Featured Image Credit: Pearl Abyss
Topics: Crimson Desert, PlayStation, PlayStation 5, Sony
Crimson Desert has, unfortunately, failed to live up to the hype.
Pearl Abyss’ highly anticipated action-adventure is by no means a flop, but it has certainly generated more controversy than many expected.
While gamers do, on the whole, seem to be impressed with the title’s extensive open-world, Crimson Desert’s clunky controls, uninteresting main character, and dull story have come under fire.
In fact, gamers are totally on the same wavelength as critics with the game sitting at a Metascore of 78 and a User Score of 7.8 on MetaCritic.
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It’s already sold over 2,000,000 copies, so plenty of people are getting a kick out of it; just be prepared for the steep learning curve as you get to grips with those overcomplicated controls.
For those that have sampled the game and are simply struggling to gel with it, you need not see that as £54.99 / $69.99 wasted.
PlayStation 5 copies are seemingly being refunded on request despite Sony usually being a tad strict on such returns.
Aside from the game’s unpopular controls, this could also be due to the game’s performance issues.
Crimson Desert is an incredibly demanding game, with devs only showcasing PC and PS5 Pro footage ahead of release.
That’s perhaps because everything else, it’s since come to light, only manages to operate using ‘low’ textures, running at between 20 and 40fps.
Reddit user Kanderine was one of the first to raise that Sony is accepting refunds on copies of Crimson Desert.
“Got mine earlier,” they began. “The moment I mentioned Crimson Desert to an agent, they dropped a five step [solution on] how to fix reported problems.”
They continued, “It apparently kept them that busy all day. When I said their steps didn’t work (it sounded like they had taken them from Reddit), they refunded me [with] no questions asked.
“Don’t accept the game in this state, reconsider it in a sale down the line when it's patched up.”
It sounds like the agent may have been attempting to fix a common PS5 issue concerning blurriness in the game.
If that’s all you are struggling with, you simply need to disable the 120Hz option in your console’s settings.
However, for many, that’s just one among several different problems so if you do feel entitled to a refund, as per the OP’s instructions, your best bet is to speak to an agent via PlayStation’s customer support chat.
Others have since reported success stories.
“They indeed refunded me, no questions asked. Will rebuy after a few patches ideally with some % off too,” replied TextUsual4910.
“I refunded. I loved the look of the scenery but the character models and controls weren’t great,” added another.
Pearl Abyss does appear to be listening to player feedback. Already, a patch has deployed on PC adding more storage and tweaking controls with the same update due to roll out on consoles in the near future.
Devs have also vowed to replace any AI assets that slipped through the cracks.
Hopefully with a slew of changes, Crimson Desert can become the game many were originally hoping for. It’s hardly a total disaster despite what the internet would have you believe.