Black Desert Online Review: A Beautiful Mess of Confusion

TL;DR:

Black Desert on Steam

Played by over 20 million Adventurers - Black Desert Online is an open-world, action MMORPG. Experience intense, action-packed combat, battle massive world bosses, fight alongside friends to siege and conquer castles, and train in professions such as fishing, trading, crafting, cooking, and more!

STEAM

Hey there, fellow gamers! Josh here from 2tonwaffle.com with another honest review, this time diving into the polarizing world of Black Desert Online. After spending two hours in this MMORPG (as we do every Tuesday), I've got some thoughts – and boy, are they complicated.

Let's start with the good: Black Desert Online is visually stunning when it actually renders properly. The character models are detailed, the environments can be breathtaking, and the orchestral score feels appropriately epic – when it's not completely mismatched with what's happening on screen. But as we dig deeper, things start getting messier than a waffle drowning in syrup.

The Character Creation Conundrum

The game throws you into a character creation system that's simultaneously extensive and restrictive. You've got 26 different classes to choose from, which sounds great until you realize they're all gender-locked. Want to play a female barbarian or a male guardian? Too bad! The customization options themselves are decent but feel strangely limited for a modern MMO. Though I did have fun creating what I lovingly call "the world's worst haircut" on my elderly wizard – sometimes you have to make your own fun, right?

A Tutorial That Feels Like Homework

Remember when games eased you into their mechanics? Black Desert Online clearly doesn't. Instead, it drops a metric ton of systems, combos, and mechanics on you faster than a falling anvil. We're talking combinations like "S+Shift+Right Mouse Button+AD+F" just to cast basic spells. It's less like playing a game and more like trying to input cheat codes while solving a Rubik's cube.

The UI is equally overwhelming. I counted roughly 30-40 different icons cluttering the screen at any given moment. Health bars, chat windows, quest trackers, and enough buttons to pilot a space shuttle. It's like someone decorated their Christmas tree with every ornament they've collected since 1985 – sure, each piece might be important, but together it's just visual chaos.

The Story: Confusion Desert Online

The narrative is... well, imagine reading the last chapter of five different books simultaneously while someone throws lore at your face. Within the first hour, we're dealing with black spirits, white witches, ancient relics, and something about a desert that's sometimes black and sometimes red. I felt like I needed a PhD in Black Desert Studies just to understand what anyone was talking about.

Cut scenes play out like a fever dream, with characters making dramatic declarations about events that have zero context. At one point, we awakened something that was apparently both good and bad simultaneously – Schrödinger's plot point, if you will.

The Combat: Button Mashing Symphony

Combat could be fun if it wasn't so needlessly complex. The game throws every possible combination at you from the start, turning what should be exciting battles into finger gymnastics. It's like trying to play Chopin on a keyboard while also trying to remember the Konami code.

The Monetization Maze

Here's where things get really spicy. Black Desert Online doesn't just have one premium currency – it has THREE. You need to buy currency A to convert it to currency B to finally get currency C to actually buy anything. It's like going to a carnival where you need to exchange your dollars for tokens, then exchange those tokens for tickets, then exchange those tickets for prize points. It's unnecessarily complicated and feels designed to obscure how much real money you're actually spending.

Technical Issues

Performance-wise, the game struggles even on high-end systems. Elements pop in and out of existence like they're playing peek-a-boo, character animations can be janky, and the sound mixing is all over the place. During crucial story moments, I couldn't hear important dialogue because battle sounds were drowning everything out like a metal concert in a library.

The Verdict: 2/5 Waffles

After two hours with Black Desert Online, I can confidently say this game isn't for everyone – including me. While there's clearly a dedicated community who enjoys this game (and more power to them), the overwhelming systems, confusing narrative, and aggressive monetization make it hard to recommend to newcomers.

Yes, there are good elements here: the visuals can be stunning, the music (when appropriate) is excellent, and there's clearly depth to the combat system. But it's buried under layers of complexity that feel unnecessary and uninviting.

Will I play it again? As soon as this review is done, it's being uninstalled faster than you can say "complicated combo system." It's not the worst game we've reviewed for First Two Hours, but it's definitely down there with the soggy waffles.

Final Thoughts

Black Desert Online feels like a game that forgot the "fun" part of fundamental game design. It's as if someone took every MMO feature they could think of, threw it in a blender, and served it without checking if the ingredients actually went well together.

For those who love complex systems and don't mind investing significant time learning multiple currencies and combo strings, there might be something here for you. For everyone else, there are plenty of other MMOs that respect your time and sanity a bit more.

And that's gonna be a wrap! If you enjoyed this review, make sure to join our community at 2tonwaffle.com, where we've got forums, discussions, and more reviews coming your way. Until next time, later taters!

FAQ:

Q1: Is Black Desert Online free-to-play?
A: While the base game requires a purchase, the bigger cost comes from its extensive cash shop and multiple premium currencies.

Q2: How long is the tutorial?
A: The initial tutorial can take 40+ minutes and consists mostly of cutscenes with minimal actual gameplay.

Q3: Can I customize my character's gender for any class?
A: No, classes are gender-locked, meaning each class is restricted to either male or female.

Q4: How's the combat system?
A: Combat involves complex combo systems requiring multiple key combinations (like S+Shift+Right Mouse Button+AD+F), which can be overwhelming for new players.

Q5: Does the game have good graphics?
A: Yes, the graphics are impressive, but there are frequent rendering issues with objects popping in and out, even on high-end systems.

Q6: Is the game Pay-to-Win?
A: While not directly tested in this review, the game has three different premium currencies and an extensive cash shop system, suggesting significant monetization.

Q7: How's the story?
A: The narrative is confusing for newcomers, with little context provided and numerous cutscenes that don't clearly connect to each other.

Q8: What's the UI like?
A: Very cluttered, with 30-40 different icons on screen at once, making it difficult to navigate for new players.

Q9: Does the game have good sound design?
A: The music is high quality but often mismatched with scenes, and dialogue is frequently drowned out by battle sounds.

Q10: What's the minimum time investment needed to understand basic systems? A: Based on the two-hour review, even basic systems remain unclear after the tutorial, suggesting a significant time investment is needed to understand core mechanics.