"Slay the Spire 2 is a masterpiece," Palworld lead says, but Crimson Desert "makes me feel a sense of wonder I've not felt since Oblivion"

Pocketpair's communications lead John "Bucky" Buckley is often the voice of the studio, but lately he's been fantastic PR for Crimson Desert developer Pearl Abyss.

Buckley said a couple of weeks ago that Pearl Abyss's new open-world RPG was his "dream game," adding that he was "loving it" and felt it was "made" for him. Well, his enthusiasm for the game hasn't waned, as here we are on the final day of March with Buckley calling Crimson Desert his game of the month.

"My favourite game of March 2026 was Crimson Desert," he writes in a tweet. March has seen the release of a bunch of acclaimed games, including Crimson Desert, Marathon, Pokopia, and most relevant to Buckley's tweet, Slay the Spire 2 early access. For Buckley, none of them compare to the sense of discovery he gets playing Crimson Desert.

"Slay the Spire 2 is a masterpiece," he concedes. "Any other month and it would have consumed my life…but Crimson Desert truly makes me feel a sense of wonder I’ve not felt since Oblivion."

Buckley ends by shouting out "other March greats" including open-world survival crafting game Blossom: The Seed of Life, which he's previously gassed up, and "colony farming game" Mr Farmboy.

As someone who hasn't played the game yet, it's hard to get a read on Crimson Desert with opinions being as divided as they are. The game launched to "mixed" Steam reviews amid widespread complaints about its story and controls, but it's climbed its way all the way up to a "very positive" rating at the time of writing following a couple of clutch patches and the removal of AI-generated assets. I'm sure I'll get around to playing it myself so that you all can finally get the definitive truth, but for now you'll just have to form your own interpretations.

I hope Crimson Desert never fixes its weird controls