After a long wait, Crimson Desert has finally hit the market, and one of the things the community has been most curious about since its release is its visual quality. Can the PlayStation 5 (Base) hardware deliver a crisp visual experience? The verdict is a mix of awe and technical frustration.
Are the visuals in Crimson Desert on the PS5 beautiful?
Where Crimson Desert really shines is in its lighting. When exploring indoor environments or areas with little natural light, the use of ray tracing in shadows and global illumination is exemplary.
The light behaves realistically, creating a dense atmosphere that rewards players who pay close attention to detail. Even in 60 frames per second mode, the level of fidelity in these small details shows the team’s optimization potential.
We made a video comparing the graphics modes, which you can check out in the player below:
Despite the beauty of the landscapes, the game faces a critical sharpness issue. Due to the implementation of FSR 3 (AMD’s upscaling technique), there is a constant feeling that the image is blurry or “washed out.”
Recently, starting with update 1.00.04, players can now disable 120Hz mode in the game settings, which provides an immediate sharpness boost. However, when this feature is enabled, the blurring returns.
However, as I mentioned in the review, it’s not all roses…
Crimson Desert presents a strange contrast: while you get cinematic views when looking at the horizon, close-up interaction with the scenery can reveal flaws, which I’m listing below:
- Texture Inconsistencies: It’s common to find low-resolution wooden items and wall signs alongside ultra-detailed models.
- Edge Distortion: On certain walls and objects, the screen edges seem to "stretch" the textures, an effect that becomes glaringly obvious when playing in first-person view, where, curiously, the protagonist has no body.
- Water Effects: Elements like the waterfall and certain parts of the ground in photo mode look dated, clashing with the overall polish of the armor and characters.
Crimson Desert is, without a doubt, a beautiful and competent game. It manages to deliver a grand scale with stable performance most of the time. However, the visuals aren’t quite extraordinary or innovative.
It gets the scale and lighting right, but still needs some fine-tuning to get rid of the blurry look and low-fidelity textures that pop up during exploration.
Check out: Crimson Desert Review on PS5: A Strong Contender for 2026’s GOTY or Not?
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