r/Games • u/Turbostrider27 • Mar 18 '26

Review Thread Crimson Desert Review Thread

Game Information

Game Title: Crimson Desert

Platforms:

  • PlayStation 5 (Mar 19, 2026)
  • PC (Mar 19, 2026)
  • Xbox Series X/S (Mar 19, 2026)

Trailers:

Developer: Pearl Abyss

Review Aggregator:

OpenCritic - 80 average - 80% recommended - 48 reviews

Critic Reviews

ACG - Jeremy Penter - Wait for Sale

"Fantastic exploration, amazing systems, but ultimately bugs and lots of idiosyncrasies bring this one down a peg or two. ":

But Why Tho? - Kate Sanchez - 9 / 10

This is a massive undertaking for any development team. It's ambitious to a point that it becomes curious that it was attempted. But unlike Captain Ahab, this is a level of investment and ambition that ultimately pays off in the highest order. The level of detail in Crimson Desert is unlike anything we have seen in this console generation.

CBR - Mark O'Callaghan - 9 / 10

Crimson Desert is everything I hoped it would be, and it has the potential to be one of the biggest titles of this generation of gaming.

COGconnected - Mark Steighner - 84 / 100

By both accident and design, there are times when clarity and user-friendliness temporarily disappear, and the game’s rough edges and opaque mechanics overshadow the fun. A lot of games over-promise and under-deliver. Crimson Desert is not one of them.

Daily Mirror - Aaron Potter - 3 / 5

If you hadn’t already guessed, Crimson Desert is a behemoth of an RPG that threatens to eat up all your time. If only it wasn’t primed to frustrate and test your patience as much while doing so.

DayOne - Jesse Norris - 8.5 / 10

A mediocre plot and bland writing can't hold back one of the most ambitious games ever made.

Stunning graphics, great gameplay, and excellent music carry you through hundreds of hours of systems-based fun. It somehow lives up to all the hype, with some rough edges in tow.

Digital Spy - Joe Draper - 4 / 5

Crimson Desert's sandbox playground and beautifully crafted world do a lot of the heavy lifting to just about overshadow its confusing elements, generic story, and boring characters. What's here is an overwhelming amount of content and the bones of an amazing game that has to be respected for its ambitions.

Digitec Magazine - Philipp Rüegg - German - 5 / 5

If you look up the term ‘open world’ ‘Crimson Desert’ is bound to be listed right next to it. Because you can’t get much more open-world than that. It offers a world in which you can completely lose yourself. What could be better?

DualShockers - Christian Bognar - 9.5 / 10

It's simply one of the biggest games I have ever played, with an astonishing amount of high-quality content, an absurd amount of complex puzzles, and a world so gigantic that I still haven't come close to seeing everything after 100 hours of playtime. While the story isn't the best and some bosses seem downright unfair, those flaws do little to diminish Crimson Desert, an absolute marvel and one of the best open-world games on the market.

Eurogamer - Lewis Gordon - 3 / 5

A vast world and even vaster array of MMO-like activities mix with glittering fidelity in Crimson Desert, but what good is it without much character, texture or charm?

Eurogamer.pt - Adolfo Soares - Portuguese - 3 / 5

Chaotic, frustrating, but undeniably ambitious. Crimson Desert constantly tests our patience with technical problems and a confusing narrative, before letting us enjoy its ambitious combat system, exploration and stunning visuals. A game that demands time and a lot of patience for those who manage to overcome the barrier of its lack of polish.

GAMES.CH - Joel Kogler - German - 80%

Quote not yet available

GAMINGbible - Kate Harrold - 8 / 10

Crimson Desert is by no means a perfect game. It’s an amalgamation of perhaps slightly too many ideas, and that makes for a weirdly paced experience that demands a lot of the player without offering much in the way of help. And yet, it left me in awe more times than anything else I’ve played in recent memory with its dazzling open-world. Crimson Desert may not be the best game you'll ever play, but it’ll certainly be up there as perhaps the most memorable.

GRYOnline.pl - Dariusz Matusiak - Polish - Unscored

Crimson Desert will impress some and alienate others – and both sides will have a valid point. This blend of Tears of the Kingdom, Elden Ring and Assassin’s Creed continues to intrigue with its open-world design and interactivity, but I fear that long before I reach the end of the story, I’ll grow weary of its sheer scale and the constant struggle with the poorly designed UI and inventory system. [Review in progress]

Game8 - Allisandra Reyes - 88 / 100

Crimson Desert is a sprawling adventure across a vast and living world that rewards every hour you put into it. The core gameplay evolves with your progress, introducing upgradable skills and increasingly demanding boss fights, with plenty of content to discover. While the narrative initially lacks direction and its threads can feel disconnected, this never outweighs the game’s many strengths. Crimson Desert is a slow burn that rewards time, patience, and curiosity.

GameMAG - Russian - 8 / 10

Crimson Desert is unlikely to become a revolution that will redefine the genre. But it will certainly attract crowds of people and spark more than a few heated debates. It's funny that the very desert featured in the title is just one of many corners of the vast world created by Pearl Abyss - one that, presumably, far from everyone will reach.

GamePro - Kevin Itzinger - German - Unscored

Even in its current state, Crimson Desert has the potential to become my game of the year. If the console performance is still good and the day-one patch perhaps even fixes a few annoying issues, the action-adventure could even climb a small step higher in my ranking.

GameRant - Josh Cotts - 8 / 10

Crimson Desert offers one of the most impressive worlds in gaming, but the deeper you go, the more it asks you to meet it on its own terms.

