I have now spent about 130 hours in Crimson Desertand I think I could still get hundreds more out of it if I really wanted to. Actually I absolutely do, and I intend to try. The game has its issues, I'll admit, but it's honestly been one of the most memorable experiences of my life, simply because I can't get enough of its world. I've played a lot of open world games in my day, but I've never seen one like it Crimson Deserts, where I can interact with almost everything I see, and it seems like there's always some new discovery to stumble upon. But even with all the praise I'm willing to lob at it, there's still one feature that I think would take the whole experience over the top: transmog.
Transmog is one of those things that to some may feel like a fairly insignificant feature, but to others it's a game changer. From my perspective, being able to change the look of my character without forcing me to switch gear means I can maintain my immersion in the game, especially during cutscenes, and, as shallow as it sounds, just have a nice looking character. But in Crimson Deserttransmog would go much further than that, as it would at least partially solve one of the game's biggest problems. In fact, this is one of the first times I think I've ever believed that transmog would offer more than just customization options to a game and actually target what I consider to be a flaw in its design, so that's saying something.
Crimson Desert Review: A Remarkable Open World That Often Asks Too Much
Crimson Desert offers one of the most impressive worlds in gaming, but the deeper you go, the more it begs you to face it on its own terms.
Transmog would make one of Crimson Desert's biggest problems less of one
For starters, there are countless armor sets and parts in them Crimson Desertwhich makes sense given the enormity of the game. They can be earned from boss fights, purchased from vendors, and even acquired as reputation rewards. But what's more, each of them has such distinct and detailed characteristics, transmog would certainly complement that variety. The ability to change the appearance of any armor to another once looted – similar to a transmog system that The legacy of Hogwartss, for example—would be nice, especially with Crimson Deserts inventory and player storage limitations.
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Abyss artifacts are the real reason Transmog would matter
But the real reason transmog is so important Crimson Desert depends on how much the game relies on Abyss Artifacts for stats, skill, and gear progression. It's been known for a while now that players would need to acquire Abyss Artifacts to power up their character, but what wasn't clear (at least to me) until I played it was that they're also necessary to upgrade gear beyond a certain level. Specifically, once you've refined a piece of gear to level 4, attempting to upgrade it further requires the use of valuable Abyss artifacts that are also necessary to upgrade your character's stats and skills.
Maybe it wouldn't be a problem if there weren't three playable characters in the first place Crimson Desert which share nothing but stats and some basic skills. In other words, if you want to get the most out of every character in the game other than Kliff, you'll need to spend a large number of Abyss Artifacts on each of them just to bring them up to where Kliff will naturally be, since he's required for the majority of Crimson Deserts story content and ultimately has better skills anyway. Because of that, I don't really want to spend Abyss Artifacts on gear I won't use long term.
The real reason transmog is so important is that Crimson Desert depends on how much the game relies on Abyss Artifacts for stats, skill, and gear progression.
And therein lies the second, perhaps more pressing question. Because there are so many different armor pieces and sets Crimson Desertinvesting precious Abyss Artifacts to upgrade them beyond a certain point really doesn't make sense, as you tend to replace them once you find something better. It's possible to make gear more powerful with Abyss Cores once you've unlocked the crafting system for it during the main story, but not only does this apply to gear that already has Abyss Sockets closed, it also doesn't help when it comes to making sure your character's appearance is exactly what you want it to be.
This is something I've especially noticed with gear that I've earned Crimson Deserts reputation system, which are actually some of the weakest gear in the game but also some of the nicest. Earning enough reputation points to spend on that gear already takes enough time, there's almost no point in focusing on it or even spending those points once they're acquired, simply because by that point you've probably found better gear anyway. But what if I want the look of that gear without wearing it? If Crimson Desert had a transmog system I'd have no problem grinding for that gear and eventually buying it, just because I like the way most of it looks, but I don't necessarily want to wear it.
Reputation in Crimson Desert is regional and can be earned by completing certain parts of the main story, doing side quests for villagers and even giving money to beggars.
I will say that Abyss Artifacts can be acquired through a variety of ways in the game, whether it's finding them in the open world, solving puzzles to unlock them, randomly acquiring them after defeating a certain number of enemies, or acquiring them as quest rewards. It makes them sound abundant, and in fact they are. But skills and stats in Crimson Desert increasingly expensive to unlock, starting with only requiring one Abyss Artifact and increasing that requirement up to four and longer the further you go. That's ultimately what makes them so valuable, not that they're rare, but that they're so important to character growth.
At the end of the day, the tension between how valuable Abyss Artifacts are and how ephemeral most gear feels is what lasts Crimson Desert from fully exploiting their own depth. A transmog system wouldn't overhaul development or suddenly make every decision easier, but it would remove the hesitation that comes with investing in something that will likely be replaced very soon. It would at least give me a reason to care more about every piece of armor I find, whether it's for power or for style, and allow Crimson Deserts incredible variety that actually matters in the long run.
- 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
