Inside Games News and Podcasts · Lawrence Sonntag

Crimson Desert Reviews are Mixed - Inside Games Daily

March 19, 2026·22 min·1 clip

Vice gives Crimson Desert a perfect 5/5 and compares it to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

1. Inside Games Daily covers Crimson Desert reviews after the game’s embargo lifted, focusing on a split response to Pearl Abyss’s open-world design. 2. The episode features the Inside Games hosts, including Bruce and Lawrence, because Bruce has already played about four hours and Lawrence is reacting to the review spread. 3. The segment asks whether Crimson Desert is a 'mixed' release or a high-scoring game whose value depends on how much 'stuff' a player wants. 4. The hosts cite Metacritic’s 78 and OpenCritic’s 80, then argue that the game's scores range from very high to very low. 5. Vice gives Crimson Desert a perfect five out of five and compares it to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. 6. Forbes’ Paul Tassi gives the game 9.5/10 and says it is big, plays well, and can last for hundreds of hours. 7. DualShockers also gives 9.5/10 while saying the story is not the best and some bosses are 'downright unfair.' 8. Windows Central gives four and a half stars and says it stirred the same sense of awe they felt playing Elden Ring for the first time. 9. PC Gamer scores it 80/100 and calls Crimson Desert 'a game for the sickos,' then lists stock investing, goat theft, tree chopping, mining, arm wrestling, horse taming, and house decoration. 10. Eurogamer gives the game three out of five stars and criticizes a quest that tracks enemy kills with a percentage ticker in the corner. 11. Eurogamer’s reviewer asks whether the open world is 'just a prestige take on candy crush,' which becomes one of the episode’s sharpest lines. 12. VG 24/7 gives the game three out of five and complains about a story beat involving reuniting the Gray Mains, then seeing them show up at camp without explanation. 13. VG 24/7 also describes a quest that requires waiting for in-game time while the character is not allowed to sleep to pass time. 14. Shacknews gives the game 5/10 and calls it 'an exercise in excess,' adding that Crimson Desert often decides the player’s time is not valuable. 15. The hosts say the game may appeal to players who want 'bang for your buck' and a huge amount of side activities for $70. 16. They also compare the discourse to Starfield, noting that a stuffed game can still feel thin if its activities lack connective meaning. 17. The conversation has a loose, reactive energy, with the hosts interrupting each other and working through review quotes live. 18. The tone shifts between defense of content-heavy game design and skepticism toward quests that feel like 'bullshit tasks.' 19. Listeners who follow game reviews, open-world design, and score debates will get the most from this. 20. Listeners who want a spoiler-free story rundown or a short news recap may skip it.

As heard by us

A sharp look at why a content-heavy game can still divide people.

Inside Games Daily treats Crimson Desert as a familiar kind of flashpoint: a heavily hyped release that landed with decent reviews and a fair share of criticism, especially around narrative and gameplay depth.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Need a fast read on why Crimson Desert is splitting players?

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Inside Games News and Podcasts