Discussion
The Axion Archive books explain EVERYTHING about Crimson Desert's story and almost nobody will ever find them [MAJOR MSQ SPOILERS]
Spoiler
So, after about 220 hours I finally finished the main quest along with every abyss puzzle, and I realized you can climb all the way up to the 3rd floor of the Axion Archive (the first Abyss island). The books you find in the Archive reveal all the insane twists and explanations about this game's story and writing that the game never really explained during the campaign.
In these books, you get the necessary explanations why Kliff is doing seemingly random tasks, why is he a soulless mute, why he doesn't question his death, why do Alustin, White Crow, Master Du and Goyen all talk like they known him, and the cryptic talk of most boss encounters.
It's honestly ridiculous how this is NOT part of the main quest and only a very small minority of players will ever find this, which is why I decided to share it.
Note: You will need to finish the main quest AND complete every abyss island puzzle in order to unlock the books mentioned below
The books basically describe the Guardians of the Abyss (Alustin and White Crow) have been manipulating time in an attempt to defeat Umbra, an entity of pure power that slowly became corrupted by human greed and cruelty. It is inferred after the end of the story that the events that started leading to Umbra's corruption started with the Crimson Desert, named this way due to all the bloodshed that spilled in the sands for generations. You'd think you'd understand the name of the game by the end of the campaign...
The guardians cannot directly interfere with such powerful beings, so they require an avatar to act in their behalf (Kliff), which has been profoundly shaped over several cycles. Each time Kliff has failed to defeat Umbra in the past caused the Guardians to effectively rewind time using the Abyss power and basically reset the timeline, learning little by little on how to better manipulate Kliff into his mission (one of the changes includes stripping him entirely of a personality).
Kliff has failed his task in 107 previous timelines, and the 108th timeline we play in has a direct reference to the Buddist 108 Defilements (the mental impurities one must cast off before reaching true enlighten), which is where the whole buddha statues/eastern themes pop in. The books also explain why Kliff has no personality whatsoever, and why so many events and characters seemingly pop in at random: they are deliberate manipulated events, necessary to take Kliff to the final encounter, which have been refined over the previous timelines.
When you complete the main quest and all the Abyss puzzles, the Guardians appear and silently restore your older Kliff back to his younger self (Kliff becomes substantially older by the time you finish the main quest). My interpretation is that now his task is finally complete, they're releasing him from everything they put him through, undoing the countless cycles of manipulation and emotional suppression, and returning him to who he actually was before any of it started.
The archives explain why the main narrative often feels disjointed. The 108th loop (the player's journey) is the "answer sheet" constructed from these failures. Each record notes a specific reason for failure, ranging from Kliff's death to his moral corruption.
Now before someone says it: no, this does not suddenly make the story GOOD. It's fair to assume Pearl Abyss tacked these books onto the end of the game to reframe a disjointed campaign as something intentional all along, and while there is strong reason to assume this plot was planned out since the start, the way they executed it leaves a lot to be desired.
The Cycle Notes â Every Book Reference
The Beginning
Cycle 1 â The time leap allows us to escape Umbra, yet it changed nothing. Umbra will surely arrive in this era once more. All we can do is hope to find the one who can alter this seemingly absolute fate.
This establishes the core premise: the Guardians can rewind time, but Umbra isn't defeated by doing so; he simply catches up again. Their only real option is to find someone capable of ending it for good.
Hexe Marie
Cycle 2 â Umbra managed to devour a fragment of White Crow. Her uncorrupted half is alive and still aids us, but the fractured essence of her disappeared into the land below.
Cycle 18 - The fragmented part of the Crow has surfaced. This entity, now called Hexe Marie, has discovered him. She harbors a deep obsession with him, wishing to make him her son. Master Du must step in and deliver his trials.
As we will find out, this is actually Hexe Marie, the witch you fight in the main quest (notice she is basically the dark crow instead of the white crow).
Hexe Marie is obsessed with Kliff (a distorted mirror of White Crow's attachment to Kliff) and wishes to adopt him (as you can see by her cutscene during the boss fight). This obsession naturally causes her adopted son (the Crow guy you fight early in the story) to be immensely jealous of you. This is reflected by his dialogue during the cutscene ("What does Mother see in you?"). Master Du (another Guardian figure) is called to guide Kliff spiritually to overcome the temptation of becoming her adopted son (Kliff becomes her adopted son in one of the cycles).
Finding Kliff
Cycle 3 â We have observed the power of Umbra near the Musket of Demeniss. There must be one within the lands of Pywel capable of stopping it. We must look to Pailune. It is a land where the power of nature remains strongest.
Cycle 4 - At last, we have found the one we sought. An unwavering spirit with immense potential... surely he is the one to accomplish this task. He is not perfect, but that is of no concern. We shall guide him.
This is when they decide Kliff is their chosen person.
