Looter-shooters remain one of my favorite genres. There is something oddly satisfying about killing a ton of enemies and finding gear to equip that enhance your skills continuously. A never-ending treadmill of endless farming and mindlessly completing tasks requires very little brain power, allowing me to shut my brain off while leaving the most essential cells alive to comprehend how a green arrow is good and a red arrow is bad.
This time, NEXON enters the already well saturated market with The First Descendant, a character-driven looter shooter that is gorgeous but leaves more to be desired. I spent a handful of hours with this game, playing a few hours with a brand-new start as well as a boosted mode which enabled me to experience some of the late-game concepts. While this is going to be a free-to-play title, I have to make peace with the idea that there will be a fair share of micro-transactions, the prices of which have yet to be fully disclosed to me at the time of this preview.
You’ll Always Remember Your First
I hopped into the game right away picking the largest, most tankiest character available to me, which is par for the course when it comes to how I approach games. Here, the obvious choice for me was Ajax who was accompanied by two other characters, one who seemed like an all around character and another who seemed to have a focus on magic.
I soon realized that once I made this decision, it was set in stone but to a reasonable point before the other characters could be unlocked. I began my adventure playing through a reasonably short tutorial that went by rather quickly, if I do say so myself. I was introduced to Bunny, another character that could eventually be unlocked as I traversed through the story.
From here, the game displays its paint-by-numbers storyline. I was tasked to collect an artifact with Bunny and while I’m not supposed to touch it, I totally did. I was imbued with some latent power which involves an attractive ghost that no one other than me can see.
Eventually, we run into the game’s big bad who is a hulking monster of cybernetic plating. We all almost die and then we cut to Albion where Bunny and I talk to others in this highly detailed hub world about what happened.
This is where The First Descendant starts piling on all the systems. You have character levels and weapon proficiencies which are pretty standard. But then there is a ranking system which provides you with various static bonuses that grant you additional bag space amongst other passive attributes.
I am directed to drop into my first combat area where I engage in a few more tutorial missions that introduce me to some of the mechanics of the game and put me intimately close to the enemies. I ran around, blasted enemies, and overall had a halfway decent time doing it. Various boxes popped out the bodies, creating neon rainbows above the foes I bested. While their bodies did crumble into dust, their precious gifts remained for me to loot. But, not everything was as straight-forward as I was hoping. Some of the components left behind in their wake weren’t outright disclosed to me, so a lot of assumptions were made.
Green boxes for health, blue for ability usage, and a few others that seemed to signify ammunition types. There were other orbs that decorated the floor which were various weapons that were mixed in quality with color associations that signified their prowess on the battlefield.
As I ran from one combat marker to another, I got to experience a variety of weapon types that felt cool to use, but there were some issues that didn’t make the moment-to-moment gameplay feel all that compelling. Swinging with the grappling hook was fun, sorting through weapons will only be as fun as navigating an Excel spreadsheet, and everything else felt just kinda off.
If You’re Not First, You’re Last
When I play shooters, one of the key aspects that makes the shooting feel good is the impact it has on the environment. It took me a bit to fully recognize what felt off and it is the lack of impact when using various guns. The weapons themselves are each incredibly fun to use and there is enough of a variety where you’re bound to find something you deeply enjoy. But, when you shoot the enemies and they don’t react in ways that are visually significant, the act of shooting could lose it’s ability to feel cohesive.
In Destiny 2, I would shoot at an enemy and there is some sort of signal telling me that the enemy experience a bullet or slice of energy hitting them; a Vex’s head can be blown off for example. Here, that sort of reaction isn’t there, at least not during this build. Enemies will continue to move on as if you were throwing hand fulls of marshmallows at them until they just died from a massive assault of pillowy snack food.
Things feel a bit more awkward when you learn that a melee attack is tied to pressing both shoulder buttons together, a maneuver typically reserved for activating abilities in other games. It doesn’t feel right here, but I also recognize that is is a nitpick of mine. Typically, the melee button is tied to something that doesn’t feel like I am performing a grand gesture that would trigger a more monumental moment.
When it comes to abilities, this is what really defines each character you play. Ajax has a nifty shield that gives you the necessary barrier to prevent incoming damage. You can shoot through it which is very nice. There is also a slam attack that puts me into a slight running motion and becomes incredibly difficult to pinpoint exactly where it will land. It doesn’t play nicely with the synergy that I was hoping to create on the battlefield. Having one that just emits a large radius of damage from my current position would be better than accidentally overshooting my targets.
