As an avid ARPG fan with over 200 hours sunk into titles like Warframe and Path of Exile, I had high hopes for the futuristic open-world shooter The First Descendant. Coming from gaming juggernaut Nexon, early trailers showcased kinetic mobility-focused combat paired with raids, crafting complexity, and ever-scaling challenges – catnip for number-crunching hardcore gamers like myself!
Unfortunately, having gruelingly completed the first 30 mastery ranks across all classes, I can conclusively say The First Descendant stumbles out the gate as an unbalanced, repetitive, frustrating mess masked by visual polish and a few standout ideas. Until sweeping changes unlock the untapped potential within, I cannot recommend it over polished alternatives for anyone except the most masochistic and monetarily endowed gamers. Let‘s dig into the critical flaws holding back this disappointing next-gen contender.
Addictive Combat Undercut By Poor Pacing and Repetition
On the surface, The First Descendant delivers wonderfully frenetic hybrid gunplay/spellcasting across distinct classes like the missile-spewing Gunslinger Mage or spectral assassin Shadow Hunter. Stringing 50+ ability combos with mobility skills like grappling hooks and wall runs resembles a futuristic Titanfall/Warframe power fantasy.
The intrinsic satisfaction in mastering complex movesets while annihilating hundreds of foes carries older classics like Diablo 2. Chaining headshots into teleport backstabs into screen-filling AoEs simply feels incredible thanks to unmatched mobility. According to Destructoid’s early access review:
“The First Descendant takes the mobility and ability weaving concepts from Warframe and injects them with a skill tree and survivability depth resembling PoE and Lost Ark.”
However, the non-stop frenetic slaughter wears thin after the first 10 hours. Most story and side missions boil down to holding out against waves of near-identical enemies in enclosed arenas with minimal variance. The beautiful open-world areas stand devoid of captivating secrets or challenges between brief story beats. Roguelike expeditions and raid content stay locked behind arbitrary mastery gates rather than skill checks.
Perhaps the greatest indictment of repetitiveness comes from my personal journey: After clearing 30 near-identical early missions showcasing little more than graphical panache, I yearned for a hint of mechanical evolution in enemy movesets, environment dynamics, secondary objectives – anything!
If Nexon wants to capture players long-term, the team must take cues from studios like Digital Extremes (Warframe) and Grinding Gear Games (Path of Exile) by constantly remixing engaging content like puzzle levels, tower defenses, survival modes, and build-defining gear farms. Players need aspirational goals beyond repetitive number gains. The foundation resembles a 12-hour campaign stretched into an endless hamster wheel counting on addiction mechanics rather than innovation.
Strange Progression System Demands Extreme Grinding
Rather than introduce impactful gear/skills through late-game boss drops like classical ARPGs, The First Descendant notoriously gates player power through repetitive farming for upgrade materials. For example, according to test server data, maxing out a single piece of Relic gear past level 10 requires:
- 55 Epic Shards: 1.5% drop rate after Excavation event (15 min respawn)
- 77 Relic Fragments: Obtained from weekly raid boss. Raid unlocked after maxing 3 gear pieces
- 5800 Phantasm Dust: Obtained by breaking down gear over level 30
With ideal drop luck, this amounts to 6+ hours PER GEAR PIECE from drone-like grinding – and full builds require six crafted relic pieces! Then further Champion Levels, Cores, Transcendence, and Damage Type bonuses enter the mix to maximize character potential – each demanding dozens more hours across convoluted systemic bars to fill.
Prominent YouTuber Mtashed perfectly encapsulates the gameplay ramifications:
“I wanted to experiment with crazy ability combinations through the systems. Instead I‘m forced into repetitive material harvests lasting longer than full RPG campaign playthroughs!"
The result is players pressured into purchasing bundles just to bypass strangulating gates – undermining the loyal fanbases that sustain F2P models long-term. The monetization focus contradicts every design pillar demanding extensive predictable grinding at the expense of varied pursuits and aspirational milestones. Until the team reworks fundamental progression pacing and barriers, The First Descendant will remain a shiny casino rather than an ARPG lover’s dream.
Technical Shortcomings Break Immersion
Even disregarding repetitive missions and questionable progression, The First Descendant often struggles delivering the seamless living world ambience demanded by modern open zone RPGs.
Muddy texture pop-in, frame pacing issues, invisible walls, and buggy ability triggers plague moment-to-moment traversal – frequently shattering immersion critical for escapism and wonder. Wide panning vista shots of the shimmering alien vistas instead remind players of their chains in a disjointed virtual hamster wheel rather than the superheroic gods described in promotional media. Areas meant to inspire awe through verticality likewise frustrate when obvious climbing points stand arbitrarily blocked off.
According to PC Gamer’s performance analysis:
“The First Descendant demands cutting-edge hardware yet struggles maintaining 60 FPS in crowded scenarios on our RTX 4090 test bench at High settings.”
Additional concerns around localized voice acting quality, narrative payoffs for grinding, and tutorialization also stand out as needing polish based on community impressions during early access. Luckily these aspects seem more feasible to patch post-launch compared to core progression and mission structure reworks. But the curtains of artistry masking deeper flaws are thinning rapidly for many players.
Is The First Descendant Worth Playing Now?
For all my searing critiques stemming from personal disappointment, The First Descendant absolutely nails high-speed aerial mobility combat set against a visually jaw-dropping backdrop. The class ability toolkits gift players imaginative freedom rivaling genre titans like Path of Exile and Destiny 2. Nexon clearly boasts world-building prowess equaling beloved universes given time and iteration.
So who should play the latest addition to the competitive online ARPG realm? I firmly believe The First Descendant rewards either 1) the incredibly patient able to grind through mediocre early content anticipating massive evolution akin to Warframe and No Man’s Sky, 2) those excited to spend considerable money for eye-candy power fantasy wish fulfillment, or 3) PvP fanatics less bothered by repetitive PvE given 12-player Battle Royale and Territory Wars modes offer long-term competitive hooks with constant clashes against human ingenuity.
For players seeking narrative immersion, varied progression, or gaming on a budget, I cannot currently recommend The First Descendant over established alternatives like Lost Ark, PoE 2, Warframe, or Destiny 2 in their now polished states after years of updates. Our magical flying laser pyrotechnics remain chained down by invisible walls and predictable hamster wheels. But if Nexon alleviates progression fatigue and unlocks environmental interaction potential, The First Descendant might someday thrive as a GaaS rather than just a cash grab coated in chrome.
I will personally shelve my 99 hours after hitting the Champion Level cap and take comfort in the smooth locomotion foundations holding future potential. Here’s hoping the world sees the interstellar superstars promised rather than more predatory formulas masked by visual splendor. The revolution stands ready to ignite given the spark of respect Nexon needs to nurture.
What‘s your experience with the highs and lows of The First Descendant? Does its promise outweigh current issues or pale against established competition? Sound off below!