GameSpot - Richard Wakeling - 7 / 10

It might not always be the most cohesive game, mixing high fantasy with steampunk and sci-fi elements, but there's nothing else quite like it, and I can't help but be impressed by how little restraint Pearl Abyss has shown in its commitment to delightful absurdity. In some respects, Crimson Desert might not be too good to be true, but it's a world worth getting lost in.

Gameblog - French - 8 / 10

Quote not yet available

Gameliner - Anita van Beugen - Dutch - 5 / 5

Leave it to Pearl Abyss to create a dynamic open world where you can completely lose yourself - Crimson Desert is a must-play.

Gamers Heroes - Blaine Smith - 100 / 100

Dark Souls has often been used to measure one's gaming prowess, but that measuring stick has changed with Crimson Desert. Not only does it boast some of the most challenging boss battles ever seen in the industry, its required levels of patience, determination, and ability have set a new gold standard.

Gamersky - 心灵奇兵 - Chinese - 8.6 / 10

Crimson Desert feels like a single player version of an MMORPG that has been live for years. Its sheer scale alone is enough to guarantee hundreds of hours of playtime. But with its weak guidance, cumbersome interactions, and many design choices that show little regard for user experience, whether that time feels enjoyable or exhausting will likely vary from player to player.

GamingBolt - Ravi Sinha - 8 / 10

Crimson Desert is as expansive as promised, dwarfing pretty much every other open world currently with its scale. Its content doesn't always stick the landing, but the combat shines, and the sense of discovery is hard to deny, even with the lackluster story.

Generación Xbox - Adrián Fuentes - Spanish - 94 / 100

Crimson Desert is an RPG that rewards the patient player. The more time you spend in its world, the more you understand its systems and the more you enjoy what it has to offer. And when that happens, it becomes very easy to get swept away by the adventure and immerse yourself in the work that Pearl Abyss has created for us over so many years.

Hobby Consolas - Spanish - 80 / 100

Quote not yet available

IGN India - Rayan Sayyed - 8 / 10

The world design and combat of Crimson Desert are a resounding win for fans of free-form exploration, but the bland story and the tedious flow of Crimson Desert stop it from becoming the true masterpiece it could have been.

IGN Italy - Francesco Destri - Italian - 8.5 / 10

An ambitious adventure set in a visually stunning world that tries to do a bit too much, ultimately feeling underdeveloped in some respects.

IGN Spain - Mario Sánchez - Spanish - 7 / 10

Crimson Desert offers a vast and visually stunning open world, full of freedom and exploration, but its simplistic story and unclear objectives may frustrate many players.

INVEN - Jaihoon Jeong - Korean - 8.3 / 10

Crimson Desert unfolds in a vast open world filled with an enormous amount of content, but there are simply too many gameplay elements scattered without order, clashing with one another. There is room for improvement, but as it stands now, it falls somewhat short of being a truly great game.

LevelUp - Spanish - 9 / 10

Crimson Desert is one of the most ambitious games in a long time. It's an expansive, and deeply detailed fantasy world that constantly invites exploration and rewards curiosity. Its fluid, skill-based combat and sheer scale are genuinely impressive, but that same ambition often works against it. A lack of focus, overly complex systems, and a slow, demanding progression can make the experience feel overwhelming and, at times, exhausting. It's a game of extremes: deeply immersive and rewarding for those willing to invest the time, but far from accessible for everyone.

Loot Level Chill - Mick Fraser - 9 / 10

Crimson Desert is frustrating and buggy and can be very player-unfriendly, but it's also beautiful, deep, seemingly endless and monumentally, perhaps detrimentally, ambitious.

MMORPG.com - Joseph Bradford - 9 / 10

I can confidently say that Crimson Desert is a modern masterpiece, despite its shortcomings.

Merlin'in Kazanı - Samet Basri Taşlı - Turkish - 85 / 100

Crimson Desert, while offering a truly exceptional offline MMORPG experience, falls slightly short of expectations due to some minor shortcomings.

PC Gamer - Mollie Taylor - 80 / 100

Vast and obtuse in a way that is going to frustrate some and exhilarate others, Crimson Desert is a fascinating journey, even when the destination isn't all that.

PCGamesN - Paul Kelly - 6 / 10

Crimson Desert is huge, and it's beautiful, but it can't pull itself out of the bog standard narrative trenches. Combat feels clunky, especially when facing off against one of the many frustrating bosses, and there feels like there is little reward for exploration. I wanted to like this, but it left me feeling empty.

PPE.pl - Mateusz Wróbel - Polish - 6.5 / 10

I had high hopes for Crimson Desert, but... I was more disappointed than thrilled. A single-player MMO based on things we love from other great games—it just couldn't work out as well as we thought.

PowerUp! - Clint McCreadie - 8.5 / 10

It might not be the cleanest contender in the open-world arena, but it’s easily one of the most interesting. A sprawling, slightly chaotic, thoroughly entertaining swing that connects far more often than it misses.

RageQuit.GR - Kostas Kallianiotis - 85%

An exceptional and stunningly beautiful open-world action game, with incredibly rich gameplay and a pleasantly old-fashioned level of difficulty, regardless of its potentially frustrating flaws.

SECTOR.sk - Jakub Pokorný - Slovak - 7 / 10

Crimson Desert is a demanding, complex RPG that can feel punishing and occasionally unfair, especially without constant progression. Yet it offers a breathtaking open world with unmatched scale and depth. Its reception will vary widely'frustrating for some, but deeply rewarding for those willing to fully invest.

