Crimson Desert patch 1.02 confirms those who played at launch had it the worst

Crimson Desert patch 1.02 rolled out across all platforms this past weekend, and it made some helpful changes to the game, like increasing the storage available to players at base games. Although all the significant changes made in Crimson Desert’s first two post-launch patches have fixed what were considered some of the game’s more frustrating issues, they also cement the fact that the people who played the game at launch got the worst version of it.

At release, Crimson Desert was praised for being a very ambitious game, but criticized for lacking polish where it mattered. Movement controls were complex and confusing, fast travel was cumbersome, and storage space felt limited. In the patches released in the weeks since its March 19 launch, Pearl Abyss has done a lot to improve the game.

This patch in particular ups the storage capacity available in the player’s base camp as they upgrade it throughout the game, adds clear “Basic” and “Classic” movement control options, and fixes several other smaller quality-of-life issues with the game. This adds on to the adjustments to mounts, stamina, fast travel, and AI art made in last week’s update. It’s safe to say that Crimson Desert is a significantly improved game now compared to at release.

Image: Pearl Abyss via gamexplore

Although it’s great to see games like Crimson Desert recover from rocky launches, it’s a shame those ambitious games couldn’t meet a high bar of quality at release. I held off on buying Crimson Desert at launch because of its issues, but I am tempted to pick the game up after seeing the improvements made in these two patches. Still, I can’t help but feel bad for those who eagerly checked out the game early and had to experience a significantly worse version of the experience.

I suppose that’s both a pro and a con of developers now having the ability to constantly update what they release post-launch. Flawed games like Crimson Desert have a chance to fix their biggest issues and truly become the experience those working on the game had envisioned during development. At the same time, those who pick up games for full price at launch will potentially deal with a bevy of launch week issues that have to be ironed out before the game in question becomes all it’s meant to be.

Crimson Desert is available now for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X. Below, you can see the full list of patch notes for version 1.02:

Content

• Depending on your progress with the Greymane camp expansion, the capacity of your private storage can now be increased from 240 slots up to a maximum of 1000 slots.
  • Through the expansion of your camp, which consists of 5 stages in total, you can expand your private storage as follows:
    • Start with 240 slots
    • First camp expansion +100 slots
    • Second camp expansion +100 slots
    • Third camp expansion +100 slots
    • Fourth camp expansion +100 slots
    • Final camp expansion +360 slots
• Added an Abyss Nexus in Pailune.
• Improved the visibility of explosive barrels when using the “Light Reflection” skill or when shining the lantern on them.
• Fixed an issue with combat missions, where comrades would not return until the mission timer expired if the mission was completed before the time limit.
• Fixed an issue where the Abyss puzzle state would reset when viewing detailed information of nodes via the map “Details” menu while in the Abyss.
• Fixed an issue where the character would become invisible if an Abyss Artifact was obtained before the Abyss completion cutscene played.
• Fixed an issue where the skills Healing Force Palm and Aerial Force Palm were also reset when resetting all skills.
• Changed the designs of certain gimmick monsters.
• Added 1 new armor set and helmet for cats.
• Improved Abyss Skybridge Gates so that restored Gates can be teleported to. (This change was applied in Patch 1.01.00)
• Fixed an issue where the bank investment refresh time would remain stuck in the “Refreshing” state and not update.

Controls & Combat

• Added a “Movement Controls” option.
  • The option can be selected via Main Menu > Others > Settings > Input > Movement Controls, and offers two options: Basic and Classic.
  • Detailed descriptions can be found in the in-game options menu.
  • Basic movement controls: Hold the sprint key to accelerate.
  • Classic movement controls: Repeatedly press the sprint key to accelerate.

• The stamina consumption for mounts has been adjusted.
  • With Basic movement controls, holding the sprint key consumes stamina at set intervals.
  • With Classic movement controls, stamina is consumed each time the sprint key is pressed.

