Following extensive testing on all versions of Crimson Desert, the Digital Foundry team has now dropped its tech review for the Xbox editions of the Pearl Abyss RPG, and it's no real surprise that the results are a very mixed bag - particularly when you bring Xbox Series S into the equation.
Microsoft's digital-only current-gen console clearly struggles with the recent Xbox release. Looking at the video, we're not sure we'd go as far as calling it unplayable - but the DF team gets pretty close to that conclusion before saying that it's "still ultimately viable" as a way to play, especially in Quality mode.
"The 4TF Microsoft console offers two modes, a 30fps quality mode and a performance mode capped at 40fps for 120Hz displays. To achieve these targets, the developers completely removed ray tracing and dropped every single setting, including textures, shadows and model quality, all the way down to the equivalent of PC's low settings.
The quality mode at least outputs a 1080p image, but foliage pop-in, lacklustre shadow filtering and interior lighting that bleeds through geometry are all immediately noticeable issues beyond the overall lack of fidelity. Performance-wise, the game is mostly capable of holding its target frame-rate outdoors, but cities and large enemy encounters can dip the proceedings into the mid-20s.
The Series S performance mode is even more compromised, dropping the base resolution to a native 720p without the aid of any upscaling tech beyond temporal anti-aliasing (TAA). That results in a hugely pixelated image most reminiscent of a Switch port. The upside is that its 40fps target is at least maintained outside of the most CPU-bound areas, but the extreme sacrifice to visual fidelity makes it a poor proposition."
In more positive news, Xbox Series X unsurprisingly performs better. While PS5 Pro seems to be the main console version that DF recommends, Series X broadly matches base PS5, and provides an experience that the outlet certainly recommends over Xbox Series S, anyway.
"As you'd expect, areas packed with NPCs offer a stern CPU challenge on Series X just as they do on other platforms, with Bug Hill and major cities causing performance drops into the 30s or worse. That means the game dips out of the VRR window, leading to screen tearing. It's a similar scenario for balanced mode, where the Series X again slightly outperforms PS5 but still regularly drops below the 40fps target in combat or bustling cities. The 30fps quality mode is the most stable but can still become overstretched while swimming, battling or exploring dense areas."
Of course, with that recent 4K patch that came to Xbox Series X, the experience is continually improving on Microsoft's flagship current-gen console, and with even more features to come, we're intrigued to see where Crimson Desert ends up in a few months' time.
As for Xbox Series S, it's worth being wary of how that version stacks up - and if this technical stuff will get in the way for you, it might be worth avoiding that version of Crimson Desert unless you have no other way to play.
"Ultimately, while the Series X release is reasonably playable as of the latest patches, it would still benefit from further optimisation to reduce input latency, prevent tearing and shore up performance in CPU-heavy areas. The drastically stripped-down Series S version, on the other hand, cannot be readily recommended as a home console experience."