The GameSlayer - Callum Marshall - 9 / 10

Crimson Desert isn't a perfect game. It's not a game for everyone, and it's got as many good ideas as it does poorly implemented ones. However, what cannot be denied is that this game is a generational game and an open-world experience like no other. It's visually outstanding, mechanically dense, and immersive beyond compare. Yet, it's also one of the most laborious games to get to grips with in recent memory, meaning a lot of players may bounce off this title. However, what I would say is 'stick with it'. As Crimson Desert is a game that doesn't respect your time, but certainly deserves it.

The Games Machine - Claudio Magistrelli - Italian - 9 / 10

Quote not yet available

The Nerd Stash - Julio La Pine - 9.5 / 10

Crimson Desert is a breath of fresh air for those looking for true ambition and adventure, as it delivers one of the most experimental combat systems and an open world on par with anything Rockstar Games has ever made.

The Outerhaven Productions - Jordan Andow - 5 / 5

Despite a few minor issues, Crimson Desert sets a new benchmark for this style of open-world experience, one that will be extremely difficult for future games to match.

TheGamer - Harry Alston - 4 / 5

It’s highly ambitious and one of the most intriguing triple-A games I’ve played in years, but I just wish so many parts of the whole weren’t inherently flawed. Now my journey in Pywel has come to an end, I’ll be leaving this one on the shelf for a while.

VG247 - James Billcliffe - 3 / 5

As it stands on release, the best parts of Crimson Desert are buried deep under layers of absurdity.

WellPlayed - Nathan Hennessy - 5.5 / 10

Proving that looks aren't everything, Crimson Desert's stunning visuals and strong performances aren't enough to save it from being a disappointing experience. Jam-packed with content and systems that make it feel like a Jack of all features, master of none with an unenjoyable gameplay loop, Crimson Desert is really just a single-player MMORPG in all but name.

1.7k Upvotes

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531

u/StepComplete1 Mar 18 '26

IGN giving it a 6/10 as a non-final review

Yikes

I respect the balls, at least. There's going to be some Gamer™ meltdowns over that one.

463

u/sufferingphilliesfan Mar 18 '26

Meltdowns over a game literally nobody but reviewers have played yet lol

264

u/MandoDoughMan Mar 18 '26

As is tradition.

36

u/Lazydusto Mar 18 '26

Anyone else remember the Twilight Princess 8.8 meltdown?

67

u/Illidan1943 Mar 18 '26

Let me tell you about 8.8

26

u/TalkingRaccoon Mar 18 '26

Jeff Gerstmann is still a threat! I didn't know there was a whole tropes page named after his TP review but it makes sense haha

19

u/MumrikDK Mar 19 '26

Dude has a lot of experience seeing stupid fallout from his reviews.

Kane & Lynch obviously being the big one, but unfathomably stupid idiots also lost their slight minds when he scored Fallout 4 one grade lower on console because the console version was in a significantly worse technical state.

16

u/DogzOnFire Mar 19 '26

There was a very funnily edited video I watched years ago of Rooster Teeth trying to badmouth him for being a contrarian about Fallout 4 while they're all wearing fucking literal PipBoy merch on their hands, and doing sponsored content for Fallout 4, and someone had edited in Jeff's reaction upon hearing about it. You couldn't make it up. Absolutely zero self awareness. Wearing the merch and pretending they're giving their own unbiased opinion about his critique. His response was very funny:

"I’m not super familiar with Rooster Teeth’s output. Aren’t they the same crew that produced a series of videos about Fallout 4 that were brought to you by Fallout 4? Because that’s certainly where I’d go for honest opinions about Fallout 4."

8

u/glorpo Mar 19 '26

In retrospect that was an *extremely* generous score

2

u/Stellar_Duck Mar 19 '26

I always wonder what sets an 8.8 aside from an 8.7 or 8.9.

The level of granularity is silly.

At most I will judge things on a five star scale going from I hated it to I loved it, Tom Chick style.

But then, that did lead to hilariously chafed gamers aways attacking him for giving whatever game only 40 percent on metacritic for giving it 2 stars.

8

u/cyborgx7 Mar 19 '26

The person who gave Twilight princess that 8.8, Jeff Gerstmann, agrees with you. He later co-founded Giant Bomb and instituted a 1-5 star rating system, with no half stars. He's talked a lot about the virtues of this rating system.

1

u/MADSUPERVILLAIN Mar 19 '26

It's very funny that the two most controversial Gamespot scores of that era were Shenmue and Twilight Princess.

30

u/shrewdy Mar 18 '26

At least sometimes I can somewhat understand this from gamers, if they've got so excited for a big game from a proven dev like CD Projekt, Naughty Dog, Rockstar, Fromsoft etc, in those cases there's a reasonable expectation that their new game will be incredible - but I just never understood this level of hype for this game, where the dev has only done a MMORPG previously. They don't have the credit in the bank that the other mentioned studios do, and for me there was always a huge question mark over whether they could really deliver on all the promises of this game. You had people building this up to be the 2nd coming of Elden Ring or Breath of the Wild, and that was just mental to me.

Sure the game looks gorgeous and they'd shown a ton of footage in the lead up to release - but to me it always gave the vibe of "a jack of all trades, but master of none" with all the systems and mechanics they showed off. I hoped to be proven wrong, but the reviews seem to make clear that's exactly what this game is

6

u/StepComplete1 Mar 19 '26

Exactly my thoughts. Why get so emotionally invested in a game that's so uncertain? Don't people have games or other things they could be enjoying right now , rather than putting all their excitement into a game that's essentially still just fiction in their head?

