The latest Crimson Desert patch adds five new mounts and makes it so you only get in trouble for stealing if you get caught

Crimson Desert has been fielding all sorts of opinions, though PCG features producer Mollie Taylor scored it a very respectable 80% in her review and it's certainly proven popular. If you're among the new wave of Crimson Desert-heads, you'll want to check out the newest update—it's positively stuffed with new doodads and welcome changes.

The shiniest of all the new things are probably the five new mounts, each of which can be ridden around town once they're obtained "after completing certain conditions." The patch notes reckon that telling you exactly what animals are available constitutes a spoiler, but if you have no such compunctions, you can read all about them via a dropdown menu on the linked page.

Beyond that, it's a treasure trove of quality-of-life improvements, balance changes, and fixes. "Select 2D visual assets" have been replaced "as part of ongoing visual improvements," for instance, which almost certainly refers to the AI art paintings that players spotted recently (threads are popping up on social media showing new props in their place). There's also been improvements made to movement controls, new chests now dot the map, and the storage chest in Howling Hill Camp has been moved to Kliff's tent.

Some of the changes are a little more vague—one patch note says the Abyss is "more convenient to play," whatever that means—but one seemingly popular change makes it so that you no longer lose contribution from criminal acts if an NPC doesn't witness it. If you're not familiar, contribution is a sort of reputation rating that grants region-specific rewards. We have a guide on it you can read here.

Crimson Desert is a huge game that only seems to be getting more huge, so while it might have some headscratch-inducing design, it's a good time to dive in. If you get lost anywhere in its endless tangle of things to do, check out our proportionally ginormous guide hub for pointers.