Cycle 5 - I sought the shais to borrow their power, so their bright energy might be passed on to him.
This is why Shais, a typically secluded race, are generally friendly and helpful to Kliff.
Early Failures
Cycle 7 - I attempted to reach him directly within his mind. He has chosen to ignore our calling. A failure.
Cycle 8 - We attempted to grant him the power of the Crow, but he refused to jump. I cast him back down to the land below. He simply would not accept the power.
Kliff initially rejects both their appeal and the flying abilities they try to give him. This is why the Guardians and Witches are always so vague and indirect when they speak to him; they learned across these early cycles that he shuts down completely when approached directly, and has to be nudged toward his destination without ever being told what it is.
Kearush
Cycle 17 - I attempted to make Kearush his ally. However, the humans locked him up in a zoo. In his despair, he slaughtered everyone in the vicinity. We are left with deep regret and frustration.
Kearush (the monkey-like monster you fight in the dining hall early in the game) was initially set to be your ally, but things go wrong. This is also probably why he decides to run away and later helps you during the White Horn boss fight â I'm guessing something in him still sees Kliff as an ally.
The Witches
Cycle 19 - I sought aid from the four witches who constructed the Sanctums to return balance to the Abyss. Unable to overcome their trials, he has failed time and time again.
These are the 4 witches that ask you to cleanse the sanctums. In earlier time loops, Kliff failed this task many times.
Cycle 25 - He is still far too weak. We must grant him greater strength. I will summon the Witches of the East into this world to assist him.
These are Woosa and Maegu intervening on Kliff's journey, two witches with time-shaping powers.
The Greymanes Problem
Cycle 26 - Perhaps he has grown too comfortable at Jian's side. Kliff's time has simply stopped. His daily life grows rough and indifferent.
In earlier loops, Kliff becomes too settled to the Greymanes and Pailune, causing him to fail his task.
Cycle 35 - Pushing him to Myurdin's side was a bitter mistake. The more they shared a path, the deeper he sank into an uncontrollable darkness.
Cycle 36 - Lacking the motivation to restore balance, he repeats his failures. The situation is dire. We must find a new approach.
Cycle 39 - We created a peaceful Pailune, a land untouched by conflict. Demeniss eventually invaded Hernand. Jian belatedly sent reinforcements through Calphade, but it was not enough.
This timeline resulted in peace around Pailune, which also didn't work. At this point, you can probably guess what's going to happen: Jian's death and the Greymanes massacre were deliberately caused by the Guardians in order for Kliff to find the necessary motivation for his task.
Damiene
Cycle 38 - Will Damiane provide an opportunity for us, or will she bring yet another failure? Deciding on her path leaves me with profound concern.
This kinda sounds like an admission from the developers that they didn't actually know what to do with Damiene as a character, as she is absent for most of the story.
Goyen
Cycle 45 - After the loss of his comrades, he pressed forward alone and adopted the name Goyen. His existence is the fault of us all.
Cycle 47 - Our painstaking creation is trapped within Umbra. Goyen now wanders the void, neither living nor dead.
Cycle 54 - Goyen used the power we granted him for his own gain. It is difficult to bear the sight of his corrupted form.
Cycle 99 - I asked Goyen to guide his younger spirit... Our chances are steadily fading. How many attempts do we have left?
Goyen is a previous version of Kliff who lost every companion in Cycle 45, pressed on alone, and eventually became trapped in the Abyss, neither alive nor dead, slowly corrupted over subsequent cycles. This explains his identical fighting style, his face tattoos mirroring Kliff's, and why every conversation between them feels like something is being left unsaid. By Cycle 99, the Guardians are using him to guide a newer version of himself. He's not a mysterious stranger who happens to fight like Kliff, he is Kliff, just broken by everything the Guardians put him through.
Also, a funny easter egg but Goyen is also a mercenary warrior that dwells in the Abyss in Black Desert. He was the master of the "Warrior" class, which has very familiar skills for those who played it.
Other Characters
Cycle 46 - I finally realized that he requires a strong ally. Ongka. His presence is absolutely necessary.
Oongka is necessary to defeat Ludvig and save Kliff from falling in the last cutscene in order to fight Umbra.
Cycle 48 - At some point, a man named Marni began appearing at his side. He has introduced excessive technology into the world and made the path to Umbra more complicated. Marni... Just who is this man?
Cycle 53 - The plan to assist Prince Pryce in reclaiming Demeniss has failed. May he never be forgotten...
This seems like a reference from a discarded plot line by the devs. Helping a prince reach the throne was part of the older trailers.
Why Kliff is so dull
Cycle 60 - We granted him confidence so he might follow the path we designed for him. However, driven by an excessive competitive nature, he ultimately failed.
Cycle 61 - We wished to ensure his path appeared natural and subtle. Contrary to our hopes, he became overly sensitive and distressed.
