"Jack of all trades, master of none": Crimson Desert launches to "Mixed" Steam reviews, with players praising the RPG's visuals but calling its story "bland" and controls "ridiculously bad"

After a mixed pre-launch period marked by console performance concerns and hopes the ambitious RPG would stick the landing, Crimson Desert is finally here – and it's been met with quite a range of different reviews so far.

On the official Steam page for Crimson Desert, reviews currently sit at a 'Mixed' rating overall. Players seem to have varying thoughts on everything from the RPG's story to its visuals – which haven't fallen short of impressing many folks.

"Graphics are exceptional," as one positive review puts it, with another agreeing that Crimson Desert has a "beautiful world" indeed… but also, "terrible combat, janky controls, no fluidity," etc.

One negative review expands on these thoughts, dubbing the new game a "Jack of all trades, master of none." It reads, "This is not it, chief. It's like the game is stuffed with a bunch of different mechanics, but all of them feel shallow and don't really work well together," calling the UI "one of the worst I have ever seen in a AAA game."

Another marked as positive argues, "I do not think this is a bad game, yet. But it has some weird design choices."

Official Launch Trailer | Crimson Desert - YouTube

Watch On

There are loads of other reviews that echo much of this sentiment – that the UI is bad and the story is "bland," apparently, but that Crimson Desert is graphically impressive. Plenty also tear into the controls, which are deemed "ridiculously bad" by a plethora of players.

It's not looking very different over on the console side of things, either, with a Reddit thread full of PS5 users sharing similar thoughts. "Controls are pretty rough," as one person says.

Another writes, "This shit is clunky and janky as hell." One particularly amusing and positive (all things considered) comment adds, "Saw someone describe this as medieval 'Just Cause,' and you know what, I'm okay with that."

As for the Metacritic score, it sits at 78 – a solid rating, really, but one that saw Pearl Abyss share prices drop nonetheless. It's a mixed bag all around, then, it seems, with feedback coming in from varying angles.

If you're on the fence yourself about one of the most hotly anticipated new games this year, check our Crimson Desert review for our honest thoughts on it.