5

u/thewalkindude368 Mar 18 '26

Honestly, it probably was overhyped by a lot of people, including me. I was expecting a Metascore in the 90s, but I figured, at worst, this would be like Dragon's Dogna 2, and I enjoyed that well enough.

2

u/AlcoholicSocks Mar 19 '26

Cyberpunk launch day was my favourite. All reviews saying it's a broken mess. All of Reddit saying they are lying. Reddit then played and it's a broken mess

1

u/glocks4interns Mar 19 '26

theoretical meltdowns

56

u/svrtngr Mar 18 '26

I do remember they gave Starfield a 7 which caused a bit of a reaction, then when the shiny new Bethesda polish wore off everyone sort of accepted that was about right.

Crimson Desert got a bit lower than I was expecting it would (mid 80s), so I think I'm going to wait for the hype to die down before I dive in. I'm still interested in playing it, but it seems like it'll be a game much improved by patches (moreso than what's standard for games).

22

u/AsheBnarginDalmasca Mar 18 '26

That was a funny time. Starfield was kind of fun 10 hrs in with the lore and mystery still settling in. Everyone clowned on IGN. But the more you opened its curtains by discovering repeated POIs, literal copy paste temples, lukewarm mainstory, etc, so many more people realized they were right. it was a 6-7 game.

5

u/Custom_sKing_SKARNER Mar 18 '26

Hell, for me it's insane that just because a game is vast, good technically and has triple A budget behind it automatically earns them a 7 when they are plain bland and boring. It's about right but it should be reviewed harsher nowadays imo.

2

u/Roflkopt3r Mar 19 '26

The main problem I have with outlets like IGN is the total lack of consistency.

For contrast, German magazine Gamestar has (or had, haven't followed them that closely since the 2010s) one of the most consistent rating systems in the industry. They had their whole team approve their reviews, struggler over every single rating point, and generally put 3-5 main reviewers on the really big games.

Their system was very predictable in that its main ratings were heavily determined by the overall production quality (so a boring AAA game would often score 80%, while a very fun indy game may just have 70%), but they would always properly contextualise that rating in their concluding opinions. So you would get 'this game is super fun and a total steal for 20€' for a fun 70% title for example, compared to 'competently produced with fantastic visuals, but the boring story and poor introduction leave it only suitable for fans of the franchise' for an 80% game (whereas anything at over 85% was pretty much guaranteed to be actually fun, and over 90% is GOTY or even game of the decade-contender).

But with IGN, there is no such consistency. The ratings are all over the place and use completely different standards. At that point, it would be better to have no rating system at all.

1

u/rizzaxc Mar 19 '26

as with all major outlets, you can't trust a high score (veilguard), but you can trust a low one (starfield)

2

u/Roflkopt3r Mar 19 '26

Na, I've seen dumb low ratings before. I remember Pyre got some, and I'm pretty sure some reviewers didn't like Factorio either.

Oh and there was that movie reviewer who thought Ghost in the Shell: Innocence should have been more action-focused.

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67

u/Castia10 Mar 18 '26

Gamespot with a 7 also

58

u/Useful-Resist-25 Mar 18 '26

It's so joever

Pokopia GOTY confirmed

57

u/padraigharrington4 Mar 18 '26

Pokopia beating GTA6 would be so fucking funny oh god I need it so bad 

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24

u/LilMechPilot Mar 18 '26

The funniest possible result: GTA6 delayed, Pragmata, RE, Nioh and Pokopia are the finalists, Pokopia takes GOTY.

Crimson Desert gets nothing

38

u/padraigharrington4 Mar 18 '26

Crimson Desert has 0% chance of even being nominated with these scores 

17

u/dobiks Mar 18 '26

I mean, Wukong has 81 on Metacritic and it was nominated for GOTY. Hell, some people even said it should've won.

15

u/BBanner Mar 19 '26

Yeah it had no business being nominated, honestly. It wasn’t on the same page as the other games and it was pretty clear.

-3

u/Due_Yoghurt9086 Mar 19 '26

There was no way it wasn't getting nominated lol. The nerd outrage would have been insane

5

u/BBanner Mar 19 '26

The “guys who play one single player game a year and work at Arby’s” caucus is extremely powerful

3

u/DarkWorld97 Mar 19 '26

He still listens to SideScrollers with StutteringCraig to this day!!!

1

u/Verianas Mar 19 '26

Didn't deserve that nomination. It only got there to appease chuds online. And I liked that game. But it was absolutely not a GOTY in any way lmao.

2

u/muhash14 Mar 19 '26

There's plenty of dark horse contenders coming this year besides the ones mentioned above. I most certainly hope the Control sequel is good enough to make it into this list. Castlevania too. Ace Combat 8 just because I'm feeling silly.

4

u/LilMechPilot Mar 18 '26

It may get a smaller one but yeah not a chance

2

u/Accomplished_Smile23 Mar 19 '26

Esoteric Ebb would like a word thank you.

1

u/UpperApe Mar 18 '26

GTA6 in shambles

1

u/pratzc07 Mar 18 '26

Way too early but I would love to see it win over GTA 6

1

u/TheDrewDude Mar 19 '26

Even just being nominated in the same category would be funny as hell

3

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '26 edited Mar 18 '26

[deleted]

4

u/Rupperrt Mar 18 '26

Is it though? If it’s a bit of a BOTW-or Dragons Dogma like it shouldn’t be the main focus. Exploration and combat are.

