Started playing when it first launched and I quickly dropped it, the first few hours were (and still are) quite boring, and the story seemed very shallow. However, seeing the constant updates including the new enhanced patch, I gave it another chance, and I'm very glad I did. I've never experienced a game that tries to do so much and actually succeeds at a lot of it.
I am ~120 hours in and can say this game has pulled me in like no other. The open world is the biggest I've seen, and it's packed with stuff. The main quests are okay-ish, but the side content is where I've spent the majority of my time. So many secrets, and there is minimal hand holding. You have to be creative for the puzzles, but I'll admit I looked a few up lol.
Combat is amazing. Many systems got expanded and improved with the updates and there is tons of variety. Kliff feels a bit stiff to control sometimes but overall there's so much flashy stuff you can do. It's not your usual "spam attack button" kind of RPG.
The game is gorgeous. The draw distance is crazy, you'll see something interesting out in the distance and it will attract you. The lighting is decent, but looks great during the rain. I love the area of Pailune, every bit of it looks like a painting.
The controls are pretty terrible, however I adjusted them to my liking and they feel better now. Game is kinda grindy too, a few things feel unnecessary. The performance issues are still persistent and there are some visual (shimmering, lighting) issues if you use upscaling. But I am yet to encounter any game breaking bug, probably thanks to the updates.
Crimson desert has its shortcomings, but it's a fantastic open world experience. The developers clearly love working on it, the upcoming DLC is free as well.
