Crimson Desert Looks “Too Good to Be True,” And That’s Why We Can’t Have Nice Things

Ultimately, this perspective that many of us seem to share says less about Crimson Desert and more about where a lot of us are as players. After years of highly anticipated releases failing to live up to the expectations surrounding them, skepticism has become a kind of defense mechanism against disappointment. Many of us might still find ourselves wanting to believe in ambitious games, but we also understand that belief now comes with conditions. In that sense, Crimson Desert feels like a case study of sorts for understanding why so many players feel the need to keep one foot on the brakes, even when something genuinely exciting appears in front of them.

Why Crimson Desert Looks “Too Good to Be True”

Before getting into why myself and so many others are hesitant to fully buy into Crimson Desert, it’s worth laying out exactly what the game has shown so far that makes that reaction understandable in the first place. The features Pearl Abyss has already showcased paint a picture of an open-world action-adventure game that seems to be doing a little bit of everything, often at a level that feels unusually ambitious.

Crimson Desert’s Biggest Promised Features

• MASSIVE OPEN WORLD twice the size of Skyrim and larger than Red Dead Redemption 2.
• FIVE DISTINCT REGIONS with unique biomes and activities.
• DIVERSE TRAVERSAL MECHANICS that include horseback, climbing, gliding, grappling, and mounts like dragons.
• DEEP COMBAT SYSTEM that combines melee, special attacks, dodging, cinematic boss fights, and unique weapon synergies.
• COUNTLESS SIDE CONTENT beyond fighting, like fishing, cooking, puzzle solving, resource gathering, and treasure hunting.
• NO STRICT PATH, allowing players to go anywhere that captures their interest.

It’s not just the sheer size of Crimson Desert‘s map or the amount of content it boasts that makes it look too good to be true, though. Plenty of other open-world games have served up exactly what it’s putting on the table, and almost everything it’s doing has already been done. But that’s just it. It’s the fact that we’ve heard this song and seen this dance before, and many of us have been burned by it—even if it is our fault for letting our expectations go untempered. If nothing else, it’s that Crimson Desert looks like a greatest-hits album played all at once, and for a community that has been consistently disappointed, that kind of ambition naturally triggers caution, even when the game itself looks genuinely impressive.

That’s the general sense I get when reading over posts across social media and forums. While there is plenty of seemingly unchecked hype out there, there is an equal amount of warranted skepticism, with “too good to be true” now being the anthem that so many are singing. Shortly after the first features overview for Crimson Desert went live, ResetEra user SolidSnakex made a post with the embedded video, opening the floodgates for multiple comments from other users explicitly saying the game looks “too good to be true,” though many of them do balance it with optimism. Reddit user NotSirAlonne1999 also made a post with those exact words in the title, adding that they are keeping their expectations low to “avoid disappointment.”

The Games That Taught Us Caution

• Cyberpunk 2077
• No Man’s Sky
• Starfield
• Star Wars Outlaws

As I’ve already expressed, all of this doubt boils down to the games that have burned us before. It’s the history of high-profile launches that didn’t live up to their promises and put the fire out of the hype that celebrated their impending arrivals. It’s impossible not to consider Cyberpunk 2077 as one of those, a game that shipped with some serious bugs, performance issues, and missing features compared with the marketing its developer shared leading up to launch. Sony even temporarily pulled it from the PlayStation Store and triggered class-action lawsuits over misleading expectations. Even so, it’s now widely considered one of the best western RPGs of all time, after CD Projekt Red made some extensive improvements to it, but if Crimson Desert relies too much on the hope that it will one day be great, it could end its own legacy before it even begins.

Likewise, No Man’s Sky arrived with a universe that many expected to be teeming with possibilities, only to find a more shallow and limited experience at release. It has also gone on to have one of the biggest redemption arcs in gaming history, but again, redemption shouldn’t have been necessary in the first place. More recently, big open-world games like Starfield and Star Wars Outlaws saw muted sales and mixed reception despite substantial hype, contributing to a narrative that even big budgets and beloved franchises can’t guarantee a smooth and successful launch.

So, when players say that Crimson Desert looks too good to be true, it’s not coming from a place of bitterness, necessarily, nor a place of negativity. It’s simply the result of years of learned caution, taught by games that asked us to trust them before they were ready to earn that trust. Big promises, polished showcases, and ambitious feature lists have conditioned us to slow down and wait rather than commit to something right away. In that context, skepticism isn’t an outright rejection of Crimson Desert, but a form of self-preservation from a community that has seen how quickly excitement can turn into disappointment.

Why I Still Want to Believe Crimson Desert Can Break That Pattern

No matter how justified the skepticism might be, however, I still want Crimson Desert to succeed. Not only is there something genuinely captivating about how confidently Pearl Abyss has been showing off this game, but it looks like the kind of open-world game that I could really enjoy if it’s done right. Truth be told, I want Crimson Desert to prove us skeptics wrong and break the pattern that our doubt is so deeply dependent on. I think we’ve hung in there long enough now that we deserve a win, and that ultimately means it would be a win for Pearl Abyss as well.

If Crimson Desert actually sticks the landing here, it would be a reminder that big, ambitious open-world games can still earn the hype that surrounds them. We have gotten used to keeping our guard up, sometimes to the point where excitement feels irresponsible, but it would be nice to be wrong for once. Crimson Desert feels like a chance to change that dynamic. It doesn’t need to be perfect or revolutionary. It just needs to deliver on its promises. If it does, it will not only justify the confidence Pearl Abyss has been carrying it with, but remind us all that getting excited isn’t always a mistake.

Released

March 19, 2026

ESRB

Mature 17+ / Blood, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Strong Language

Developer(s)

Pearl Abyss

Publisher(s)

Pearl Abyss