I've been away from Pywel for an agonizing two weeks thanks to a family holiday, but instead of leaping back into the delightfully weird world of Crimson Desert the moment I got home, I decided to pause my adventure. There is a very good reason for this hesitation: this week's Crimson Desert update sounds like it's going to be a doozy.
What to expect in the upcoming Crimson Desert update
On April 10, Pearl Abyss teased several features they have been working on. While these won't all appear in a single patch—rather dropping over the next few months—the list of potential additions is ridiculously huge. These include boss rematches, a more dynamic blockade system, difficulty settings, new skills for Damiane and Oongka, new outfits, more pets and mounts, control improvements, and better storage.
Last weekend, Pearl Abyss confirmed exactly what we can expect in the immediate future. On X, the studio stated: "We’re currently preparing our next update which will include several features mentioned in last week's Dev Update notice, including the addition of a keyboard/mouse and controller preset, difficulty settings, category tabs for your inventory, and more."
Major quality of life and inventory improvements
The Crimson Desert update is expected to drop this week, and it's the inventory changes that have me most excited. While inventory management has improved since we first reviewed the game—back when we didn't even have access to storage—it is still quite poor.
This upcoming patch addresses those pain points by introducing four new specialized storage categories:
- Food
- Wardrobe
- Gatherables
- Collections
With these changes, cooking and crafting will become much more streamlined. You will be able to access your food and gatherables storage directly, rather than needing to ensure every single ingredient is already sitting in your main inventory. Finally!
Visual enhancements and performance
While Pearl Abyss hasn't detailed the exact file size of this patch, we have been warned that it will be larger than previous ones. This is primarily due to "distant scenery quality improvements" being integrated into the Crimson Desert update.
While the game is absolutely a looker, the draw distance can occasionally look a bit funky when staring into the far distance. There is often a noticeable dip in quality when looking at objects many miles away, which can be distracting during long sessions.
Pearl Abyss promises enhanced realism with this update, so I expect to be taking even more screenshots of its fancy vistas. Since this is going to be a big one, you might want to make sure you have plenty of space available on your SSD.
