Crimson Desert's Story Is Getting Upgrades Soon to 'Make It More Engaging'

Pearl Abyss has been updating Crimson Desert at a blistering pace, adding highly-requested features and improving many aspects of the game, and they're showing no signs of slowing down.

In a new developer update blog, Pearl Abyss has just revealed a roadmap for the next few months, highlighting a plan to strengthen the storyline, and make Kliff's often underutilized sidekicks, Damiane and Oongka, feel like a bigger part of the experience.

Pearl Abyss Reveals Crimson Desert DLC and Story Improvements

Crimson Desert has achieved phenomenal success, reaching a peak player count of over 270,000 on Steam, and solidifying a fan-base that can't get enough of the game's stunning graphics, and endless exploration of a world overflowing with life—but there's always room for improvement.

While Crimson Desert is arguably one of the best new open-world games on the market, one common criticism it has received is that the story isn't as strong as it should be, but that could change in a big way in the following months.

In the DualShockers review of Crimson Desert, Christian Bognar explains, "The weakest part of Crimson Desert is the story, unfortunately. It's definitely serviceable, but it would have been nice to have a story that kept me hooked for the 100 hours I spent playing. Instead, I found myself getting bored during some cutscenes, drifting off during dialogue sequences, and not very interested in seeing the overall outcome of the plot."

While not a big enough issue to spoil the success of the game, it's a sentiment that was shared by many. Fortunately, Pearl Abyss has been listening and will be introducing story improvements in the coming months. "We have been carefully reviewing the story-related feedback you have shared with us. To further strengthen the narrative flow of Kliff’s journey and to make it more engaging, we are working to refine and improve the coherence of key scenes. We hope these improvements will offer something new even for those who have already experienced Pywel."

As Crimson Desert players explore the continent of Pywel, liberating regions and reuniting the Greymanes, more playable characters are added to your roster, such as Damiane and Oongka, but unfortunately, they're not integrated into the story as much as some players would like.

New Update Also Improves Other Playable Characters

Pearl Abyss has revealed they will be improving Damiane and Oongka's overall gameplay experience, "Various adjustments will be made so that all three playable characters can get a share of the spotlight."

Blockades are also changing in several ways as a 'new phase' is being developed to make the moments before and after a blockade feel more natural. Players will reportedly have new ways to defend certain strongholds from invasion, and liberating blockades will yield better rewards.

It's not all about the story and the combat, though, as many Greymanes prefer spending the majority of their time on more casual activities like fishing, catching butterflies, searching for secret caves, or hoarding pets, and the latest roadmap reveals that non-combat content will also be receiving some love, specifically, trading and farming.

These updates will be released gradually from June through September, and on top of making the story and main characters a more cohesive package, Pearl Abyss is currently developing Crimson Desert's first DLC. "We are also hard at work on an upcoming DLC for Crimson Desert, and while we cannot share the details just yet, we are preparing it as a meaningful addition to your journey. We will share more details in the future, so stay tuned."

From mechs and jetpacks, to dragons, dungeons, and magic, Crimson Desert has a little bit of everything, and at the speed at which they're adding new content, it will be exciting to watch the game evolve over the course of the next year, and it's nice to see Pearl Abyss taking the time to address community concerns prior to releasing a new DLC.