Crimson Desert's story is the least impressive thing about the skyscraper-sized, open-world fantasy game, but Pearl Abyss is ready to change that. Soon, the developer will start fiddling with its narrative that tries convincing you a guy named Kliff could be someone's savior, and Fallout: New Vegas director Josh Sawyer is giving the company his storyteller blessing.
Pearl Abyss says in a June 2 update describing its plans from now until September that it's been "carefully reviewing the story-related feedback you have shared with us" – so Pearl Abyss might have seen some of those overstuffed Reddit threads calling Crimson Desert's story "terrible," "aggrovatingly bad," and "absolutly non sense." Therefore, "To further strengthen the narrative flow of Kliff’s journey and to make it more engaging, we are working to refine and improve the coherence of key scenes," Pearl Abyss continues. "We hope these improvements will offer something new even for those who have already experienced Pywel."
Since even Pearl Abyss' shareholders were questioning Crimson Desert's lackluster drama about restoring the dignity of the shattered Greymane faction, I think it's smart the developer has decided to go forward with storyline changes rather than focusing exclusively on gameplay patches. While you don't often see developers reworking key cutscenes to a launched game, game expansions and DLC frequently elaborate on mythology, so I don't find Pearl Abyss' plans shocking.
Game director Josh Sawyer, whose experience leading games like Pentiment and Fallout: New Vegas make him an expert in video game stories that endure, seems to think the same thing. He addresses Pearl Abyss' narrative game plan in a Bluesky post, saying, "I think this is fine / good even if it isn't ideal."
Fixing up a game's story is "like patching anything," Sawyer continues. "It's better to patch story content to make it better than to say 'We fucked up on release but we won't do anything about it because story is different from everything else.'" He refers to his own history as a designer on 2000 D&D game Icewind Dale, explaining that the 2001 expansion Heart of Winter "was both short and expensive so we made Trials of the Luremaster as a free expansion." That's sort of a narrative patch, too.
Pearl Abyss is in good company, then, even if the way it's choosing to address narrative issues through future updates is unconventional – and risky. There's always the possibility that Pearl Abyss' post-mortem surgery on Crimson Desert makes its gaping plot holes more obvious, but I think the studio should at least try to fulfill its vision of a more interesting story. For Kliff's sake.
Crimson Desert proves it's better to wait for games than play at launch.
