In my review of Crimson Desert: Charting the Unknown, I spoke about how there wasn’t enough time to see everything the new expansion had to offer before GTA 6 comes along. I didn’t make that statement idly, having spent an entire weekend obsessively playing the DLC to the detriment of my social commitments.
That wasn’t for a lack of trying, though. Stepping out for lunch had me wondering what that island on the horizon was hiding, or what those underwater ruins I came across could yield to make the rest of my travels easier. Every discovery I made, and the excitement that came with it, was punctuated by the knowledge that there was a strong chance my next big find might deserve even more of a celebration.
It’s overwhelmingly large and packed with so much meaningful stuff that disbelief was a part of a lot of my early hours with it. But I’ve come to accept it now, and I’m more determined than ever to tease out every last secret the depths are hiding. What are Christmas holidays for, after all? I keep asking myself if that’s a realistic goal, though. Here’s why.
A New Side Of Pywel
I’ve spoken a lot about how Hernand was a place I couldn’t leave simply because of the sheer volume of cool things to do within its boundaries. Of course, that was before I travelled to Demeniss to engage with its complex political nuances, or Delysia, where Marni’s machines were a very interesting integration of steampunk and fantasy motifs.
But despite that, the ocean remaining firmly closed to visitors felt restrictive. The DLC changed that, and its shores became the starting point for new adventures that come with new ways to engage with the world. Yes, a lot of the game’s existing activities do play a role in the new content, but they’re all packaged so well and crafted in a way that fits within the new exploratory framework.
Exploring on land made way for going beneath the surface, and the change immediately makes the whole world feel a lot bigger and way more varied than you might think if the DLC’s promos are all you’ve got to go on. My ship was a major part of that, and I think that the developers nailed how voyages give you that sense of crossing large distances.
Picking a new destination and setting sail immediately feels like you’re on a journey, with all of the unpredictability that comes with such a venture. The coastline fades away into the distance, and the vast sea in front of you really helps sell that sense of scale when you cover large expanses of it and finally see the island you want to visit slowly looming larger in the distance.
Of course, the things that happened along the way are an equally important part of this conversation.
Discovering New Layers Of The World
I’d like to go back to my review to touch upon how I highlighted the sense of discovery that comes with diligently exploring Pywel’s oceans. It’s a facet that’s very relevant in an examination of the DLC’s size and scope, simply because every new place had something worthwhile to find.
I’m not going to forget arriving at an island only to find it was fully under the occupation of the Catfish Pirates. Wiping them out wasn’t even a debate, but I was delighted when doing so brought up a very cool-looking ship, complete with an epic entrance that had me staring slack-jawed at its design as it rose up from under the very ground. Yeah, you read that right.
Another island saw me find a treasure map, which then led me to explore more of the ocean in an effort to see if what it led me to was going to be useful in upgrading my build, ship, or diving gear. Getting there after a long search brought on a discovery I’m not going to spoil at all. But I can tell you that I stared slack-jawed at my screen, wondering just how many times I was going to find myself in the same situation as I went on with my business at sea.
Finding that stuff underlines the sentiment that the journey is as important as the destination, and that just getting started with something is the surest way to see it through. You see, I must admit to being quite lost when I first started with my naval adventures, wondering where I was supposed to go and what I was expected to do when I got there.
Of course, I reminded myself that this was Crimson Desert after all, and that realization was what opened my eyes to just how massive the new and improved Pywel really was.
The Mysteries Of The Depths
Notice how I’ve spoken largely about sailing on the water while only touching upon what was waiting below the surface? Well, I think underwater exploration deserves its own space, and perhaps even a separate article if my suspicions about barely scratching the surface turn out to be true.
The sheer vastness of the ocean becomes immediately evident the moment you hit the button to dive, and swimming around without my diving gear meant forays to the ocean bed were short and sweet, needing me to be quick in my efforts to tease out hidden chests and secrets before I had to return to the surface.
Of course, one such place that hosted the ruins of a sunken factory had a nice little piece of gear that not only came with a device that would help me breathe longer underwater, but also propellers that helped me cover more ground easily. That was a thrilling find, but with everything else I’ve told you about, I’m sure you can understand why I wondered if there was something even better lying in wait for me at the other end of the new world I was exploring.
And while I was tempted to begin marking random spots on the map and sailing to them to see what I would find, I soon found that was easier said than done.
Remember that pirate island and cool ship? I ended up stumbling upon a quest associated with it on my way to another island where I hoped to find more enemies to fight or cool stuff to take back to my new castle. I learned of an ancient shrine and a monster that the pirates wanted to control. “Over my dead body,” I thought as I set off to find the shrine’s treasure, a device that would foil their plans if I could manage to secure it for myself.
Four hours later, I found myself in another place, chasing down an entirely different set of leads. That’s going to sound familiar to you if you’ve spent any amount of time in Pywel, and the expansion does well to recreate that wanderlust with aplomb. Anything can tempt you to change course, be it a pirate ship bounty you come across or a random conversation that points you to something that piques your interest.
It’s a very welcome sense of unpredictability that makes the ocean feel as fickle as it is in the real world, which immediately makes it an alluring place to travel through. However, as nice as it was sailing around on my massive Delysian vessel, there were certainly things that called me back to the shoreline.
Stories That Matter
You might have guessed I’m talking about all the new ways you get to leave your mark on the land via owned businesses and houses and castles you get to decorate to your liking. Yes, all of it added a new layer of engagement to Pywel, but I’m talking about the epilogues that wrapped things up for Kliff, Damiane, and Oongka.
Those stories were certainly done well, and the conclusions that they brought to each character’s individual tale were not only logical to their respective personalities, but also very insightful takes on what their new role in Pywel’s future meant to them on a personal level.
Between that and everything else I’ve been talking about, it’s easy to see how Charting the Unknown sets up a very addictive rhythm between travelling, discovering new things, and encounters that you can fondly think about when you’re at the wheel of your ship. The fact that all of this was after around fifteen hours of play is an indication of just how wide the new world the DLC introduces is.
I thought the ocean was going to be an interesting place from the moment I heard about the expansion. But what I didn’t expect was its sheer scope, and the way it was going to compel me to spend just a little longer with it to go investigate the island I could see in the distance, or to indulge my curiosity and simply dive into the water to see if there was anything worth finding.
I’m left thinking about all the places I marked out on my map, only to change my mind and set a course for something in the opposite direction. I know I’m going to get to those places eventually, the memory of why I wanted to go there being just that. And that’s precisely why this one’s an expansion that has me feeling like it’s the largest one I’ve ever seen in nearly thirty years of playing video games.
It’s been a pleasure to play this one, and I suspect that feeling is going to endure well into 2027 as I chip away at the vast expanse of water that now lives in my head rent-free.
Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.
