As if the entirety of Pywel’s vast world being at your disposal wasn’t enough, we’ve been seeing some of you try to get very naughty with the world’s boundaries. But of course, given that what’s been unearthed is the topic of our conversation today, we’re going to say well done. A very diligent Redditor has braved the game’s 30-second countdown clock to take a look around a snow-covered village that’s quite complete and detailed for something to be placed in an area that isn’t explorable.
It’s right there for all of you to discover, lying just north of the Silver Wolf Mountain in Palune, and it’s quite an extensive settlement. It’s got cabins, notice boards, detailed interiors, and even a few chests. But its very presence raises the big question we’re preparing to explore. What the hell is it doing there?
Well, let’s take a look at what it contains and the possibilities it could bring.
A Hidden Pocket of Pywel
Let’s start with what’s so detailed about the village. For starters, it’s got multiple wooden cabins with some interior details that give it the impression of being lived in. The notice boards, where there’s a poster that looks just like the ones we’ve been picking up all around Pywel, and the chests that were showcased, are all indicators that this might have been an area that could have been open for exploration at some point.
But that’s countered by the visible lack of NPCs in the area, which has been examined only through the use of the game’s Photo Mode before it summarily ejects you from places you’re not supposed to be. But this little village doesn’t look like some empty testing area just left in there to give the impression of a full map. It’s too complete for something that was always meant to be outside the playable space we’ve been given as players.
So what, then, could it be? We have a few guesses.
Out of Bounds… For Now?
You might say that it’s normal for open-world titles as big as Crimson Desert to have unfinished areas and placeholder spaces, where their geometry remains inaccessible beyond the playable map. We’d agree, and we wonder if perhaps we could be wrong about this. But such regions are generally devoid of detailing, remaining devoid of structures, interiors, and props. They certainly don’t have remnants of intractable elements either.
The next logical question then leads us down a rabbit hole from which the game might not be able to rescue us, returning us to the last safe place we were at before we tried to push its boundaries in a way it wasn’t built for. Was it a settlement that got left behind as the game began to add more systems and places to the map? Is it going to be the staging ground for future quests once the developer is done patching the release build and begins crafting new content for the game?
Is it going to be part of an expansion, furthering the edges of Pywel’s world while giving us more of it to explore, or simply a blocked-off part of the studio’s world-building that failed to materialize satisfactorily enough for its inclusion as a playable area? We might never know, but we think those comparisons to Red Dead Redemption 2’s Colter aren’t too far off, and a small part of why we suspect there’s more to this village than meets the eye.
Let’s get the theory that it could just be cut content out of the way. It could have been built with a specific purpose in mind before being relegated to the background as a better way to achieve that goal came about. As we said, many games have unused areas that are repurposed into ways to fill out the world, and the fact that you can’t interact with chests or notice boards while it’s decidedly devoid of NPCs is a valid point that supports the cut content theory. But that’s also the most boring answer, even though it’s a relatively safe one.
That also makes sense owing to the game’s own turbulent development, and the fact that a lot of its systems and mechanics were added in at various stages of its development. This village could very well be a casualty of all that confusion, and perhaps remains as a sort of hidden testament to the effort that went into making it.
But let’s allow our imaginations to soar. It could be a part of future content, a theory that we think gets a lot of merit thanks to how much the developer has been adding to the game in response to the launch version’s slow start. We’ve spoken at length about how it feels like a very different experience now, and the notion that the studio might just choose to add more stuff to the game to keep its players coming back is in line with its official position on support for it.
Of course, there’s no official confirmation of the village being a part of future content, nor any announcements about potential expansions, but if there was one, this village would definitely fit the bill as a starting point. For starters, it’s in Pailune, which makes sense from a narrative standpoint if the potential expansion’s story takes place after the main campaign. The presence of cabins and interiors could make it a great place to house important characters to interact with, while the notice board could be a great starting point for potential side content.
The chests could house the beginnings of new gear sets, with blueprints or maps leading you towards different corners of a newly playable area. The village would work in a variety of ways, with the de facto headquarters for Kliff and Co being an obvious function should it become playable in an expansion. It could also function as an outpost of a new faction and become a location you keep coming back to as you max out trust with all of its vendors.
It could be the site of an iconic clash with a new enemy, formidable or otherwise, and then become a site to trigger a rematch with that boss. It could have special narrative significance to Kliff and perhaps even be the catalyst that sets off any new journeys he may have in future content for Crimson Desert.
Just as Pywel’s a world that brims with possibility across every inch of its playable areas, it seems that even the ones that aren’t fully within our grasp hold mysteries that we must ponder. The very possibility of the village being more than it seems to be is exciting enough, given just how much Crimson Desert has been dominating our gaming time. Or maybe we’re overthinking it so you don’t have to?
Part of the Bigger Picture
Irrespective of whether we’re reading too much into Pywel’s hidden village or not, we think its presence matters because it serves to reinforce the game’s best-selling features. The fact that it’s so hard to find, but has been found anyway, is a showcase of how Pywel’s a place that brings density and depth to gameplay systems that players are still finding new ways to interact with. It’s further proof that Pywel may not have given up all its secrets despite its community of Greymanes doing their utmost to make it a world that they’ve finally solved, and that’s saying something considering how much has been uncovered already!
Its discovery makes Crimson Desert feel like a game that continues to be fresh through consistent innovation, and even the reinvention of features from its release build, and is a game that has its players actively mapping it out, and learning to take its evolution in their stride. It’s been a pleasure to be along for the journey, and we certainly hope that this hidden village is an indicator of future adventures to come, our fellow Greymanes at our sides.
Crimson Desert continues to cast an impressively potent spell over those of us who continue to make Pywel a daily part of our day, and this hidden village might just be a reason that we continue to do so later down the line. We certainly don’t want it to be relegated to the background, and we’re sure most of you agree.
Irrespective of this village being part of a future potential expansion, or just cut content left to flesh out the boundaries of the game’s playable area, we’re happy it exists. Yes, it does raise burning questions about potential additions that we’re going to have to wait patiently to get answers to, but it made Crimson Desert feel a tad more mysteriously alluring. What else are all your Greymanes going to uncover in other unplayable areas of Pywel?
We’re most excited to find out, and perhaps even uncover something of our own as we continue to hunt down every last secret that and mystery Pywel has to offer.
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.