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The reviews for Crimson Desert started arriving yesterday, and the new fantasy RPG from Pearl Abyss is currently sitting at 78% on Metacritic. Turmoil has spread across the collective internet that the release didn't even manage to reach into the eighties, prompting devs involved in Palworld and the Ori series to speak out in favor of the game.
"The reviews have come in and it sits on a 78 on Metacritic," Thomas Mahler, CEO and creative director of Moon Studios, said on Twitter. "And to most gamers, that means it’s pretty much a waste of time."
His reading of the situation is that people expected another Elden Ring; a vast, genre-defining blockbuster. But those are lofty expectations - it was remarkable FromSoftware even matched its own amorphous hype.
"I think in general I love the games industry for how passionate everyone is about games - but it also feels like games get overhyped so often that it’s becoming a bit ridiculous," he adds. He then says to give Pearl Abyss "some time" for updates and changes, because "there’s definitely something interesting going on" in the studio.
Meanwhile, John 'Bucky' Buckley, the head of publishing and communications at Palworld outfit Pocketpair, had a simple way of looking at it: "One man's 77 is another man's 100. Video games," he tweeted, before adding: "Is another man's 0"
It's true. Crimson Desert might be a 7/10 to you, and another person's masterpiece. Meanwhile, someone else might only see dragon-riding trash. Ultimately, it's all in the eye of the beholder. And the GamesRadar+ review, which is, of course, definitive.