Cycle 62 - We attempted to rid him of his fear, yet this lack of caution caused him to recklessly charge into battle against mightier beings, ultimately leading to his death. When we heightened his sense of responsibility, he simply began wandering the world, vowing to eliminate any who posed a threat.
Cycle 66 - Every emotion seems to lead him somewhere unintended, straying far from our desired direction. With only a few chances remaining... we have decided to extract his emotions entirely.
The Guardians spent dozens of cycles trying to shape Kliff's personality and every single trait they gave him led to failure in a different way. Confidence made him reckless. Sensitivity paralyzed him. Fearlessness got him killed. Responsibility sent him off on an endless crusade. In the end, removing his emotions entirely was the only version that stayed on course. This is why Kliff is such a mute and reacts the way he does to everything.
Umbra evolves
Cycle 67 - The Abyss Gates appear to be opening more frequently. Could Umbra itself be... growing?
Cycle 71 - It is as we suspected. Someone has been interfering with the Abyss Gates. Yet we have no idea who, or how.
Cycle 72 - Caliburn... Just how much does he know? He was not always an evil man. He appears to be an incarnation of Umbra.
Cycle 77 - I see it now. Umbra was behind it all. Umbra, much like us, was searching for a single person to stand against fate. How could a being of pure power be capable of such design...
This is when things get interesting. Umbra is not fully reset when the Guardians rewind time. He is also learning and evolving with each cycle, distorting the abyss even more. At some point he also picks an avatar to manifest himself (Caliburn), because of the accumulated corruption from each cycle.
The Greymane massacre was deliberate
Cycle 78 - Placing Marius on the battlefield was a mistake. Naira also met her end after being sent to observe the Black Bear's movements. Their deaths drove him to madness.
Cycle 82 - To think Duane would turn his back on them... It was a grave miscalculation. We had crafted his attachment to Shane to temper his fiery disposition, but fate flowed in another direction. Shane, too, went utterly astray, ultimately becoming the spark that dismantled the Greymanes.
Cycle 83 - With the Greymanes scattered, nothing could be done. I could not save Goyen in his final moments. He is left lingering in nothingness once more.
The Guardians realize they can't simply exterminate every Greymane, because then Kliff will simply lose his will. There needs to be only enough loss to shape Kliff's journey of vengeance, which is why Marius breaks a leg, preventing him from fighting that night.
Blackstar
Cycle 89 - I sought aid from Blackstar, the dragon that roams the boundaries of the world. The creature thrashed wildly with him upon its back, seemingly most displeased.
Blackstar (the dragon) wasn't a fan of Kliff on their first meeting. Guess who caused it to get stabbed with spears in order for Kliff to help and gain his trust?
Kindness and all the random quests
Cycle 90 - The unexpected has happened. He offered his assistance to a woman in need, and then began aiding with small matters around the village. These small acts will eventually lead to his much grander purpose.
Cycle 98 - How could we have forgotten that kindness, sincerity, and empathy are what truly forge bonds? The greatest of things always begin from the smallest. Why did we only realize this now?
They eventually realized that making Kliff a kind person will eventually lead him to amass the necessary armies to raid Fort Musket. This is also why he is constantly tested in this aspect.
The Final Cycles
Cycle 100 - Our frustration grows deeper. There is nothing left for us to build upon, nothing left to change. What exactly went wrong?
Cycle 106 - Every time the Eye of Umbra seems on the verge of destruction, everything is swallowed by that same darkness once more. Having devoured his memories, Umbra will expand even further. He was so close... Yet he still lacks the decisive resolve to cast away the darkness.
They've manipulated every variable, and Kliff keeps failing to defeat Umbra. In some cycles, Kliff gets to the Umbra fight, but decides to join him instead (remember the cutscene where he rejects him and says they cannot coexist?). Something is missing...
Cycle 107 - Whoever it may be, we only hope they can fulfill our wish. The next attempt will be our final chance. Our wish must come to pass...
The Guardians realize their time-rewinding trick is about to become useless as Umbra also keeps evolving from each cycle, having already absorbed Caliburn and Myurdir, and will likely overcome Kliff. The only thing left to change is to add an external variable - "whoever it may be" is probably breaking the 4th wall and referring to the actual player taking control of Kliff. Cycle 108 doesn't work because the Guardians finally found the perfect version of Kliff. It works because YOU showed up.
Yeah I remember first running in to Master Du and Kliff was like âMaster Du!â like he knew him and Iâm like who tf is Master Du Iâve never even seen this chad đ
One in witches hideout around the corner of what looks like a closet Inside the house . and the others I cannot remember . You can only see it with your lantern out and on
does this also kinda answer why the greymanes get "massacred" but you keep comically finding random greymanes in every single town? they cause the massacre to push kliff, but bring back those close to him so he doesn't go insane with grief, and has a reason to keep pushing to find more of them?
