Bakaba: the striking part of Crimson Desert is not the first hours

Dinga Bakaba of Arkane Lyon wrote that a typical open world is brightest at the start, and then the mechanics repeat. In Crimson Desert, in his sense, it is the reverse: the first hours are mechanical, the systems and controls resemble other games in the genre, and the depth comes later.

He compares that to a board game: rules first, then immersion. New elements, he says, still arrive many hours in, systems start catching on each other, and the playthrough becomes more personal.

He does not smooth the opinions. For some this is one of the most interesting projects in the genre in years. For others the slow start pushes them away. This is about structure, not a score.