First is the Worst, Second is the Best
I was curious on what it took to unlock additional characters, and in this case the story does bring you closer to achieving the act of unlocking those who you wish to play as. Whether it be Bunny and her skin-tight outfit or someone else in the original starting roster, it takes a bit of time as these types of games are known for. You can grind out for a handful of resources to unlock them or use the in-game purchasable currency to buy the character outright. Due to the shop being closed, I couldn’t tell you exactly how much each character costs. This also didn’t provide me with any sort of insight to the semantics behind what it means to choose a character that you pay for.
As previously mentioned, the roster is rather large and each character has a suite of abilities that can’t be swapped or changed out. What you see is what you get. The issue that remains is how you could purchase a character for a discernible amount and end up not enjoying the experience. So you have to be real picky if your resources are limited fiscally or time-wise.
That all being said, each character really did feel unique in their own special way. They each have a couple of abilities with a focus on styles of gameplay that also incorporate actual elements within the character’s persona. There is a character that uses poison within their arsenal while another has electrical powers. There is this unique flavor, and no matter what you prefer, there is bound to be something there for you.
I know this because in boosted mode, the entire roster was unlocked for me to play around with. This also opened up all abilities, a slew of weapons for me to play around with, and a bunch of customization options that are available on the battle pass. I’ll continue to harp on the fact that each character does really feel unique with very little overlap in abilities, but there is still something missing from the experience that makes it feel aggressively okay to play. The style though, that is where The First Descendant really excels.
On Second Thought…
The First Descendant uses the gear system that I absolutely despise with every fiber of my being. There are role-playing games where you can equip armor pieces and they give you an array of stats that best fit your style of play. Here, it is all character skins with various components that you can equip to modify your prowess. These do not effect your character cosmetically at all. Instead, you buy skins either through the battle pass or shop and use that as the basis of your customization.
After navigating a really odd UI, I found myself in the character customization menu where I got to pick from the various skins and modify the color scheme of my character. Unlike other games where the full color gamut is available for you to use, there is a limited range of colors to pick and choose from. These colors also have material effects which throws me back into how Anthem leveraged it’s customization, with metallic and leather motifs. Unfortunately, if you want more colors then you have to purchase them in the store or unlock them on the battle pass track.
There are outfits that you can unlock for each character, a few are universal like a giant panda outfit while others are specific to characters. Each character has a couple of alternative outfits which are nice and add some more of that flavor. Every female character, and I mean every single one, has a maid outfit which will in no way be over-sexualized. In a post-Stellar Blade world, I find this to be the norm. I just wish the double standard wasn’t so clear- I’m not saying the men should be hanging dong but there could be something there to even it all out.
First-Class Style
If there is one thing I can say about the environments it is how gorgeous they look. The tutorial is only the tip of the iceberg here. I was left aghast when I appeared in Albion, the cybernetic hub. Every aspect looks so clean and sharp. Edges are well defined and the overall futuristic style is eye catching.
There are some distant elements that really pop out and almost tell a story in itself. The main hub has this gigantic machine that overlooks it, embedded within the mountainside. It’s hulking presence is incredible and a testament to the abilities of these designers. It is only extenuated when you jump into the playable areas.
Each map is a highly-detailed arena with various paths and tasks to complete. Grasslands are highly detailed with great environmental density. Buildings are run down and don’t feel out of place. Even the skybox has some solid work done to it. I eventually traveled to a snowy area where I saw a wall off in the distance that drew me in. As I got closer to it, I saw what looked like vertical plates all moving together, emitting sparks while unleashing this mechanical sound that added depth to this world. The First Descendent is filled to the brim with these types of elements that are so inherently interesting. There is even a corpse of a giant laying within the tundra, under the multiple folds of the snow. It is the little details that really matter here.
Even the character detailing is incredibly smooth. I mentioned before how each character has various outfits that can be modified, and no matter what you choose, the modeling is incredibly impressive. I don’t I saw a single asset fail to load during my entire time with the game.
The Final Word
I give it to NEXON here, they made something that looks right up my alley but fails to really fully grab my attention. The gameplay felt rather lackluster and could use a bit more variety and deeper character customization. Weapons are fine, there isn’t a whole lot for me to point out here because it is just meets the bar in what is required to have a decent and interesting weapon. I still think games like Borderlands and even Destiny 2 have more compelling weapons that are memorable and huge talking points when you discuss the title. Instead, I just get the feeling that the main talking point here is going to be the micro-transactions and how many butts you see at any given time. But hey, at least the grappling hook is fun!
The First Descendant is a free-to-play title, so jump in and let us know what you think about this title in the comments below.