such as the resurfaced comments from the
CEO mentioning that if the game sold
well enough, they would look at doing a
multiplayer update uh expansion, which
would be crazy. Like, if you've not seen
what you can do by summoning one of your
companions to fight alongside you, it's
crazy. And the idea of doing some of
these boss fights with a friend, I think
would be awesome. And this would again
just cause the game, I think, to
skyrocket in sales and engagement even
further. So, we'll see how it goes over
the next few weeks, of course. But I
think that we're at the point with
Crimson Desert where now people are just
playing the game. The initial like
I don't know, rage, I guess, uh going
both ways has kind of settled.
Initially, the rage was like that
reviewers were reviewing it too poorly
and then other people said that some
reviewers were reviewing it too highly
and so everybody was just pissed at each
other. But then the game launched.
People have just started playing it and
finding out that like, "Oh, actually
this is kind of baller and they're
having a great time." And so now the
discussion is about the game itself,
which I love. But let me know what you
think of all of this in the comments
section below. Are you playing it? Where
are you at in the game? Have you gotten
past that boss yet? Let me know. I also
like legitimately need to know if I'm
alone. I showed you guys this in my
review. I still have it on my desk
because I'm messy and I haven't cleaned
it yet. But I've I've got a bunch of
these note cards for solving puzzles
that I found out in the open world when
I'm like, I need to just chart this out
cuz I'm like a visual thinker. And so I
need to know, am I the only one that
does this? Have you also like written
out stuff and taken notes to help you
through the game or am I just a boomer?
Let me know in the comments. I need to
be validated. That's going to do it for
me. Thank you for watching. Much love.
Make sure to subscribe because I've got
a bunch of videos in the next few days
on some pretty exciting things that are
interesting. So, make sure to subscribe
and ring the bell and all that stuff.
But with that said, thank you for
watching. I love you all desperately,
and I'll see you in the next one. Hugs
and kisses.
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