For months, Crimson Desert has been one of the most talked about games within the gaming community. The ambitious open-world RPG developed by Pearl Abyss promises a huge setting, spectacular combat and a wide variety of playable systems that have sparked enormous expectations among players. However, until now there was one important question: how the game would work on consoles.

That mystery has begun to be partially resolved thanks to a new technical analysis published by Digital Foundry, which shows for the first time the game running outside of PC. The video allows us to see how the title performs on console, something that many players have been waiting for weeks. However, there is a key detail that has not gone unnoticed. As specialized media such as Kotaku point out, the material analyzed corresponds only to the version that works on PlayStation 5 Pro, and not on the standard PS5 or Microsoft consoles.

An RPG that has become one of the most anticipated releases

In recent weeks, Crimson Desert has managed to be among the most talked about releases of the year. The game has captured the attention of fans thanks to its combination of a large-scale open world, dynamic combat, and particularly ambitious visuals.

The demonstrations previously shown on PC had already made it clear that the project seeks to offer a very ambitious experience on a technical level. Its sprawling landscapes, detailed cities, and multi-character action scenes have helped raise expectations.

Precisely because of this technical ambition, many players wondered how the game would work on consoles. The concern was understandable, especially after it was confirmed that the specialized press analyzes would be published just 24 hours before the launch and that the media had only had early access to the PC version.

Three graphics modes and good performance on PS5 Pro

Digital Foundry’s analysis reveals that Crimson Desert offers three different graphics modes on the Sony console: optimal, balanced and quality.

The optimal mode is designed to prioritize performance, while the other two modes seek to offer greater visual quality. In general terms, the three modes present a very detailed and attractive image.

However, the analysis mentions that in some scenes visual artifacts related to the PSSR rescaling system, the image reconstruction technology used by PS5 Pro, appear. Even so, analysts consider that these problems could be improved in the final version of the game.

In terms of performance, the result is quite solid. The performance mode aims for 60 FPS, and according to the analysis it manages to stay close to that figure for most of the time. Even in complex situations, the overall performance remains stable.

Of course, during some massive battles there may be momentary frame drops. John Linneman, an analyst at Digital Foundry, explained that these moments do not represent the usual experience of the game.

An open world that requires a lot of power

One of the most striking aspects of the game is the scale of its open world. As explained by Richard Leadbetter, director of Digital Foundry, the main technical challenge of the project is not only in the graphics, but in the load it places on the processor.

The game appears to manage a large number of simultaneous systems that react to the player’s actions, something that increases the technical demands considerably.

Still, Leadbetter noted that the performance seen on PS5 Pro is impressive considering the size of the world and the complexity of the project. Additionally, he noted that the high-end PC version appears to scale correctly towards Sony’s more powerful console.

This could be a positive sign for the rest of the versions of the game, although there is no conclusive data yet.

The big unknown continues to be the rest of the consoles

Despite good first impressions, the analysis leaves one important question unanswered. For now, the game has not been shown working on the standard PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S.

This means that it is not yet known how the game will perform on systems less powerful than PS5 Pro. For many players, this information will be key when deciding which platform to play on.

Still, early testing seems to indicate that the Pearl Abyss title could avoid some of the optimization issues that sometimes plague more ambitious open-world games.

With the launch scheduled for the next few days, everything indicates that the expectation around Crimson Desert will continue to grow. And if the other versions manage to offer a performance similar to that seen so far, the game could become one of the great protagonists of the year within the RPG genre.

Source: Kotaku