The biggest weaknesses of Black Desert
Even today, Black Desert struggles with peculiarities that can negatively affect the fun of the game. Here are what I consider to be the biggest issues:
- In Black Desert, there are still various systems in which the factor of chance plays a much too significant role. Similar to Lost Ark, the percentage chances for equipment upgrades are initially still pleasantly high. However, this ends in the endgame. When upgrades continuously fail and you are repeatedly punished with material and progress loss, frustration quickly sets in.
- Although there are numerous quests in Black Desert, a huge part of the leveling and endgame experience consists of repeatedly killing groups of enemies. Thanks to the satisfying combat system, the grind is fun for a while, but once you hope for more variety, you’ll be out of luck. In the end, you are faced with a cycle of “grind for gold and items => invest in equipment upgrades => find a more lucrative but difficult grind spot with the improved equipment => grind for gold and items.” And since there is no maximum level in BDO, you can undergo this grind forever. FOREVER.
The classes of Black Desert play diversely – here the trailer for the scholar:
Is Black Desert Pay-to-Win?
First, let’s establish that the financial entry barrier for Black Desert is quite low. The MMORPG costs just around ten bucks with all the updates and expansions of the past years. During a sale, you can even snag the extensive package on Steam and other platforms with discounts of 75 to 90 percent.
This low purchase price is made possible by the in-game shop, which offers not only cosmetic skins but also various gameplay-relevant advantages. Pets, for example, can collect loot, mark elite monsters on the map, and track resources. Or costumes that provide special bonuses – such as hiding your name, which can help in PvP.
It hasn’t negatively affected my gaming experience, partly because there are various alternative sources to obtain items or advantages from the shop. Such as the 30-euro Explorer Edition, the marketplace, daily attendance rewards, the mini-game Adventurer of the Black Spirit, or the loyalty department of the pearl shop.
Nevertheless, it remains true that you can buy noticeable advantages for open-world PvP or progression in endgame grinding with financial investment. If this bothers you, it might be better to spend ten bucks on a month with your favorite streaming service.
Is Black Desert worth it in 2024?
Even if the graphics don’t impress me as much today as they did eight years ago, I can still recommend Black Desert. However, only to certain types of players. If you prefer combo-heavy, heavy combat systems and enjoy grinding tasks, stop reading and get the game.
The same goes for you if you are looking for an MMORPG that costs little but offers satisfying opportunities to invest enormous amounts of time in areas like crafting, housing, and shipping.
However, if you are looking for a captivating story, a largely luck-independent character progression, varied quests, and a polished theme park endgame, you will find other genre representatives more suitable.
By the way, Black Desert is one of the most successful online role-playing games ever: An MMORPG that you may not even have on your radar has earned 2 billion euros since its release.
- 1
- 2
