The First Descendant

The First Descendant was shaping up to be great during its beta stages, and it’s just getting better now with its full release. There have been some major improvements and one or two horrible additions to the mix, like the dreaded microtransactions.

Welcome back to the grind, it might just be the new era of PvE co-op shooters.

The First Descendant is a solid looter shooter with some exciting moments that falls into repetition due to its grind, something that is somewhat expected but still tiresome. It could easily be a premium title if the monetization had been worked out in other ways, so now we have a free-to-play game that offers many hours of entertainment, but that could also potentially outstay its welcome faster ...

The First Descendant does well with borrowing some tried-and-tested mechanics. At times, it can sour its own captivating grind with the initial forced repetition, but the endgame is worth it. For now.

When I got my hands on The First Descendant at Summer Game Fest 2024, I really wasn’t sure what to think. I had played a mission on my own, using a character that had a more support-focused role, and it all felt a little generic. However, the full release of The First Descendant surprised me. It was fun, the movement was fantastic, and the characters had their own kind of appeal, be it through the...

On the surface, The First Descendant feels like an unoriginal but otherwise competently put-together looter shooter. Dig deeper, and its flaws, from the mission design and the story to the awful monetization, become more apparent.

The First Descendant is a bland dish presented on exquisite plating, whose stunning boss fights and interwoven upgrade systems are overpowered by shallow missions and grim monetisation. Nexon doesn’t invite you to a power fantasy, it sells you one by letting you pay to skip tiresome progression mechanics.

Either way, I’m more than ready to put The First Descendant down and not come back for a while. Its character playstyles are fresh and interesting, but underbaked gimmicks, overly familiar ideas, and underwhelming encounters make it hard to recommend. I’m hopeful that The First Descendant can outgrow its need to imitate other games and eventually turn into something interesting in its own right. I...

Artistically impressive, mechanically abusive, and narratively bankrupt, The First Descendant is (and likely will be for years to come) the defining example of how not to create a loot shooter.

The First Descendant's monotonous mission design and asinine grind is all in service of a malicious free-to-play model that puts monetization above all else.

In The First Descendant, Nexon's new looter shooter, each character has their own set of abilities and gimmicks. Bunny, the first one you can unlock, has to keep moving to charge up her electricity which she can then use to fire off attacks. She does more damage the quicker she runs, so you barely shoot your gun, relying instead on her area of effect pulse ability. It’s a perfect encapsulation of ...

I do not think The First Descendant is generating the interest it currently is by luck. There is a fun game here and an interesting system for the grind-obsessed; it just needs to be polished up and made a little fairer. Instead of chipping away at every possible angle of monetization, it might be better to ease up a little, especially around areas that invoke player expression, and let goodwill c...