Crimson Desert has enough content to keep players trapped in its starting area for 136 hours, but once they manage to break away and pursue the endgame, some are claiming their to-do lists have become uncharacteristically empty.
They think Crimson Desert's endgame is so egregiously boring, they're urging developer Pearl Abyss to make a change. One April 6 ordinance on Reddit with over 800 likes and, uh, 800 comments addresses Pearl Abyss' "Lead Systems Designers and Community Managers" directly in an effort to call attention to Crimson Desert's endgame that might as well be an abandoned house.
Or, as the Reddit petitioner writes, "The Post-Game Void." They explain, "Once the story and side quests are complete, the beautifully realized world of Pywel becomes static. There are no bosses left to fight, no dynamic events to engage with, and players feel they have no arena left to utilize the incredible combat mastery they've developed." They recommend Pearl Abyss add new bosses, quests, and roguelite mechanics. To this I say, it's important to dream big.
Another Reddit post with nearly 1,500 upvotes instead suggests Crimson Desert's late game is more of a simple enemy volume issue. The player writes, "Pearl Abyss needs to address the map being empty of enemies in the late game."
"I'm at 230 hours with the majority of main storyline missions done. As you progress and overtake camps the enemies don't come back," they continue. "Repeat this until end game and it reaches a point where the map has very minimal things to kill." Commenters recommend enemy respawns, or maybe just a way to reset demolished camps.
Personally, I'm never as concerned about late-game content as much as I'm always hoping my attention span doesn't fail me for once; I'm guilty of abandoning games earlier than I necessarily want to (and I can hardly make eye contact with my bookshelf for the same reason). Other Crimson Desert players seem to share this habit with me and feel annoyed about it, as one thread with over 200 comments – and, tellingly, 0 upvotes – complains of how "people are complaining about 'no end game' this isn't an mmo you beat the game move on."
But in defense of those issuing Pearl Abyss various decrees, proclamations, and commandments for what Crimson Desert should be like, the title is billed as open-world, which players typically expect to find full of life. So, like Crimson Desert, Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC drew similar criticism from fans for being seemingly vacant, as did Cyberpunk 2077 before CD Projekt Red gave it head-to-toe surgery.
In other words, "I've seen enough people mention it here that it feels like something the developers really need to look at," says yet another Reddit thread on Crimson Desert's disappointing finish with 1,200 upvotes.