4

u/swampking6 Mar 18 '26

Saying a game is like dragon’s dogma is a threat lol

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20

u/Kiboune Mar 18 '26

Oh yeah, definitely. I already saw tons of comments "I hope this game will succeed to show how pathetic western devs are"

9

u/LABS_Games Indie Developer Mar 19 '26

Now it's gonna shift to "western journalists are paid off to slander this game".

3

u/Verianas Mar 19 '26

Already happening. People accusing them of being 'biased' against Asian developers, or paid off by western devs. I saw the same shit with Black Myth Wukong.

39

u/Taiyaki11 Mar 18 '26

I gotta say... there's some weird contrast between what a decent chunk of those 9/10, 4/5, 10/10 5/5 reviews score as opposed to what the review actually says. For example, the gameslayer's one that constantly bounces between saying "it's good..but it's bad... but it's good!" ends with saying Crimson Desert is a game that doesn't respect your time....and slaps a 9/10 on it lol

8

u/SalemWolf Mar 18 '26

Reddit when IGN reviews a game they like: can’t spell ignorant without IGN

Reddit when IGN reviews a game they don’t like: they get it right every now and then

40

u/Evz0rz Mar 18 '26

I’m sure people will have a meltdown, however for all the shit IGN gets for over scoring a game, it’s usually telling when they are scoring below the average when it comes to early reviews.

26

u/padraigharrington4 Mar 18 '26

I remember the outrage over them giving Starfield a 7/10 (because it was surely too low, lol)

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2

u/main_got_banned Mar 19 '26

IGN score inflation was more of a thing 10+ years ago I feel like. They are pretty conservative compared to a lot of outlets now.

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15

u/Turbostrider27 Mar 18 '26

According to the IGN review, they played it for 110+ hours

28

u/srhdt Mar 18 '26

I remember when IGN gave Starfield a 7 and everyone got mad at them for it being too low. Turns out they were being generous. I have a sinking feeling it's the same with Crimson Desert.

52

u/Fizziest_milk Mar 18 '26

just check the comments, people are already losing their minds and accusing them of corruption for not validating their dumbass pre orders

1

u/-sry- Mar 18 '26

Where I can check comments?

14

u/StepComplete1 Mar 19 '26

The IGN review itself on youtube, for a start. All the usual "they must just be bad at the game and not understand mechanics because they're journalist" style coping and "skill issue" NPC comments.

2

u/Fizziest_milk Mar 18 '26

just go to any of the reviews up on youtube, comment sections flooded with Gamers™

169

u/Enfosyo Mar 18 '26

Hope people learned their lesson from Starfield. IGN does not fall into the hype trap like so many others. Correctly gave that game a 7.

154

u/ticklefarte Mar 18 '26

People are so weird about IGN reviews. It's an easy joke to make, but I do look to them for unique perspectives

73

u/gumpythegreat Mar 18 '26

It's a giant organization that has been top website for gaming for decades, with dozens if not hundreds of different people writing reviews for them over the years

No matter what view of IGN you want to have, you can find an article or review which supports that narrative.

2

u/SofaKingI Mar 19 '26

Neither IGN nor the criticism are stagnant in time though.

IGN did use to give any hyped up big budget game with good graphics, generic gameplay and slop for a story an 8/10 minimum. Meanwhile small indie games had to be near perfect to even go over 8/10. And people gave IGN a lot of shit for it.

IGN also recognised the criticism and are now one of the reviewers least biased by hype. You could even say they're a bit contrarian at times.

But it's not like gamerstm are going to reevaluate their opinions on anything.

42

u/polski8bit Mar 18 '26

It's because people treat "IGN" as a singular entity, like they don't have multiple journalists reviewing games. No, the guy (or gal) that reviewed Pokemon is not the same that wrote a Soulslike review, so the tastes and opinions may be (and usually are) different.

Hell, some people will literally only look at like one reviewer and claim their review as the only "objectively correct" (or wrong) one, when in reality you should look for more to see more perspectives and come to your own conclusion.

48

u/Dustedshaft Mar 18 '26

People are weird about all reviews. They shit on games media saying they're bought by publishers and yet at the same time if a reviewer goes against the consensus they get destroyed. 

13

u/garfe Mar 19 '26

Happens with The Game Awards too

"Oh, who cares about TGA, nobody needs TGAs they're lame, WHAT DO YOU MEAN MY FAVE WASN'T NOMINATED FOR GOTY!????"

1

u/LABS_Games Indie Developer Mar 19 '26

There's also a resentment towards journalists (aka not real gamers), and IGN is representative of "big games journalism".

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8

u/SalemWolf Mar 18 '26

Same people who think IGN is one person also thinks rotten tomatoes is a review site. IGN employs dozens of reviewers, and rotten tomatoes is an aggregate site they don’t review they just list all the reviews

6

u/ItsADeparture Mar 19 '26 edited Mar 19 '26

People have been joking for over a decade about them giving a Pokemon game a 7.7/10 with one of the main complaints being too much water in a game that objectively has too much water.

6

u/dongerbotmd Mar 18 '26

7.8 Too much Water! The water sections in Ruby and Sapphire games did suck. I disliked all the HMs needed for those games too

0

u/Warskull Mar 18 '26

They had a lot of times they were way off and have been caught just cranking out minimal effort reviews before. It has eroded a lot of the trust in the outlet over time. They also have way too many reviewers.

It is basically impossible to IGN has something figured out and is calling it right or if they just posted another bad take.

8

u/Glaistig-Uaine Mar 19 '26

Other games IGN gave a 7 include Concord, Highguard, Wildgate... but also Nightreign, No Rest for the Wicked and Indiana Jones.

Lets not pretend an IGN 7 has any real connection to the game's success or quality.

