Crimson Desert's reviews may be mixed, but here's how you could get the game for just $1 and avoid buyer's remorse

As a fan of games that sit right in the 6-7/10 zone (I know a bunch of people just said ‘six seven’ after reading that, I’m aware of topical things), Crimson Desert is something that’s perfect for me. It may not be winning awards for being one of the best RPGs, but a fantasy-style Just Cause-esque sandbox world? Sign me up, and if you’re waiting for a sale, why not try your luck with Fanatical’s Mystery Star Bundle, get some cheap Steam keys, and potentially, a copy of Crismon Desert – or perhaps another triple-A game, if you’re lucky.

Crimson Desert’s current reviews aren’t as great as I thought they’d be. Sure, I wasn’t expecting it to be a Witcher or Baldur’s Gate 3-level masterpiece (perhaps it needs two sequels), but I was hoping for a solid 8-9 across the board. Maybe that was too optimistic, but in reality, the game will give you plenty of mileage, depending on how willing you are to look past imperfections and focus on its absolutely chaotic brand of fun.

You play as Kliff, a member of the Greymanes, who witnesses the slaughter of his faction when the Black Bears attack, leaving him and just a few members left, scattered across the world of Pywel. It’s up to you to gather up the survivors so you can rebuild from the ashes, but admittedly, the story plays second fiddle to the absolute whirlwind of the gameplay, whether you’re riding around on a dragon, flying with a jetpack, or just dishing out damage with your weapons against a variety of foes.

You probably got whiplash reading that sentence – and trust me, I had a similar experience playing it. Crimson Desert is best described as an amalgamation, a hybrid of recent releases that sometimes don’t gel as well as you may hope, but the reality is, it’s still a lot of fun. The narrative is a fairly basic revenge story that drives the fighting game-style combat, allowing you to use a massive amount of combos on enemies.

Personally, I don’t care about waiting for sales – if I love the look of a game, chances are I’ll buy it full price. It’s a problem I don’t want to solve. However, I can understand why you may be nervous about buying Crimson Desert, when there’s no guarantee you’ll fall in love with the gameplay loop as much as I have, but you could get it for just a buck if you happen to be particularly lucky.

With the Fanatical Mystery Star Bundle, each ‘star’ will set you back just $1 / £1, giving you a chance at scoring Crimson Desert, or another triple-A game like Resident Evil Requiem, for a single dollar. Of course, there’s a chance you won’t get it, and you’ll get a different game entirely, usually a cheaper, less known indie – but then again, you’re still getting a Steam key for your purchase, and it might be an underrated gem you never knew you needed.

Better yet, if you decide to buy more stars, you’ll actually get each one cheaper. So, grab 25 Stars for just $16.99 / £16.99, making each less than $1 / £1 – so you could technically get Crimson Desert for under a dollar. Lucky you, and you’ll get bragging rights to tell all your friends you got a new game at a ridiculously low price.

So, if you don’t want to spend all your hard-earned cash on Crimson Desert after the reviews, give the Fanatical Mystery Star Bundle a shot – you never know what you might get.