A deep dive into The First Descendant
- Joey Morris
- Jul 9, 2024
- 9 min read
Updated: Jul 11, 2024
The game borrows the best elements from the looter-shooter genre, but there's nothing unique to prevent it from descending into obscurity.
My descent into the game was an interesting venture with robust gameplay and challenging bosses, but marred with a forgettable narrative, intense grind and intrusive microtransactions.
The influences and elements taken from other games are evident; Descendants replace Warframes, Special Operations in every region act similarly to Strikes, but the pursuit of higher numbers and better builds remains all too familiar.
In the midst of all these similarities, its hard to pinpoint what exactly makes The First Descendant a first for the looter-shooter genre.
Will the game finally be the title that lives up to the 'Destiny-killer' legacy and succeed where so many others have failed? Or is history doomed to repeat itself once more...?
Hop on to the chase for better loot on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PS4 and PS5.
The First, But Not The Last
The game features 19 Descendants, 8 areas to explore, and a lot of loot
The main gameplay loop is fairly standard: it takes on a player vs enemy (PVE) experience in various open zones, with the constant incentive being the pursuit of more powerful gear and modules.
In this regard, this free to play title performs that successfully. Despite some initial server issues upon launch, the game runs relatively well on the Xbox Series X. Aside from a few instances where the game froze and had to restart, my moment to moment gameplay was relatively smooth.
The gunplay feels responsive once the controls are adjusted in the settings. When it comes to playing with a controller, the sensitivity felt way too low and sluggish on the default parameters. I had to adjust to nearly the highest sensitivity setting in order to make the camera naturally align with the joystick movements.
The weapons themselves feel solid to use against the enemies in the game. I feared the game would feel floaty in terms of movement and combat, but I was satisfied with how encounters would play out.
In fact, I was rather surprised with how well this game handles traversal. The fast paced sprints, combined with rolls, double jump, and a grappling hook gives not only a lot of vertical freedom but also opportunities to build momentum.
You can really launch yourself into the air if you turn to the side and deactivate your grapple mid-swing, double jumping and combining that with the various Descendant skills in the game.
The Descendants themselves were also enjoyable to use, although some felt a lot more powerful than others.
Descendants like Bunny boast a lot of synergy with their abilities. She builds up energy by sprinting, which she can then expel as electricity through abilities such as Lightning Emission, which continuously shocks nearby enemies as you move. This shock can occur more frequently when combined with Light Speeding, which increases her sprint speed and helps to build more energy to use her other abilities with.
The weapons you wield and the Descendants you choose can help go along way when it comes to build crafting, which is tied together through the games robust module system.
It behaves in a similar fashion to modules in Destiny. Small perks which at bare minimum can alter the stats and performance of your gear, and at most can add new mechanics to your playstyle.
Initially, it may be tempting to overlook them in the beginning of the game, but they can soon become an essential component to your strategy that could determine whether you win or lose, particularly in terms of resistances during challenging Void Intercept boss battles in the later stages of the game.
An Orb a Day Keeps the Players at Bay
Overall, the missions in the open zones were mostly dull. The only instance of something remotely unique occurred in the Special Operations that followed the prerequisite story missions. However, even in these instances, the boss battles lacked diversity in their mechanics.
Most encounters followed a fairly standard routine: damage the boss, enemies spawn in, immunity phase is activated, rinse and repeat.
One infuriating aspect of these bosses are the immunity phases that they will activate during the fights, and the red orbs that orbit above their heads. Whether you have to destroy them all outright, take them down in a particular order, or break them all at the same time, this mechanic often dragged out fights way longer than they needed to be.
When your a new player, these aren't exactly explained to you, and all it takes is one member of the party who doesn't know what they are doing to unintentionally sabotage the encounter. Especially later on when the bosses upgrade from three to five orbs!
Once, I found myself in a situation where I was battling a boss in the early stages of the game with three other players, all using Bunny characters. We were at a standstill for what seemed like thirty minutes because every time we destroyed an orb, another one would appear shortly after because we weren't outputting sufficient damage to remove them fast enough.
When your not running around with three Bunny's or Freya's to defeat a boss in a Special Operation, you'll be mostly completing one of several recurring missions scattered throughout the zones.
Whether its to eliminate enemies to collect samples, to disrupt one of three enemy jammers, to escort a drone collecting data, your standard kill everything with a red bar above their head, or collecting yellow orbs scattered around the map Super Mario style.
The missions themselves were also clearly designed to be tackled solo, as taking them on with other people can trivialise any challenge offered. With such low enemy density, there were often grace periods where I found myself standing around waiting for the next round of enemies to spawn in.
Perhaps this issue would be addressed through enemy density scaling in accordance to the number of players in the party, to help ensure players aren't squabbling amongst themselves to secure eliminations.
The Vulgar Vulgus Story
The story is more of a supplementary feature for many looter-shooter or MMO enthusiasts, because historically the stories have either been mediocre or hilariously bad. Whilst the story of The First Descendant leaves much to be desired, I do appreciate that they made a valiant attempt with the world building.
The games story takes place in the aftermath of an ancient conflict between the Ancestors and the Vulgus fighting over the possession of the Iron Hearts - powerful artifacts capable of transforming beings and bridging gaps between dimensions.
In the future humanity had experienced a period of peace on the planet Ingris, free from the conflicts that had preceded before it and unaware of the Ancestors influence. That is until the Vulgus, led by their leader Karel, launched an invasion.
Some of the Vulgus defected during the conflict to aid humanity, and their research allowed them to re-awaken the dormant Arche energy left behind by the Ancestors. Through this, the first Descendants (hey, that's the name of the game) would arise as humanity's final gambit against the Vulgus.