• Improved the conditions for using the Abyss Nexus, allowing them to be used even while moving slightly except in certain situations such as while mounted or while using Flight.
  • We plan to improve this further in the near future so that the player character can fast travel even while on certain mounts.
• Improved so that the Flight skill can be activated even when holding the jump key in mid-air.
• Improved responsiveness when inputting a jump after an attack.
• Added an Escape key guide when affected by elemental status effects.
• Fixed an issue where the Focus state would not be canceled when using Aerial Roll during flight.
• Fixed an issue where weapons could not be drawn inside Demeniss Castle under certain conditions.
• Fixed an issue where some bosses would teleport too far away during combat.
• Fixed an issue where the ‘Double Boost’ horse ability would not activate properly.
• Fixed an issue where parry would not activate properly during ‘Focus’ when a two-handed sword was equipped.
• Fixed an issue where the camera would turn toward nearby enemies when aiming with a tool.
• Fixed an issue where certain interactions were unavailable while specific tools were equipped.
• Fixed an issue where repeatedly pressing the sprint key would allow a horse to run at maximum speed regardless of its stats.

Quests

• Fixed an issue in Chapter 6 where quest progression became unavailable after defeating a boss following a save/load under certain conditions.
• Fixed an issue where quest progression became unavailable if a related item was sold before starting the ‘A Rumor Fueled by Greed’ quest.
• Fixed an issue in Chapter 11 where the Inserted Key could disappear from the bag, preventing related quest progression.

NPC & NPC Dialogue

• Fixed an issue where certain quest-related NPCs would not appear.

UI Fixes & Improvements

• Improved the item use notification in the bottom-right corner so that using it will select the item directly.
• Improved the shop UI so that sellable items are prioritized on display.
• Reorganized certain positions and content of the key guide displayed in the bottom-right corner to improve visibility.
• Improved the UI so that the Save Game and Load Game menus are separated, and added save slot number labels.
• Fixed an issue where the minimap scale would reset while riding a mount at maximum speed.
• [Keyboard/Mouse] Fixed an issue where the mouse cursor would disappear in the storage menu.
• Fixed an issue where item movement would not work properly when entering the horse inventory menu in certain circumstances.
• Fixed an issue where certain menus would occasionally not respond to interaction or appear visually awkward.
• Fixed an issue where crashes occured when entering or using some UI/menus in certain circumstances.
• Improved the game so that the “Stow Weapon” key guide is displayed while in combat when mounted.

Graphics & Settings

• Added a “Headgear Visibility” option in Settings > Language & Gameplay.
  • The following options are available to choose from: Always Show / Show in Combat / Hide in Cutscenes / Always Hide.
  • Additionally, a feature to hide weapons shown on the character’s back, which many players have requested, is also planned to be added in the near future.
• [PC/PlayStation 5/Xbox] Improved FSR upscaling quality.
• [PC] Applied FSR SDK 2.2.
• [PC] Improved FSR Frame Generation quality.
• [PC] Fixed an issue where GPU memory usage would increase when the DLSS RR option was configured.
• [PC] Improved GPU load and shimmering in certain circumstances when FSR-RR / DLSS-RR was enabled.
• [PC] Fixed an issue where foliage and certain other elements were not rendered properly in ray-traced reflections when FSR-RR / DLSS-RR was enabled.
• [PC] Fixed an issue where the top of the screen would flicker when DLAA and HDR options were enabled.
• [PC] Fixed a rendering issue affecting the character’s face indoors when the graphics preset was set to Low.
• [PlayStation 5] Applied the Upgraded PSSR Sharpen feature on PlayStation 5 Pro, improving image sharpness.
• [PlayStation 5] Applied Upgraded PSSR Native AA to Quality Mode on PlayStation 5 Pro.
• [Xbox] Fixed an issue where V-Sync behavior would change when pressing the Home button.
• [Xbox] Added a 4K upscaling option to Performance Mode on Xbox Series X.

Performance, Stability, Gameplay

• Fixed several stability, performance optimization, and crash issues across PC, console, and Mac.

Localization

• Fixed various localization errors and improved localization quality (game advice, etc.) across all languages.

Others

• Fixed an issue where certain walls in Corridors of the Void were missing.
• Improved the sound so that the sound position changes together with the camera perspective.
• Fixed various other in-game issues.

Other Fixes

• Fixed an issue where the weapon would not be visible when using the ‘Stab’ ability while ‘Unarmed’ was equipped as a secondary weapon.
• Improved the UI so that license information can now be viewed in the Credits.
• Fixed an issue the audio volume would become low when an NPC won in minigames such as Duo.
• Fixed an issue where the background audio would become distorted in certain locations and situations.