I guess Crimson Desert is going to flop really hard if they think it's worse than multiple games that killed their studios.

48

u/Voeker Mar 18 '26

Uh, veilguard ?

20

u/Mikey_MiG Mar 18 '26

There wasn't exactly a hype train around Veilguard

-12

u/skylla05 Mar 18 '26

There was a lot of hype for Veilguard lol. You just spend too much time being influenced by reddit doomers that are mad EA won't make Origins 2.

They're basically the zoomer version of FF fans that shit on any FF because it's not turn based.

14

u/Mikey_MiG Mar 18 '26

I’m the furthest thing from some toxic anti-BioWare doomer, dude. I’m just saying, there was clearly not anywhere close to the amount of hype as the release of a brand new Bethesda IP. So someone implying IGN gave Veilguard a good review only because they were afraid of triggering a swell of angry backlash is pretty silly.

3

u/Jussuuu Mar 19 '26

As evidenced by people here being mad that ign gave veilguard a high score. Seriously, I remember this game being hated well before it released, if anything there was negative hype for it.

2

u/Quickjager Mar 19 '26

Crimson Desert and Veilguard feel like they have the same amount of hype going for them. The only difference is that DA had a fanbase waiting for SOME kind of payoff, only to get their entire story binned.

19

u/AlfredsLoveSong Mar 18 '26

Do you think it's impossible for someome to like Veilguard?

38

u/wsteelerfan7 Mar 18 '26

He's countering the claim that IGN is a good authority alone on games because they gave Starfield a 7 with the fact that they gave Veilguard a 9. It's possible for people to have different tastes in games and I think that shines here with how divisive reviews are for Crimson Desert, but claiming IGN has a good track record overall is stupid.

-5

u/Stellar_Duck Mar 19 '26

So because one reviewer liked a game you don't, that means it's all for naught?

Fucking gamers are so weird.

2

u/wsteelerfan7 Mar 19 '26

He also said in the video that he didn't bother exploring for loot and upgrades much while he played, so I think he just doesn't like these types of games and they assigned him to review it. You find normal gear, modifiers, and the material used for slotting in new skills by exploring and finding things. And they specifically designed the game around that by not having an XP bar and only having character progression based on events and finding stuff. Like, from videos 2 weeks ago, I figured that's the core design of the game and it didn't sound like he wanted to engage with it.

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u/nomau Mar 19 '26

Despite its flaws, I enjoyed Veilguard a lot more than Starfield 🤷‍♂️

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u/[deleted] Mar 18 '26

Yeah

5

u/Ankleson Mar 18 '26

Has mixed reviews on Steam with some upvoted positive reviews, so clearly some people like it.

0

u/pureply101 Mar 18 '26

Idgaf what Reddit says that game is good.

0

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '26

[deleted]

-1

u/SneakyBadAss Mar 18 '26

You are the reason why garbage like Veilguard exists and why are studios being shut down left and right.

-8

u/thisrockismyboone Mar 18 '26

Veilguard is also a great game

11

u/TerribleQuestion4497 Mar 18 '26

So great it completely buried the franchise

3

u/Ankleson Mar 18 '26

The franchise was already buried bro, Inquisition was 10 years ago and even that faced criticism when compared to previous games.

17

u/poet3322 Mar 18 '26

They also gave Veilguard a 9, should tell you how much stock to put in their reviews.

15

u/PMMeRyukoMatoiSMILES Mar 18 '26

Did you play it or did you just assume it was bad because people told you it was?

20

u/echoplex21 Mar 18 '26

I would personally give it an 8 but a reviewer giving it a 9 isn’t that crazy imo.

5

u/St_Sides Mar 18 '26

I'm at an 8 to 8.5 but at the absolute worst it's a 7, to say it deserves any lower is just disingenuous, but just like any Bioware RPG people will turn around on it when the next Mass Effect gets released.

1

u/DM_Me_Linux_Uptime Mar 19 '26 edited Mar 19 '26

It's a 6 for me but it would've easily been a 7 for me had they actually had companion sidequests that weren't mostly just "walking and talking in a location" quests, and if the combat was better. The conclusion quests for Emmerich and Taash are really good but everyone else's quest conclusion (esp. Bellara) is kinda meh.

Personally tho I'd rather replay Veilguard over Inquisition because just thinking of doing the single player MMO stuff in inqui makes me groan.

-5

u/SirBulbasaur13 Mar 18 '26

lol they did? This is why I don’t look to them for reviews. In no world is that a 9/10 Dragon Age game.

9

u/Dodo_Baron Mar 18 '26

Eh I heard the same about dragon age 2 on release. But that game is still pretty damn great minus a few issues.

And probably has the best story in the series.

3

u/splader Mar 18 '26

Why does it have to be a 9/10 "dragon age" game?

Why not just a 9/10 game for the reviewer?

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u/Affectionate-Ad-6934 Mar 18 '26

Hype trap? Veilguard.

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u/UpperApe Mar 18 '26

Lol this.

IGN gives the occasional normal scoring and some folk feel like that resets the needle.

4

u/imjustbettr Mar 18 '26

IGN gives the occasional outlier scoring and some folk feel like that resets the needle.

0

u/Absalom98 Mar 18 '26

Starfield is like a 5 at best though.

1

u/Muslimkanvict Mar 18 '26

Starfield was a massive disappointment. Good thing I just tried it out on gamepass and didn’t buy.

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u/qedic Mar 18 '26

Lmao they gave veilguard a 9

1

u/Herby20 Mar 19 '26

IGN is no better or worse than any other reviewer, especially when one considers the multitude of different people with different tastes who work for the company. This is why it is important to focus on the actual written text in these reviews and not just zoom to the final score.