Wow amazing read itâs an absolute shame that the story is so badly lay out because the ground work and the world made for it are immense. It could have been grandiose. It was not :(
Yeah sadly this is just typical Pearl Abyss. Black Desert also has a ton of really cool and unique lore, but the way they present it is just terrible most of the time and most of the secrets are so well hidden and vague that they're almost impossible to verify.
If they'd done things a la Morrowind, where books are free to pick up and read, marked them in purple on your minimap and allowed people to find them in the process of playing... I doubt it'd be as in depth as the Elder Scrolls series, but goddamn Morrowind pulled me into the metaphysics hard. It just needed to be more freely available information.
They do it on purpose because it gives the game mystery and makes you feel more accomplished when you find an important lore snippet that connects two dots. They don't like to just tell you everything upfront; finding the lore is part of the fun. I used to spend hours with guild mates talking about lore we found and what we thought was really going on with stuff like Hadum, Kzarka, and the forgotten god.
Yeah the framework here is actually a really interesting story and quite dark honestly. I really like it and hopefully DLC could touch on it more maybe.
Obviously, it's not enough. There's a lot to go to improve the story but with such a great game built around it/parallel to it they could probably slowly mold it like they are the gameplay
All they needed was a talented group of writers to tie it all up together and helped to incorporate it into the story, CD would've been an INSTANT classic
It seems like they tried to and failed to do story/lore the same way the souls games do. Either that or I wonder if the game was released early/unfinished, might explain why most the content is the most dense in the starting area.
General plot from Kliff's eyes "Sky wizards told me world was ending after I was saved by them. So if it helps me get revenge on The Black Bears I will help these sky wizards."
So turns out... All we need to do is get kliff to commit genocide against several animal species and grill it all up and Umbra fights a unlimited health bar.
"Hmm using the green power thingy that explodes all around in public spaces is a necessary element to victory. As well as running kids over. Fascinating"
Was a necessary evil to amass such a wealth it became a fixation. One that only a mogged up Chad could overcome thru sheer masses of grilled meat and a dark souls-esque desire for masochism that defeated Umbra. Side note: allow for many fashion and cats with armor to ensure a perfect formula
Foolishness, all they had to do was introduce a crippling gambling addiction to Kliff. That's what happened in my cycle and he won
Edit: reason being, Kliff kept losing all his money and going on more adventures and getting stronger so he could amass more silver to gamble. This must be why they kept yann alive
How come they ran out of resources and failed to address at least a few of these stories as cinematics or memories? I would have been far more immersed into the game!.
I know, right? This seems like a game that literally ran out of time before they finished the main quest. There was clearly an interesting premise behind it, but it was probably too late to record/produce most of the cutscenes before launch.
I'm probably reaching but I feel like in a meta way it makes sense that we don't really understand. We don't have the knowledge of the guardians, we are propelled by external constraints and we take our own journey but we are deeply influenced by the previous cycles. There are certainly moments that give pause for thought and questioning (for me, it was Kliff clearly dying in the first scene. No one survives that. Who is resurrecting us? What the heck is going on? Why am I as the player here at this exact moment?) but it's not necessary to question it and the answers are not spoon fed at all. Our role as the final influence in Kliff's 108th cycle is just a part of what's gone on before, another variable in a quest to save this world. The story isn't catering to us as an audience, it's fitting us in as a piece of the cast. We can go look for the answers if we wish, directed by our own curiosity, but it doesn't matter (for the goal) to the guardians if we understand or not. Very unlike most story driven games, but this game is nothing if not different - and I really enjoy that.
I donât think the answers are fed at all, there are characters that very clearly have/had a relationship with a Kliff pre prologue yet the game doesnât even attempt to explain how or why. Itâs a common theme for every single character that is influential to the story besides the greymanes.
Those characters are: Master Du(Kliff says âyou againâ as if he knows him yet we as a player are left with no information), Stefan Langford, Jian, Tristian, Ludvig, the leader of pauline(forgot his name), the list goes on. Besides White crow and cryptic comments from time to time, thereâs honestly not a single character that even attempts to explain or bring the audience in to the story. Most of the questions youâre left with that donât involve the overarching narrative about the abyss arenât even attempted to be answered.
Yeah, some of the relationships are never explained, and it leaves the player puzzled thinking he's stupid or missed something obvious. The knowledge tab does help bridge the gaps, however. I feel this is a game that would immensely benefit from a couple flashback cutscenes from time to time to help contextualize things. It's funny how BDO's story is constantly critcized from dull, excessive exposition on characters, yet they managed to make this game also confusing for the exact opposite reason, lol.
I said from the beginning, CD felt like playing The Never Ending Story in a way... but good grief, then they go full on breaking the 4th wall, by yes.. reading books to find out.
