Crimson Desert arrived last week to strong sales figures but a frustrating visual surprise: players across PlayStation 5 and PC are reporting persistent blur that no amount of graphics fiddling seems to fully resolve. The good news is that PS5 owners appear to have found a fix. The bad news is that it only works for some, and the broader problem points to deeper technical issues with how the game renders.
The PlayStation 5 Fix
A bug causes the game to drop to a significantly lower internal resolution when 120 Hz Output is enabled in console settings, resulting in noticeably blurry or soft-looking graphics, even in Balanced or Quality mode. The workaround is straightforward: navigate to PS5 settings, go to Screen and Video, then Video Output, and switch "Enable 120Hz Output" to off.
The primary issue with Crimson Desert is visual noise and artifacts, most prevalent in indoor environments. According to Digital Foundry's analysis, the problem only occurs if your TV does not properly support 4K at 120Hz. If your display handles 4K120 correctly, you get full resolution. Pearl Abyss' PR lead has been recommending the workaround on social media, suggesting the developer is aware of the issue but has not patched it directly.
PC Players Have No Easy Answer
While PlayStation 5 owners have a concrete solution, PC gamers are describing a far more frustrating experience. Some players with high-end systems including RTX 4080 GPUs report the game looks washed out and blurry regardless of settings adjustments. Online discussions show players experimenting with DLSS versions, blur intensity sliders, motion blur toggles, and upscaling settings with minimal improvement.
The primary issue is visual noise and artifacts, with tests showing that setting lighting to the 'Max' setting makes the noise worse, so 'Cinematic' or 'Ultra' is recommended. Some PC players report that DLSS 4.0 works better than DLSS 4.5 at reducing noise, and running the game at native or close to native resolution using DLAA or DLSS Quality mode is better than upscaling.
Despite these tweaks, refund requests are mounting on Steam. Players describe a game that looks like it's running at 720p on a 4K monitor, with flickering lights and grain that persists across all presets. The frustration is compounded by the fact that early performance benchmarks showed the game running well on these same systems.
The Patch That Didn't Address This
Pearl Abyss released a day-1 patch on March 20 that is 3.1GB in size. The update focused on quest progression, NPC dialogue improvements, and boss fight balance adjustments. Visual rendering issues were not mentioned in the patch notes, suggesting the developer either does not view these problems as urgent or does not have a quick fix ready.
For a game that spent seven years in development, the launch experience feels unfinished in ways that no amount of gameplay tweaking can solve. Players may forgive clunky controls or uneven difficulty curves. A game that simply does not look right, particularly when you have spent $70 on a new release, is harder to overlook.