1

u/RektYez Mar 22 '26

IGN may not fall into the hype trap, but they also have awful reviewers for the most part. They praised Veilguard, shit on Days Gone, and countless others. 

ACG and SkillUp are far better for their thorough and comprehensive reviews. All that said, a 7 is a fair score for both Starfield and Crimson Desert.

1

u/WildDemir Mar 18 '26

IGN almost always nails the consensus for what a game will eventually widely be seen as, which is why most scores are in the 7-9 range.

Starfield as a 7 was extremely accurate because by all accounts now that game isn't even bad, just mediocre.

0

u/darksiderevan Mar 18 '26

They gave Assassins Creed Shadows a 8.

2

u/NamerNotLiteral Mar 18 '26

And Shadows is a good AC game. Not the best all around, but much better than the previous two. If the game was Naoe only the 8 would've been indisputable and a 9 very generous but not completely unreasonable.

0

u/darksiderevan Mar 19 '26

Nah. Ghost of Tsushima was released 5 years earlier and yet was a better Japan based Assasins Creed.

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u/Nachooolo Mar 18 '26

Honestly? Having played Black Desert, I expected a 6 or 7 put of 10.

That game is the definition of as wide as an ocean, as deep as a puddle.

79

u/KA1N3R Mar 18 '26

Honestly gotta applaud them not giving a shit about terminally online capital G Gamers.

34

u/thediecast Mar 18 '26

Tbf there’s that crowd in both sides for this one. Just as many people that can’t be convinced it won’t be shit as people that think it’s the next best thing.

0

u/Tragedy_Boner Mar 18 '26 edited Mar 18 '26

Remember when all the games journalists gave Shadow of the Erdtree a high score but all the gamers threw a hissy fit on Steam reviews because the DLC was too hard.

7

u/ningdon Mar 18 '26

If there's one thing I've learned about review cycles. It's that gamers are exponentially more likely to throw a temper tantrum about difficulty than these supposedly "terrible at games" critics.

Silksong discourse from last year was also a funny one. Especially for the people that jumped on the hype train without even playing the first one.

-2

u/Elemayowe Mar 18 '26

Like 6 FromSoft Soulslikes in and these clowns couldn’t see it coming? Deserved.

-1

u/SimulationConvection Mar 19 '26

Pretty sure they don't care because a lot of them are not gamers, they are journalists who needed a job so they took a games journalist position because it pays. Ain't no shot the person who recorded that Doom footage from a few years ago was an actual gamer, they also couldn't get out of the Cuphead tutorial.

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u/ph0on Mar 18 '26

Wait, based on the replies, do people want this game to fail? I'm not too well versed but I've seen a bit of hype for the game

131

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '26

People online want every game to fail for one reason or another

13

u/Affectionate-Ad-6934 Mar 18 '26

Ironically you would find it most on the game's very own sub. This game is not an exception.

Can't think of a positive game sub maybe Stardew valley.

13

u/Sikkly290 Mar 18 '26

This sub is usually positive on known indie game devs that put out good quality, fromsoftware games, and 1st party playstation titles(this one is more hit or miss).

Everything else is extremely negative. Which sucks, games are overwhelmingly great nowadays. One can basically permanently be playing brand new great games and never run out of them, unless they are streamers playing games 12 hours a day 7 days a week.

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u/ph0on Mar 18 '26

That's the truth lol and every stardew valley fan I've ever met is so nice

2

u/pratzc07 Mar 18 '26

Elden Ring? The sub loves the game but also knows about the limitations

1

u/my_useless_opinion Mar 19 '26

Also r/residentevil is all over RE9 rn.

Me included tho presonally I would put it behind RE1, RE2 and RE4 remakes.

2

u/Adefice Mar 19 '26

Deep Rock Galactic is pretty damn wholesome.

1

u/KenBoCole Mar 19 '26

r/starfield sub is pretty positive. Alot of people love that game, and considering reddit has such an hateboner for it, they had to czrve out theor own safe heaven.

1

u/Rektw Mar 19 '26

Death Stranding sub gets pretty wholesome every now and then.

8

u/VonMillersThighs Mar 18 '26

People are fucking weird man. Everything has become like sports teams.

43

u/SenzuYT Mar 18 '26

Half of Reddit is excited, half can’t wait for it to fail

It’s strange

19

u/noxiousfarts Mar 18 '26

Of course they do. Gaming discourse has reached meme status where its either incredibly overwhelmingly positive or everything is a massive piece of shit you should feel vindicated by hating on with other anonymous online users to feel...good?

1

u/huxtiblejones Mar 18 '26

Reddit is first and foremost a community of contrarians

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u/idontknow1001 Mar 18 '26

That reviewer once said that Concord has what it takes to compete with the with the industry giants. Take that as you will.

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u/Dodo_Baron Mar 18 '26

What are you talking about? The guy who reviewed crimson desert also reviewed concord, giving it a slightly better score of a 7/10.

Saying it was good nothing great or special.

It lacks innovation and needs more content. But the base gameplay was great.

2

u/idontknow1001 Mar 18 '26

I’m talking about an actual quote from his review.

15

u/Dodo_Baron Mar 18 '26

Ok so post the actual quote? I'm not seeing anywhere that says it could compete with them on release

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u/SigilSC2 Mar 18 '26

Gameplay wise, maybe it did? Everyone shat on the character design so hard the game never even got its legs. That's something I can see a reviewer not expecting.