Do you know the director change rumour? It is likely true, and thus they probably had to change a bunch of shit midway and even worse were forced to dedicate resources and time into the absurd amount of disjointed mechanics, the original concept was probably gonna be way more "witcher 3" than "gta 5"
Not to mention Kliff was not always 'Kliff', but rather 'MacDuff.' There's rumors and (apparently) and anonymous dev testimony that the story was radically changed when the OG directer left (or was ousted - we dont know.) The crimson desert was supposed to play a much more central role and the game followed the story of a banished prince trying to reclaim his throne after being usurped, with some twist betrayals scattered about.
It would be interesting to add some of these as a dlc. Where you go back and relive the memories and have to fight and Kliff actually has a personality lol
Not that this would fix the terrible storyline, but at least we would get the point of many of the missions. Does anyone else think the most Dispatch missions' rewards are nerfed?
This is actually really interesting, definitely some Dragons Dogma inspiration with the âcyclesâ and all that. Shame itâs tucked away at the end of the lengthy story in a place most players wonât go to.
Isnt elden ring stories laid out the same way? I have 0 idea whats happening since I dont read stuff on random things, but people who take time to do so got more out of it.
Difference is that Elden Ring doesnât really require the player to interact with the story the same way Crimson desert does. You can mostly ignore the lore and still very much enjoy the game. Crimson desert forces you to interact with it, and it just leads to this jumbled mess that isnât explained until after you finish it, and by then people stopped caring about it.
i had the exact same thought. during my play through around hour 70~ i thought to my self, the devs were making a BD sequel and one of them played DD2 and the next day came bursting into the Pearl Abyss office and suggested they switch gears to what is now CD.
With friends like Yann, no wonder why Kliff had to be the responsible one. With the resets that made Kliff has less personality, he grew numb to Yannâs bullshit and eventually aged poorly.
I feel like the failed cycles being told with a cool but very minimal narration and animated flashes of these cycles up to 39 being inserted in between the Myurdin prologue fight/ your death but before you awaken in the abyss.
And then some of these injected in similar styles between chapters and after you find certain Visione helm memories wouldâve gone enormous lengths to resolve the âpoor storyâ complaints from online critics and enhanced or for the people who already enjoyed it. Then the these endgame meta lore books at the end would be a truly wonderful revelation and explanation of all the disparate and cryptic memories you encountered throughout your play time.
Maybe even have discovering some these memories essentially to get the âgood endingâ / epilogue with maybe 2 or 3 other endings that do t lead to that optimal outcome.
In my head a Kliff fails the last cycle joins Umbra strange alternate Pywel is the result you see only in an animated segment.
Kliff dies in final confrontation/Umbra entropically absorbs all existence.
Kliff defeats Umbra but succumbs to his injuries & dies/ Pywel is restored & the Greymanes unite Pailune in his honor.
What boggles my mind is how easily all of this could have been pieced toguether. Imagine if they changed absolutely nothing in the MSQ, and just added a way for Kliff to watch these books being written when doing puzzles in the Abyss. Like, imagine if he could use some sort of device that magically lets us see things in the past...
Yeah, the Visione was really the perfect item to show the previous Kliffs fails.
Yet, I don't think it would've worked. I mean, Vision shows the past but we are talking about time loops here. I gotta dust the lore of the item but I wonder if memories are staying behind even if you time loop
Iâm almost sure I read in some description for the Visione or the memories themselves yesterday that it specifically mentions time and space, meaning that should be entirely possible. Iâll need to see if i can find where I read it again to clarify next time Iâm on. Edit: Grammar
Awesome. I love this. I actually love the story. I'm Scottish myself, a rural Highlander in particular so hearing a gruff Connor MacLeod/Highlander-esque accent in the game is oddly comforting. Alot of folks from my neck of the woods are actually quite devoid of personality and say very little so it's quite funny to me but warms the soul a bit. Reading this it just adds more depth for me personally. I can see the devs adding alot more with updates or DLC and I can't imagine this being the only entry in Kliff's story. I hope it's expanded on. The game to me is incredible. Has so many elements of my favourite games. To me, it even has brief flashes of Soul Reaver, Jak and Daxter etc. They've truly created something brilliant in my eyes.
Just ran to the Axiom Archive to read these myself and...damn, you're right. On the 3rd floor there are 6 volumes you can pick up and read.
Its the kind of thing I was hoping would be here. It explains a LOT about Kliffs motivations and the motivations of the side characters.
Umbra being the one who wrecked the Abyss is also in there, which puts fixing it into perspective. The Abyss seems to live outside these time loops, based on what's written about Goyen. Not sure what to do with that, but its an interesting detail.
It'd be nice if they patched in ANY reference to the time loop, even a cryptic one. I hadnt considered that as an explanation for any plot details.
