One of the perks of this job is that we get to spend our weekends “working”, taking on whatever new batch of content the gaming world puts out. It’s a pleasure more often than not, and that’s certainly the case with Charting the Unknown, the new DLC expansion for Crimson Desert.
Mind you, a weekend isn’t enough to see and experience everything that an expansion of this size and scope offers in a world that’s already as massive as Pywel. But it has been enough for us to see what’s new for Kliff, Damiane, and Oongka, a trio of protagonists whose respective storylines fit very well into the expansion’s theme.
We’re quite happy with these new chapters for each of them, although there are areas where things could stand to improve. We’re here to dive into what’s good, what isn’t, and how these three stories take the overall narrative forward and tie things off satisfactorily enough to merit this conversation we’re having with you. Let’s set out right away!
A More Focused Approach
We should probably tell you to expect minor spoilers here, but we’ve made sure to leave out any important details that could otherwise hamper your enjoyment of the three stories. With that out of the way, it’s time to tackle them one by one.
No matter which of the three Greymanes (Damiane’s unofficial induction still counts in our eyes) you decide to take on, the first thing that stands out is that the character in question remains front and center through the whole thing. That’s an immediate improvement over the base game, where Kliff was often at the center of the narrative to the detriment of his other two protagonists’ character arcs.
It’s nice, then, to see Damiane and Oongka get nice little epilogues that showcase what they’ve been up to since we last saw them play a role in bringing peace to Pywel, and ending Caliburn’s devious schemes quite summarily. It’s helped along by pacing and mission design that send you from one event to another with enough justification for the journey, and with interesting things to find out waiting at your destination.
Take Damiane’s story, for instance. There’s tension set up from the very first moment, and while we can’t get into spoilers, the mysterious disappearance of a returning character who is quite close to her thanks to the base game’s events is the perfect catalyst for her investigation into a new potential threat to Demeniss. The stakes are high, the situation is quite grounded in what we already know of her motivations and the region, and the narrative direction and writing carry the weight of meeting our high expectations.
But what about the stories themselves? Do the revelations they bring us feel like the right kind of closure on a tale that was previously among the weakest parts of the base game? There’s good news on that front.
New Roads For Kliff
Aptly called Beyond the Margins, Kliff’s story mission in Charting the Unknown takes the expansion’s title quite literally. We could say the same for the other two as well, but it’s most pronounced in the underlying themes of Kliff’s story arc. What could a Greymane who has achieved what he set out to do in the first palace have to offer Pywel, a land that now enjoys a newfound peace?
Quite a lot, as it turns out. You meet Sebastian, an enthusiastic cartographer, and accompany him on a journey to investigate a mysterious new sandstorm in the Crimson Desert. Of course, other interested parties come along to help you, and they’re certainly a welcome presence in the story.
Equally welcome are the antagonists behind it all. We’re not going to spoil the identity of the faction behind all this trouble just yet, but the narrative weaves them into the tale not with sinister accounts of their wrongdoings, but by making you experience the effects of their actions firsthand.
Thematically, the sandstorm and desert make this a journey into territory that should be familiar, but now comes with the threat of getting lost in the desert, and perhaps running afoul of its latest threat. Kliff’s noble disposition is then the perfect reason for him to choose to help, and his reflections on what it means to brave distant lands and lay the groundwork for those who follow reinforce his role as a pensive, introspective leader.
It’s good stuff, and it’s because the story challenges Kliff in a way that his previous adventures haven’t. He’s journeying into the unknown and learning more about himself and his own motivations along the way.
A New Side Of Oongka
It’s easy to see Oongka as nothing more than muscle for the Greymanes, despite his keen tactical mind and a strength of character that belies his gruff exterior. At least, that was the case until Charting the Unknown. Turns out, the man is as introspective as Kliff and is determined to ensure he’s ready for whatever comes next in Forged Resolve.
His motivations for doing so could come off as a little weak, but we can see how they help set up an arc that sees Oongka turn to his mind instead of his muscles to come up with a solution. That, in turn, is a great way to set up some excellent callbacks to the base game’s story while allowing Oongka to show us a side of him that helps explain his fighting style quite subtly.
The base game did nothing to help us understand how and why he weaves fancy technology into his arsenal, but we’re now given a good look into how the man fancies great engineering and decides to accumulate the knowledge he needs to create his own inventions.
We know Oongka as a seasoned warrior, but can he hack it as a scholar and inventor? We’ll leave you to answer that for yourself, but we certainly liked how the story challenged him to go down a path he might not have considered before the Black Bear’s attack on the Greymanes. That brings us to the final story of the lot, and we’ve saved the best for last.
Damiane’s Rise To Prominence
Demeniss often felt like a region whose political intrigue was a tad too underutilised in the story. We would have loved to see its nobles and officials squabbling and scheming a little more than the glimpse of its court we were given in the base game. Well, all of that’s front and center in Damiane’s latest chapter, and it’s an excellent way to weave in a bit of character development for her as well.
Caliburn might be gone, but the lingering effects of his scheme have placed Demeniss in a precarious position, with its nobility looking to create a future in which the stability of the region isn’t going to be threatened by the whims of a corrupt aristocracy. That’s easier said than done, however, and with returning characters and new ones to meet, Damiane’s story does a great job of giving her character a new role to play in the land she so loves.
Where Kliff learned more about the effort it takes to pave a path to the future for the people he protects, and Oongka looked to secure that future through technology, Damiane finds her footing by deftly navigating a political landscape that was once weaponized against her, but is now the very thing she uses to help secure a better future for Demeniss.
Of course, it helps that the Greymanes are now firmly at her side instead of a disjointed effort at showcasing their working relationship in the base game. Damiane’s transformation from exile to social reformer is one that lands very well, and is probably our favorite among the three.
That takes care of our heroes, but what about the villains they face?
Rather Forgettable Antagonists and Puzzles
For all of the strengths of these new chapters for our beloved heroes, it’s a tad disappointing that the bad guys they’re chasing down are largely forgettable. Yes, the leader of the bandit faction that Damiane takes on brings some awesome fire-based attacks to the table, but with our characters being as powerful as they are thanks to our diligent exploration of Pywel, there wasn’t too much of a challenge in taking him down.
The same goes for Kliff, with a final fight against a boss that merely felt like a reskin of ones we’ve fought before, despite some new attacks being added to the table. However, what’s even more frustrating is the fact that getting to those fights still came with a bit of friction in the form of new puzzles.
We’re not trashing the puzzles themselves, even though they’re largely familiar and perhaps not as well-designed as some of the ones in the base game. Rather, it’s their placement in the story that we take issue with. They often come at times when you’d much rather be learning what’s new in the story, and act as obstacles to that far too often.
Take the one with Oongka, for example. An important conversation with one of the new friends he makes in his story has us solving a puzzle to enter the room where he’s at, despite the two men sharing the same space in the previous cutscene. It often feels like the story forces you to jump over hurdles at a time when its pacing has you quite eager to find out what happens next, and it happens often enough to be an annoyance.
The Power of Closure
Despite those minor issues, Charting the Unknown delivers a strong set of chapters to tie off the stories that Crimson Desert started, and brings a satisfying new direction for our three heroes to take.
It’s effective at setting up their futures in the absence of the world-threatening conflict that they had to take on in the base game, allowing them to take confident steps in the new world that align with their motivations and personalities. It also challenges their notions well enough to make the journeys they take meaningful.
That’s quite a good showing for tales that are meant to be epilogues, and as post-game continuations of existing tales, these new chapters are as enjoyable as they come. Minus those puzzles, of course.
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.