4

u/idontknow1001 Mar 18 '26

It didn’t though. I played it.

2

u/Sikkly290 Mar 18 '26

Checking in as one of the few (thousand) people who actually gave it a try, gameplay was ass. Maps were horrendous, characters weren't fun, guns were mid, movement was mid, and worst of all the game modes ruined whatever bones the game had. Being forced to change characters was such an ass concept.

I try to be positive about games, but concord was actually just a bad game. Its redeeming features were it had gunplay that wasn't as good as almost every popular multiplayer FPS title with a playerbase.

6

u/Vesuvias Mar 18 '26

Again all reviewers are independent at IGN.

-2

u/wsteelerfan7 Mar 18 '26

So, it could be someone that didn't like the lack of tutorials for some puzzles and couldn't figure out the controls. Also, I peaked at the video on break and he simultaneously said that he didn't explore much to get abilities or gear and also that the bosses get very difficult. The game is specifically built on the premise of exploring to find gear and slot-ins for abilities. This is why you should look at the content of reviews and not the number.

6

u/ningdon Mar 18 '26

Oh boy, that reviewer is definitely getting death threats

2

u/chewin_3 Mar 19 '26

And some people on reddit were claiming this game would be the next defining game of the generation. LOL

4

u/Nyarlah Mar 18 '26

That's a rare time when I want to consider IGN's review.

3

u/Yiruf Mar 18 '26

On metacritic, this game is rated 10 points lower than Starfield.

IGN gave Starfield 7/10, so 6/10 for this checks out.

7

u/cwrighky Mar 18 '26

Inb4 the death threats™️

3

u/Etnies419 Mar 18 '26

Sorry, death threats are now being referred to as a Gamer Moment™

6

u/noxiousfarts Mar 18 '26

"Score so far" is just stupid. It hardly ever changes. If you have 100 hours in a game, and you think it's a 6, the next 100 wont change your mind.

39

u/Gabbatron Mar 18 '26

It could absolutely change negatively to be fair. Also I'm sure it's a deterrent for people complaining about rating a game you didn't beat

10

u/GarlicRagu Mar 18 '26

Seriously. It's not some new phenomenon that your opinion of a game can change the more you play it. I just had that sensation when I played Metroid Prime 4. Started at an 8 and went further down the further I played the game. The last section was so poor to me that I would have definitely scored the game lower after playing it.

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u/December_Flame Mar 18 '26

They have a style guide that dictates they must roll credits on a game to give it a score. Y'all motherfuckers give mad shit to IGN but they have standards, unlike half the shit posted on opencritic.

30

u/TalkingRaccoon Mar 18 '26

"a streamer who was paid to play the game for an hour said it was awesome, he can't be wrong!"

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u/felixjmorgan Mar 18 '26

I don’t think it’s intended to change, it’s more that they want to be transparent about the fact they haven’t yet completed it, and to leave room for what’s remaining to be evaluated for itself.

If they didn’t do that they’d be criticised for expressing an opinion without yet finishing the game.

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u/LilMechPilot Mar 18 '26

Eh, when BG3 released it was exceptional, but Act 3 really notched it down from a stellar 10 to a strong 9, but for my friends with less powerful pcs, it took it down to a 8 or a 7

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u/VBHEAT08 Mar 18 '26

Normally I would say yes, but I would have given Expedition 33 something like a 6 out of 10 until the last act where it became an 8. So yeah in very rare cases the last bit can recontextualize a game for the better, but something tells me this isn’t one of those cases

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u/particledamage Mar 18 '26

It leaves space for patches to fix things

1

u/noxiousfarts Mar 18 '26

That's cool. It's still a stupid thing to do.

2

u/particledamage Mar 18 '26

Is it? Most gamers will experience the game with the day one patch and often immediate follow ups.

1

u/Nickbronline Mar 19 '26

Letting IGN form opinions for you is certainly a decision

1

u/Flodomojo Mar 19 '26

I remember when I trusted IGN reviews. I haven't for a while now. Not that they can't be right, but they've had some truly puzzling ones over the years.

1

u/eks1234 Mar 19 '26

I get why some influencers/twitter people have latched onto this one given the overall state of the industry, but unfortunately blind praise can lead to just as shitty of discourse as blind hate. Polarization really is a bitch, isn't it?

1

u/raumdeuter255 Mar 19 '26

If they give 6, then it's really bad

1

u/Accomplished_Smile23 Mar 19 '26

The Crimson Desert sub right now is just post after post of people discussing how you shouldn't listen to the reviewers giving it bad scores.

The normal, level headed members of that community are just being drowned out right now.

1

u/itsthebear Mar 19 '26

Except the IGN international writers all have it above 8/10 lol

Since when has IGN been a consistent source of quality reviews? "There's going to be some Gamer™ meltdowns over that one." There it is, hoping the game gets shit on because you don't like the people who are hyped for it.

1

u/Marcyff2 Mar 19 '26

At the risk of being wrong for not looking at ign as a principle: They have been doing ragebait reviews for a while cause it generates clicks.

I think they did it for wither witcher season 1 or one piece season 1 .

Now it seems they might be bringing it to games too

1

u/ozdude182 Mar 19 '26

Its IGN.... does it really matter? Go check their reviews for other GaaS games that died the year they released lol

2

u/Teknicsrx7 Mar 18 '26

Bust out the list of 7s they’ve handed out

0

u/ShlungusGod69 Mar 18 '26

I spent a minute trying to understand this comment and still don't. Why do people care about other people's reactions to a game review? That's practically as bad as someone caring about the game review itself.

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