Crimson DesertKliff actor Alec Newman has revealed his thoughts on the game's story as he experienced it during development. Even if Crimson Desert has been hugely successful, its main story has received a lot of criticism from gamers, and Newman's perspective may shed some light on why.
Crimson Desert offers players no shortage of things to do. But in open-world RPGs, a strong story is often the beating heart of the world, and it's an area where many felt Pearl Abyss' last game fell short. The developer has already acknowledged this criticism. Pearl Abyss CEO Heo Jin-young has publicly stated that he sympathizes with players' frustrations with Crimson Deserts story, saying it “would have been nice” to have done better in this regard.
Crimson Desert's Damiane is a huge missed opportunity
Some Crimson Desert players feel that Damiane is a huge missed opportunity for several reasons.
Crimson Desert Kliff cast talks five-year filming process
Crimson Desert Kliff actor Alec Newman recently appeared on Skill Up's Friends Per Second podcast and shared his experience shooting the game over five years, which he described as “the gift that really kept on giving.” According to Newman, it wasn't until two years into filming for the game that the developer said it “will start filming in earnest now.” He described the process as a “roller-coaster”, but also said: “I don't want to say they kept changing the goalpost… we started recording with cards from the different parts of Pywel, and then you have different characters, he's from this faction and he's from that faction. I kept just saying, 'Yeah, but what's going on?'
Newman also revealed his own influence on Crimson Deserts story. After Pearl Abyss settled on the name Kliff for the main character, he “just kept pushing and pushing and pushing the story and the character” and “felt the pressure of a certain type of developer with a certain type of game”, revealing that he is “glad he fought for that.”
…you have different characters, he is from this faction and he is from that faction. I just kept saying “Yeah, but what's going on?”
In the end, it seems that Pearl Abyss's shifting priorities during development caused both Kliff and the game's overall story to suffer in the final product. “The whole Greymanes thing, after about two and a half years, they decided they really wanted it to resonate,” Newman explained. “This idea of family and trying to put something back together… So that was a tipping point. I don't want to say they started panicking, but they were like, 'Oh yeah, we really want this. We really want Kliff to care about his peers,' and I said, 'Yes, he does, but you haven't written that monologue.' than it could have been.”
Pearl Abyss is already hard at work addressing player complaints Crimson Desert updates, which have already added a decent amount of new content to the game after less than two weeks. It's been impressive to see the developer respond so quickly to feedback, and while sweeping changes to the story may not be on the agenda, hopefully the studio has learned enough from the response so far that it can address these issues in any potential story DLC.
- Released
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March 19, 2026
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Blood, drug reference, intense violence, strong language
- Developer
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Pearl Abyss
- Publisher
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Pearl Abyss