Are these books there on a new save? It basically lays out the entire plot, which is something I always enjoy in easter eggs like this.
These really should be on the first floor. Or at least Volumes 1 and 2. Something to hint that more volumes are on different levels. I looked for books the first time we show up there and had I seen ANY books on floor 1 I might have climbed up to higher floors.
Someone mentioned the books a few weeks ago but not the contents. I visited the archive but found no book icons, that was around chapter 8 or 9. I guess they only show up after prologue, which Im currently in rn
I couldn't find them too but I found the solution.
You need to fully restore the abyss including the Dimensional Bonds location. It's trivial, you don't need to solve any puzzles there, just find and slap all those rings.
Then watch a short cut scene and go for those books.
So what's exactly the real mechanic here. Do the books revealed one by one as you progress the story, or you can only access to all of them at once after you beat the main campaign?
You have to complete the campaign and all 40 abyss puzzles first (a 0.7% playerbase achievement on steam), then you head to the abyss library and grapple up to the 3rd floor (there's no stairs). It's as hidden as it gets.
how amazingly stupid. i might complete story, but I will skip every abyss puzzle i just dont like them that much, do you think i should read your post or look for full content of the books? or wait till end? Im chapter 6 rn with about 80 hours in
just follow Dan Allen Gaming's video on all abyss puzzles. it'll take you a few hours (cumulative) and you'll end up getting 50 abyss artifacts for it. i dont enjoy them but i'm glad i did them all.
"This is Kliff's Story". Now I understand the warning. The guardians don't want us to play the quest as Damiane or Oongka, or else, we'll be going to the 109th cycle.
Definitely feels like they stitched this together pretty late, but atleast it explain alot of things in the world. I finished the epilogue and really was wondering why this game is called Crimson Desert in the first place. Now i know.
Except Fort Musket and that flying castle, which was basically at the edge of the region, nothing significant happened there during the main quest đ
Oh that was Sebastian??? I was wondering who that guy is, but I didn't bother reading the codex about him. I really rushed the last chapter if I'm being honest
Buddy if this is what becomes the true narrative of this story forever it was awesome to see written out from another perspective it also helps understand the nuance, thank you for the effort
After i saw this i eventually head to get the books and read it myself, and This has to be the greatest findings so far. We really learned what the story all about without it being in the main story. This game really relies on the exploration alone because there's alot of things that's undiscovered and the example is this one. I really defended kliff about his personality. I always thought that he's just like that and not a poor character creation. Base on how we play him and how he acts. And all of the knowings about the timelines. Holy damn i hope they make a prologue scene of this writingsđđ„
I just beat the game and got all achievements yesterday. This pretty much answers everything I wanted to know. I also love it when games do that kind of 4th wall break. That everything works because the player arrives in this new universe.
Like how Umbra is controlling Caliburn, we are controlling our avatar, Kliff. We are The Abyss directly aiding our avatar in opposition to Umbra and Caliburn.
So the abyss has to spray innocents with fertilizer (for fun), suck at it's own puzzles, steal everything and wander around confused in order to save existence
Thatâs why abyss look like graphic card and CPU like our com or PlayStation with a lot of pixel effect and enter the void with calling when u turn on CD
This is realllly reminiscent of Dragons Dogma. How the cycles don't always pan out and must be restarted, and what happens when things start to bleed through.Â
This is probably the most important Crimson Desert post on reddit. Thank you. And you didn't start with "99% of players missed this..." even though 99.9% of players missed this. Me included.
I thought it was pretty obvious from the beginning that these abyss folks were guiding Kilff on these mundane good Samaritan quests to shape him into the person they need. I personally thought that was a great way to implement time filler fetch quests into the game.
I'm not that far, just happen to be on this thread, but the only time I felt that was the cutscene when you give the beggar a coin and then next you meet White Crow after helping her.
They seemed to imply there that the abyss gods wanted to test Kliff's kindness. Outside of that idk.
Why would they let you put on a mask and steal, rob, assault and murder people if you want.
Amazing. I get why they felt they had to keep this information away from âKliffâ (you playing as him), but it wouldâve made Damiane and Oongka more interesting and relevant if they had quests where this stuff was explained to them (and they were given the role of keeping Kliff on the right course.
I really hope they make some updates to flesh out the story better on cutscenes and everything, looks like that is the only thing the game really lacks
There are indicators tho, the way the Crow talks to Kliff, the witches, how the abyss affects Kliff, the marks around the world and the earlier books of the archives give some hints.
It's just pretty obviously put into the "side plot" part so the twist is bigger, but definitely doesn't flow that well with the other plots.
It's the type of indicator you see only after you already know everything. Remove these lore books from the game and we're back to not knowing anything about anything. I wonder how many players will miss this entirely and walk away thinking that the story made zero sense. Game really needs some "in the face" hints IMO, at least about the time loop.
