The First Descendant

The First Descendant has all the building blocks of a fantastic looter shooter, but they’re buried under a pile of monotonous quests, a terrible story, and an infuriating free-to-play model that has influenced its game design in the worst possible way.

I am nothing but conflicted regarding The First Descendant. It’s a Modern Prometheus of parts and ideas that looks and plays wonderfully when it works. However, the Dr. Frankenstein who assembled it is clearly profit-driven and has a bit of a reputation for its microtransactions. Throw in the equivalent of a Dell Dimension 8400 for a server and things look grim. I don’t expect The First Descendant to get a lot of support in the time it’s around, and I’ll enjoy it for what it is, but I won’t make the mistake of believing it will hold much attention outside of a small, dedicated player base.

Destiny is grindy, but it has an immensely satisfying gameplay loop and a rich story. Outriders doesn't have the best plot or visuals, but each class has a wide variety of powers that synergise brilliantly, meaning each build is unique to how you want to play and combat is worthwhile for its own sake. The First Descendant has the stand-out Colossi battles, but everything leading up to them is so mind-numbingly tedious that they don't justify the time or monetary investment you'd need to spend to enjoy them. It's the gaming equivalent of playing with a fidget spinner while on a Discord call - something to keep your hands occupied while you catch up. It's a game designed to get you to pay to skip it, not play it, so what's the point of it?

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. It’s a live service game and Nexon’s first shot at making something in this style, so there’s every chance it might turn around in future updates.

The First Descendant is still not Destiny at its best or a new revelation in the genre, a very pretty time eater. The game is able to attract the audience with cute graphics and beautiful character models, but it doesn't offer anything radically new. In an era of high competition, this is clearly not enough.

It’s clear that they focused much more on fidelity than performance, which is a major pet peeve for most gamers. There’s nothing wrong with putting a lot of emphasis on the graphics, but the gameplay needs as much attention—even more would be better. The silver lining is that this game is free, so there’s no harm in giving it a shot. The game has something there, but it will need more improvements to get the best out of it. Plus, plenty of The First Descendant updates along the way will feature more characters, weapons, adjustments, and so on. So, hopefully, The First Descendant will become a more interesting game in the future.

The First Descendant isn’t shying away from where it’s inspired. Destiny has been a called-out game by its fans and the studio and for good reason, it set the bar. Warframe as well has been a go-to for many in the live service catalog, and by using both as a base and creating something in between, it creates a game that while not terribly original, is an absolute blast to play. Each Descendant has a wealth of skills to make them stand out with a design and graphical fidelity to them that makes this one of the best looking games out there.

If you're bored of Destiny 2, you now have an alternative, albeit it's not as good.

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 and pay-to-win aspects, but there is still hope for this release. There’s a whole world to explore and a story to discover, and all it takes is a little willingness and some creativity, and it’ll be worth every second in the end.

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.