It's just under a week since Crimson Desert launched, and some players have already lost significant amounts of hours exploring Pywel. And by "some players," I mean John 'Bucky' Buckley, the head of publishing and communications at Palworld developer Pocketpair, who's been devouring the quasi-RPG from Pearl Abyss.
"Really want to stay home and just play 12 hours of Crimson Desert again but I guess I better go to work," he tweeted on March 24. "There’s [business] and Palworld to be done." Funny and frank as this is – and there are definitely many who can relate – there's more truth to it than you may think.
In an earlier thread on his thoughts, Buckley provided some play-by-play for his evolving opinion of the expansive fantasy adventure. "Played 26 hours of Crimson Desert this weekend. I adore this game," he stated on Twitter. "It ticks all the boxes for me, and I’ve enjoyed every minute."
Really want to stay home and just play 12hrs of Crimson Desert again but I guess I better go to work…there’s bizniz and Palworld to be done 🙇March 24, 2026
He mentions the "pretty jank" controls, but he's "used to it since I played a fair amount of Asian MMOs." His recommendation is mouse and keyboard, and the "combat is stellar." Buckley agrees that Kliff, the central character, is "bland," and to him, the "bigger story beats" are generally good, but the overall narrative is "on the weaker side."
The cast gets a shout-out, and he praises the voice-over work generally. "I love this game," he says, in closing. "If you don’t, then don’t play it."
Simple advice, and he makes that assertion while actively resisting the discourse surrounding Crimson Desert. The game's rating started "Mixed" on Steam, but has since risen, thanks to Pearl Abyss making consistent updates.
Being one of the year's biggest releases, there's been all sorts of discussion surrounding it. At least we know there's one megafan thus far, and sadly he's now working on Palworld instead of playing more.
