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PC Gamer
PC Gamer
Mollie Taylor

Crimson Desert's story is nonsensical and barely-there, but Kliff's mocap actor reckons 'what it lacks in narrative it more than makes up for in other aspects'

Crimson Desert Twitch Drops: A close-up of Kliff bracing while holding his sword over his shield, ready to thrust.

The man behind the motion capture for Crimson Desert's main protagonist reckons everything the game has going on should more than make up for its perceived shortcomings in the narrative department.

As spotted by GamesRadar, Trevor McEwan popped up on Crimson Desert's subreddit a few days ago, asking whether or not he should do a Q&A at a later date. He then went ahead and did a sort of mini-Q&A in the comments of that post anyway—questions about his comrades, which wrestling move is his favourite (of course it's the RKO), and Crimson Desert's divisive story.

I wrote in my Crimson Desert review how the story is nonsensical and all over the place, a sentiment that seems to be shared by a good chunk of players who have also tried to puzzle their way through all the stilted dialogue. It's also one that McEwan at least understands, even if he doesn't outright agree with the consensus.

"Yeah, I get that," he responded to one comment stating how many feel the story is barebones. "But I think what it lacks in narrative it more than makes up for in other aspects. There's also lore hidden across the world as well, if players don't mind a bit of reading."

I mean, sure. The story is absolutely one of Crimson Desert's weakest elements. But it's surrounded by a world that is a helluva lot of fun to explore and incredibly juicy combat. I'm a bit of a round-package girl myself—I need a good story and worldbuilding to really help me sink my teeth into a game, though I wouldn't want it to be at the cost of immersive exploration.

Though if the poll I put forward to readers last week is any indication, story is only the second most important thing to y'all. So maybe you're able to overlook just how… strange Crimson Desert's whole narrative deal is.

Despite doing a lot of yapping in the comments of the initial post, McEwan hasn't actually gotten round to doing his proper Q&A as of writing. I'm sure when he does there'll be plenty of neat nuggets of info to dissect.

For now, McEwan says that working on Crimson Desert and seeing its success out in the world has "been so surreal," adding: "I've been on an emotional high for over a month now. Really love the Crimson Desert community. Truly the best".

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