Crimson Desert's New DLC Adds Sailing, Marriage and a Side Hustle
Kliff is finally settling down.
Crimson Desert just got a lot bigger, because Pearl Abyss released Charting the Unknown, the first paid DLC for Crimson Desert Enhanced, on October 29 (Xbox Wire). It costs $24.99 on PS5 (Push Square), and it's out now on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Steam, Mac and the Epic Games Store (Pearl Abyss press release).
What's actually in Charting the Unknown?
There's quite a lot packed in, starting with three new questlines, one each for Kliff, Oongka and Damiane, that pick up after the fight for the Greymanes and Pywel (Xbox Wire). They're post-game missions, so you'll need to finish the main campaign before you can start them (Push Square).
The biggest addition is the ocean, where you can build your own ship, sail the Great Ocean of Pywel to new islands, and dive underwater to find ruins, treasure chests and new creatures (Xbox Wire). There's also the Garden of Trials, a boss rush where you fight bosses from the main game one after another.
Can you really get married in Crimson Desert now?
You can, as long as you put in the work first. Kliff, Oongka and Damiane can build trust with certain people in Pywel, and some of those relationships can turn into romance and even marriage (Xbox Wire). (Kliff spent the whole campaign saving Pywel, so he has definitely earned a date.)
The DLC also grows the life-sim side of the game, so you can build a house from the ground up and choose where the walls and windows go, decorate certain castles once you've freed them, and lease businesses like a restaurant or a smithy inside your strongholds (Xbox Wire). You pick the gear, the staff and the goods to sell, and each location builds its reputation over time.
How has Crimson Desert done since launch?
It's been a huge hit for Pearl Abyss since it came out on March 19, and the studio said it had passed six million copies sold by June (Push Square). If you haven't tried it yet, PlayStation Plus Premium and Deluxe members and Xbox Series X|S players can play Crimson Desert Enhanced free for five hours (Pearl Abyss press release).
My read is that this is a big swing for a first DLC, since sailing and diving open up a whole new part of the world and the romance and business systems give the game a cozy side it didn't really have before. For $24.99, that's a lot of new stuff to do, and I'm mostly here for the boss rush (and maybe the restaurant).
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Images are official Crimson Desert: Charting the Unknown key art and screenshots from Xbox Wire, from Pearl Abyss.