Throughout the game you'll seek to close the dimensional wall that allowed the Vulgus to arrive, and explore various open areas in pursuit of the remaining Iron Hearts to thwart Karel.
The main storyline tends to feel prolonged in terms of progression, and I failed to properly engage with the story it was trying to tell throughout my playthrough.
Like many modern games of recent memory, it bombards players with numerous details and terms, stressing their importance. However, it ultimately fails to make a significant impression, often prompting me to think 'so what?'
Character to character moments often feel stale and rigid, as the game wasn't originally designed with the English language in mind, there is often a huge disconnect between the dialogue and lip syncing.
The English voice acting is lacking, mostly due to the direction and dialogue. Some characters come across as monotone, such as Freyna, while others seem to be trying too hard and ultimately miss the mark, like Bunny and Jeremy.
Progressing through the story felt like a means to an end, something to endure before finally getting to the end game as opposed to being additive to the experience.
More Like Iron Wallets
The publisher behind the title, NEXON, has had a long history of including what players and journalists alike have criticised as 'aggressive microtransactions'. The First Descendant proves to be no exception.
From the moment the game was released, it was clear that the Ultimate Bunny Bundle was a hot topic amongst players and news outlets, overshadowing even the initial server problems.
The bundle including Ultimate Bunny, a more powerful version of her regular counterpart, will set you back £60 ($70) for the standard edition. For nearly £80 ($102) you'll be able to access the premium bundle, which includes additional cosmetics and module modifiers.
Ultimate Bunny Bundle (3000)
Ultimate Bunny (Skin)
Apex Predator (Head gear)
Apex Predator (Body skin)
Premium Ultimate Bunny Bundle (5000)
Ultimate Bunny (Skin)
Apex Predator (Head gear)
Apex Predator (Body skin)
Double Z Wing (Backpack)
Thunder and Lightning (Spawn intro)
Energy Activators (Research Material)
Crystallisation Catalyst (Research Material)
Microtransactions have become non-negotiable when it comes to modern gaming, whether it's free or charging full price, and it can be argued that this game gets a pass because its offering free access for all.
My problems with this lies with how the monetisation not only ties with cosmetics, but also power. I have my reservations when it comes to what I would consider to be lite pay-to-win mechanics within the game.
In addition to buying Descendants, you can also purchase items such as Energy Activators and Crystallisation Catalysts to acquire more module spaces and alter module socket types. These enhancements undoubtedly enhance your power and efficiency, regardless of how small the impact may seem.
Granted, the only saving grace is the fact that the game does not posses a competitive player vs player mode. So whether or not these can be considered pay-to-win mechanics is entirely based on what players would consider 'winning' in an online PVE looter-shooter.
If you choose not to pay to unlock one of the 14 Descendants in the game, be ready for a lengthy grinding session. This is especially the case if you aim to acquire one of the five Ultimate Descendants, which have improved stats compared to the originals.
Some Descendants, such as the other two characters you do not choose in the beginning, will take around 10-16 hours to acquire, although some players have reported more. This is because the materials required to obtain them will drop by chance after repeatedly completing certain missions, Void Intercepts and Special Operations.
Others, such as the five Ultimate Descendants, will require a significant amount of time: a wide range of materials must be gathered for each essential component, and the code must be obtained by defeating the Void Intercept bosses. With some components having as low as a three percent drop rate.
Each component will take around 18 hours to research, and the character will only become available for acquisition after a full day, although both tasks can be worked on concurrently.
Make no mistake, it takes an iron will to go through and unlock everything in the game without spending a dime.
Does the Game Cook?
The First Descendant is not the first to have a rocky reception upon arrival. Destiny itself only just managed to stick the landing with 'The Final Shape' in a saga of disappointing vanilla launches, and a series of expansions both acclaimed and awful.
The game displays both potential and promise. It will simply be a matter of time to see whether or not this title will see the same success and have its own happy ending. But it will be an uphill struggle, so even 'beloved daughter Dia' will have to hold on a little longer and see how this game pans out.
It's not that the game doesn't have anything to offer, but that it doesn't provide anything uniquely distinct. There wasn't anything noteworthy during my playthrough that made me think 'this is what The First Descendant is all about'. The only feature that comes to mind are the Void Intercept battles, which are the most challenging parts of the game.
Nevertheless, It's the same looter-shooter with a fresh coat of a one-time-use shader.
Given that it is free, the risk is minimal, making it definitely worth trying out to determine if it is a game you want to delve deeper into. Especially since its available on a wide variety of platforms, including older generation of consoles.
Whether or not your a veteran when it comes to looter-shooters, or if its your first time jumping into the genre, there are glimpses of a solid experience to be found underneath all the artificial restraints it places on players.
The grind is prolonged, the missions are repetitive, the world is seemingly hollow, and the boss mechanics are tedious at best.
Every time I load into the game, it feels as though its intentionally putting me as a player at a disadvantage. To make problems in order to sell me a solution.
While there were moments when I enjoyed playing this game, it does feel somewhat unpolished in ways you can tell but can't quite put your finger on definitively. Whether its the 'Unreal' look, rough animations, or the user interface design in certain aspects.
However, at its core, it remains a looter-shooter, a genre that has always shared a love-hate relationship with players.
The Descendants are fun to play with once you eventually get around to unlocking them; experimenting with modules can be rewarding whether you decide to pay for the enhancements or not, and every game is made better with a grappling hook.
While it may not be a Destiny-killer by any means, this game continues to offer enjoyable moments while only scratching the surface of what this genre truly encompasses.
There is fun to be had underneath its many flaws.
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