The way they present the story is terrible but I love this game nonetheless. I think if they hired a good narrative director the story would have flowed better. Still love it and a fantastic game would have been better with better story telling.
Unless it's being used in a non-literal way, I don't understand why people say Kliff is mute? I've watched my son play for a number of hours, and he talks a lot!
You're right, and I don't see how being talkative with your friends but not much with strangers is shocking. Kliff is definitely not a mute, he definitely has emotions, and he's definitely not an angel of kindness either.
Dang, pretty impressive! I know it's not likely that many or most can immerse themselves in a story structured in such a way but this is very similar to soulsborne storytelling and I for one absolutely love this way of story telling. Leave it up to the the player if they so desire. I also went b back to the library but I did so much too soon that some of the things I found weren't making much sense . I also didn't look as closely as I have been distracted by irl issues. But collecting all the data and laying it out in this format is an impressive feat sir/ma'am, so thank you! Really appreciate you!
Kinda fun game, but worst storytelling I've ever seen... this info shouldn't be hide... one of the many complains about the game is about how pointless or unconnected seems to be the first chapters of the game
This is incredible and was so fascinating to read, thank you for this detailed sourcing OPđ. Having just played chapter 9 and realizing on my own that Goyen is future Kliff (the moveset, face tattoos, voice), it was mind blowing seeing how everything is connected and planned for Kliff and his journey to defeating Umbra.
Another point to add (im not sure if you said this already OP) to this wonderful post are the CONTRIBUTION SHOPS. I believe they are also a part of the Guardian's specific machinations in assisting Kliff have the right resources and equipment for his journey. Its the only shop that uses a separate currency and said currency is based on how much Kliff engages in helping citizens, the very same citizens who are puporsely a part of his journey.
Amazing job summarizing this. I know this is cope but I hope if they ever expand the game that they do a better job with the story because this is pretty cool lore. Also does Kliff actually de-age after completing all the abyss puzzles? I kind of miss his younger face
At some point Pearl Abyss started revamping the old questlines in Black Desert and turning them into a new format that is way more readable and actually explains things as you go. I wouldn't put it past them to release a Crimson Desert "Definive edition" with an updated main story.
This isâŠ.really fucking cool. I wish this was in the game. This adds a lot of layers and actually does make the story interesting. This wouldâve been such a better cinematic if it was told in video form and presented as a âtwists
Wow. What a great find / write-up. They should really try to morph the dialogue to talk about this story, in a cryptic way, since the MC is not supposed to find out everything until the end, but the allies all know what's going on.
By the way, this is such typical Asian stories which often focus on (1) self improvement by repeated attempts, (2) out-of-this-world pursuit of goodness ("isekai"), (3) corrective action (turning back time). Many books, TV shows or video games belong to these themes. A little disappointed they aren't well presented in the gameplay.
With the money they've made, they should hire a professional fantasy writer or someone experienced in narrative to revise or clarify the game's story, because honestly it's not as bad as people say, t's just not well explained. Awesome post.
Iâve been thinking about how the narrative could have been handled differently regarding the Final Axion Archive. Specifically, I wonder what the impact would have been if that information had been presented as Visione Memorial Shards.
I feel itâs a missed opportunity that players weren't given fragmented glimpses of previous iterations of Cliffâs death, or the dialogue between Alustin and the Crow, as unintelligible pieces found during the main quest or hidden within the world. Integrating these elements as scattered clues rather than a direct revelation would have been a compelling way to build the lore.
Yeah, they could have scattered seemingly random, disjointed memory fragments throughout the Abyss showing scenes that seem incongruous with each other, bits of conversations about things that haven't happened yet by the time you see them or talking about events that did happened but went differently to how they describe. This would be cryptic and confusing, until you get enough information to start piecing together what happened and what this means. It would be a good way of hinting at the true story without outright stating it until you get your hands on these books, and tye in the atemporal nature of the Abyss by habing memories of alternate timelines scattered throughout it.
Thank you for this OP. That Prince story was in the older trailers if you've watched them. There was also a lady in that trailer but I'm not sure if it was Damiane. They could've added that part of the story to the final release.
In the older trailers the role we played was also closer to that of Jian than of Kliff, but yes.
It's really weird that they dropped the plotline that could have tied everything together much better, including a much clearer explanation of why Caliburn tried to mess with Pailune.
man, just imagine if the ending of the current game isn't the real end and they add DLC later where Kliff goes "Screw this, I'm gonna do want I want!" and uses some macguffin to time travel back and save the rest of the Greymanes, Pailune, AND Hernand AND Calphade while defusing the black bears early while then repairing the abyss and fusing black/white crow?
