{"id":38536,"date":"2026-03-23T07:44:37","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T23:44:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=38536"},"modified":"2026-03-23T07:44:37","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T23:44:37","slug":"crimson-desert-and-dlss-5-sent-the-race-for-next-gen-graphics-off-a-cliff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=38536","title":{"rendered":"Crimson Desert and DLSS 5 sent the race for next-gen graphics off a cliff"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Patch Notes <\/strong>is a weekly newsletter bringing you the best of Polygon, sent on Fridays and published on the site on Sundays. You can subscribe here.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

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Isn\u2019t it nice when a new blockbuster launches and it makes everyone happy? The general audience, the critics, the nitpickiest of hardcore fans, the aesthetes and the hobbyists \u2014 everybody is roundly satisfied, and united in their appreciation of a new four-quadrant entertainment, a new pillar of the monoculture.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n

I\u2019m speaking, of course, of Project Hail Mary<\/em>, which hit theaters this weekend. A sweet, funny, hopeful, exciting, and science-forward new space movie starring Ryan Gosling, the great Sandra H\u00fcller, and a cute alien? Who could resist?<\/p>\n

The gaming world should be so lucky. Buckle up: It\u2019s discourse time again!<\/p>\n

Crimson Desert<\/em> is out. Pearl Abyss\u2019 gargantuan open-world role-playing game has been much hyped by the developer, a phalanx of influencers, and an activated army of hopeful fans. The pitch was all-encompassing but simple. Crimson Desert<\/em> was positioned as the ultimate megagame: The Witcher 3<\/em>, Breath of the Wild<\/em>, Red Dead Redemption 2<\/em>, and an offline Final Fantasy 14<\/em> all at once.<\/p>\n

Culturally, Crimson Desert <\/em>appears to be a total generalist, trying to be all things to all people. But it\u2019s not quite so straightforward. Korea\u2019s Pearl Abyss is part of a new generation of \u201coutsider AAA\u201d studios attempting to break into the highest echelon of the industry from outside the perceived development mainstream (which translates as American, Japanese, and Western European studios underwritten by big publishers and platform holders). Other examples are Shift Up from Korea (Stellar Blade<\/em>), Game Science from China (Black Myth: Wukong<\/em>), and Warhorse from the Czech Republic (Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2<\/em>). The Witcher developer CD Projekt Red, from Poland, is the model of this kind of studio; it has now entered the heart of the mainstream, mostly under its own steam and on its own terms.<\/p>\n

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\"Damiane\n <\/picture>Image: Pearl Abyss via Polygon<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Gamers rally around these studios and their ambitious projects for a few different reasons. There\u2019s the honest desire for a fresh perspective on blockbuster games. There\u2019s a sense that these studios can claim an authenticity that would be stamped out within the industry\u2019s traditional structures. Sometimes it\u2019s a justified rejection of the corporate monetization and franchising that has crept into many of the biggest productions. Sometimes there\u2019s a political dimension to it; culture wars have been fought over Shift Up\u2019s unapologetic objectification of Stellar Blade<\/em>\u2019s main character, or Warhorse\u2019s insistence on a whites-only medieval Europe in the original Kingdom Come.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure that Pearl Abyss has a stance on any of these issues, but I can see why fans respond to its naked ambition and refusal to bow to any other masters. Critics, on balance, did not. Crimson Desert<\/em> is divisive, but by many accounts, it\u2019s by turns wildly impressive and hopelessly undercooked. The stage is set for another clash of the cultural media elites versus the True Gamers. But there might end up being a surprising consensus here, too. As of this writing, less than 24 hours after launch, Crimson Desert<\/em>\u2019s Steam reviews are \u201cmixed\u201d (both in English and across all languages).<\/p>\n

There are questions to be asked about how Crimson Desert<\/em>\u2019s hype got so out of control \u2014 if it was a media strategy on Pearl Abyss\u2019 part, then it\u2019s hard to fault the developers\u2019 belief in their own work, but it might not work out in their favor in the long run. But players clearly wanted<\/em> to be convinced by it.<\/p>\n

At the same time, the gaming community rejected another ambitious tech project out of hand this week. Nvidia spectacularly misjudged the reveal of DLSS5, the new generation of its AI graphics-improving tech. With this new iteration, DLSS apparently graduates from filling in pixels and frames to improve image quality and performance to deciding that a game\u2019s characters might look prettier if they just put a bit of lippy on. The pushback was instant, mocking, and severe. Inadvisably, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang doubled down and said players were \u201ccompletely wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is a clear moment of rupture between one of gaming\u2019s tech leaders and its audience \u2014 even the most tech-fetishistic portion of that audience. It\u2019s fascinating that it happened in the week of release of Crimson Desert<\/em>, a game premised on its developers\u2019 technical ability to brute force a giant world into existence, but perhaps not their artistic ability to imbue that world with a soul. An inflection point is coming. It sounds fascinating, worrying, and exciting in equal measure. But for now, I\u2019m off to the movies.<\/p>\n

P.S. It\u2019s funny that the unanimously loved Project Hail Mary<\/em> and the divisive Crimson Desert<\/em> have identical Metacritic ratings: 78. What\u2019s in a number, indeed.<\/p>\n

\n After 20 hours, Crimson Desert hasn’t shown me a single interesting thing
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\"Kliff\n <\/picture>Image: Pearl Abyss via Polygon<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Marloes Valentina Stella valiantly braves the content desert.<\/p>\n

\n Project Hail Mary is every bit the emotional epic you hoped it would be
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\"Astronaut\n <\/picture>Photo:\u00a0Jonathan Olley\/Amazon MGM Studios\/Everett Collection<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Tasha Robinson is here to tell Andy Weir fans to take a deep breath and relax: It all worked out fine!<\/p>\n

\n Nvidia\u2019s \u201cAI slop\u201d graphics tech is getting clowned by everyone
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\"A\n <\/picture>Image: @krishdotdev on X<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Patricia Hernandez rounds up the internet\u2019s funniest reactions to DLSS5.<\/p>\n

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\n Plus this:
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\"A\n <\/picture>Image: Polygon<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n


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