Crimson Desert Enhanced

It began life as a prequel to the MMO Black Desert Online. Early in development, though, Pearl Abyss turned it into a single-player game set in a separate universe. The studio modeled its continent on Sicily, studying the island's old architecture and landscapes. Development took seven years in all.

Reviewers most often named combat the game's strongest side. One liked that skills unlock new moves instead of stat bumps.

Critics usually faulted the story, and one wrote that the game works better as a sandbox than as a story. In August 2026 Pearl Abyss unveiled Enhanced, a free update with new cutscenes and dialogue to make the story flow better.

It sold more than two million copies in its first 24 hours. Critics give it 77 on Metacritic; players leave 83% positive out of 118,626 reviews. By our Recommended Score it is #1,056 of 4,736 games.

Liked it? Try Dragon's Dogma 2, where you hunt a dragon across an open world with companions at your side, and Ghost of Tsushima DIRECTOR'S CUT, where a samurai on horseback defends an island from the Mongol invasion with his katana.