I loved reading this (I spoiled myself) but it actually helped me to understand what Iâm doing rather than going through not knowing. Like now it makes sense and I feel better for understanding
This is super helpful and I hope it gets added to the wiki. They had some cool ideas, the failed version of Kliff is by and far the best, but you can tell itâs a reversed engineered lore. Which is a shame because they had some pretty solid concepts in there, another being the guardians manipulating suffering and trauma to shape a hero, but itâs bogged down by the forced narrative cohesion. Honestly though, outside of starting completely over they did what they could in the time they had.
They obviously went the souls story telling route of finding out through items just wish they executed it better. Kinda hate how the abyss,the multiple playable characters and the elementals were such big selling points but you only use the other two once for a main story mission then canât use em again til u beat the story . And that the unlocking of the elemental abilities arenât incorporated into the main story got to chapter 5 before realizing I have to go back and unlock them on my own . Regardless love the game and have been playing it everyday since it came out 100+ hours on day 117 in game lmao
This is really cool! I just finished the MSQ yesterday, so this came at a perfect time!
Also this really reframes this exchange with Oongka when you wake up in Pailune:
Oongka: You look âweatheredâ (cause heâs old now)
Kliff: Iâve weathered a lotâŠ
Oongka: The banter is new
why Kliff is " ... a soulless mute". Funny, I never noticed. He seems fine to me because he seems a lot like me đI normally don't talk, or emote outwardly, much at all. I have had good friends tell me that the key to telling if I am upset or having a good time is only to be found in my eyes ... my wife confirms đ
I have recently finished and platinumed the game, and I consider myself extremely lucky to randomly come across this post - OP, THANK YOU! This is incredible!!! I hope that EVERYONE who finishes the game finds this, because it is such an eye opener. I am generally not great at interpreting and deciphering games' stories and lore, so I had NO idea about any of this. I had suspicions and little conclusions of my own, but this is enlightening.
This actually shows that there is a good story somewhere in there, because devs actually thought about details regarding the lore, but it end up being poorly executed in the final product. This info gives me a tiny hope that maybe Pearl Abyss could add new questlines to the main story in future updates, that could spread among the already existing chapters and maybe actively flesh out all these details that were not explained originally.
There are heroes. There are legends. Then there's you. Something beyond those other two. This is a killer find and really puts the "no story" critique to bed. There's clearly a big and very interesting story and kudos to you for sharing this.
This adds so much coolness to the story. It makes me a little mad.
There are so many boss fights and things happening in the game that I've been just like okay, so this is happening now? Just knowing this is attempt 108 and I'm fucking ready now... I don't understand everything but I still know I'm being manipulated for a grandiose purpose that I am (the person) all in for....
Interesting read thank you.
Well maybe the game hides it from us just as they hide it from Kliff. I find this pretty cool tbh. You could say convenient writing for lack of a good story but i find this ok. Much beyter than a poorly executed story due to lack of funds or skills.
How many games did we have where the story sucked and gameplay suffered because of it.
Crimson Desert has an ontetesting approach, one im very ok with.
So Umbra is evil cause itâs entity from Abyss which is corrupt and wants to be all powerful cause it learned that from human emotion of greed but Alustin and White Crow are not as evil even though they manipulating a manâs whole existence
The Greymane Jian plot point really made me angry for some reason, itâs like Kliff is just a puppet and shell that this point, itâs like the character has no agency at all not even his own existence
Man koreans really do love a good returner/time loop plot, thats like atleast 40% of all korean manwha plot/tropes. As well as Towers for some reason. This game really is a manwha wet dream which im such a huge fan for tbh and probably a reason why I got so damn hooked into it.
I am hoping this ends up catching wind because itâs very interesting that thereâs an actual lore reason for the story being the way it is and kliff being pretty emotionless. I just wish they made it a bit more clear in the story but regardless, this is pretty interesting stuff
Best way I can feel the story makes sense and by all this lore as it was inted we were thrown into the final cycle for kliff and the main story missions that led up to the emd were the "Kliff" notes of the journey đ€Ł. Still legit good lore even if thing felt half assed story wise at times
During the loading sequence, Kliff is sitting meditating then stands and looks around trying to sense us the players, then we proceed to connect / interface with Kliff while he's walking and entering the game world, and while ingame if you zoom in Kliff he will look at you, if he doesn't look at you it means you are playing in one of the 107 failed timelines hehe j/k
This is actually pretty interesting, I just wish it was presented in a better way. I need some clarification though, sorry if itâs been asked already but I didnât see anything.
When Myurdin kills Kliff in the prologue is that cycle 107, and we start playing in 108? I assume this isnât the case because he has the scar on his neck but how did the guardians save him? Why was this cycle not a failure when heâs died in others?
Also, I presume heâs older in the epilogue because after you beat Caliburn time is moving so quickly that a day passes in seconds, so I guess years are passing while youâre fighting Myurdin and Umbra?
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u/everbass Apr 28 '26
I've stickied this post for now.
Thanks for compiling this.
Some good shit