Playing games for review is a lot of fun. You get games early (sometimes), and you get to experience them before the general public. However, there is a downside to that dynamic. Because you are playing games before the community gets their hands on them, there are no Reddit boards to help you through the hard times. All the clunkiness and jank of a game that has been behind the curtain is yours to wade through. You get the unadulterated version of the game that the devs intended to make, for better or for worse.
In the case of Crimson Desert, being one of the first to play meant banging through some of the more difficult boss fights, scouring the landscape for hours for fast travel points, and hunting hundreds of deer to have enough food to survive whatever random events the game was going to throw your way next. And now, less than a week after the game's release, Pearl Abyss has come swooping in to nerf the game because the whining baby community couldn't handle the real deal. You kids probably never had to walk to school in the snow, either.
I'm kidding, of course, because Crimson Desert in its original form was one of the toughest games I've ever played. So when I logged in yesterday and noticed that I was able to hack trees down with a mere two swipes of my axe, there was great rejoicing. And when I found the fast travel point that had magically appeared right in the middle of my Howling Hill camp, I briefly thought that I was losing my mind. How had I missed it before? I hadn't - it was just patched in.
Reading through the Patch Notes on the Crimson Desert site is like reading a menu of items I would have loved to have during my first time through Crimson Desert. And now that I'm taking a second run on PlayStation, I will luxuriate in the easier bosses, the enhanced food effects, and the private storage chest (!!!!). There are all sorts of great enhancements to gameplay and controls, and the fact that Pearl Abyss knocked some of this stuff out so quickly really shows the company's commitment to resolving some of the issues called out by reviewers and early players.
My pet will now actually pick up the stuff it's supposed to! The daggone Skybridge thing will actually work now! You can light arrows in fire at the Lioncrest Watchtower without destroying the brazier you are supposed to be using as a source of flame!
You kids. You have it so easy.
