The First Descendant Beta: I’ve Seen This Somewhere Before…
The First Descendant beta ran from October 20th-26th.
An action-RPG that moved just a little too fast
Dear reader, I am an avid enthusiast for beta preview events. That feeling of being able to play a game early, despite its flaws and bugs, is usually an enjoyable experience. On a more personal note, I love the idea of being a beta participant in a game that, long term, could possibly become the next big hit. It’s like discovering a band before they become mainstream, right? So, those are the reasons I signed up for The First Descendant’s beta session this past week.
The marketing exposure for this game alone had me intrigued. In the past several months, I saw so many sponsored TikTok and YouTube videos for this game. Many were calling it things like “the Destiny 2 killer” or “the next big action MMO.” Of course, I remember many saying that Anthem was supposed to do something similar, and we all remember how that turned out. However, I was optimistic that perhaps Nexon Games, The First Descendant’s developer, could learn from past mistakes of other games and create something fresh and unique for 2023. After spending roughly 3-5 hours in the beta, I did not feel hopeful for how this game might turn out. This does not mean I think that this game has failed mechanically or conceptually as of yet. It just doesn’t grab me as a new take on action-multiplayer RPGs.
The mechanics and systems in The First Descendant are somewhat familiar to fans of games like Destiny and Outriders. Players choose from 10+ different Descendants, which act somewhat like player classes containing different abilities and starting stat distributions. In the beta, three of these characters were available, with a fourth being unlocked for beta progress. My time was primarily spent with Ajax, a type of tank-like character whose abilities included barriers and shields for party and individual use. Players earn experience to level up and increase stats, though the stat increases are not controlled by the player. There is also a mod system for weapons and characters called “runes” which affects different weapon types. Combat utilizes over-the-shoulder shooting with roughly 6-7 weapon types. Movement is pretty fast, with a double jump ability and sprinting. In the beta, players could explore the central hub area as well as one major map location. I was able to get a decent handle on how the game plays after a couple of hours.
I found the missions to be pretty bland and procedural. Objectives consisted of simple “go here, interact there, kill this many enemies” like we’ve seen in other titles in this style. The dialogue during these missions is pretty basic, trying to offer backstory or lore but throwing out a bit too much exposition in my opinion. Also, the missions seemed to flow from one to another too quickly, as if each campaign objective was just on a to-do list for the player to get through. In games like this, I usually enjoy having some sort of story to follow, but The First Descendant seems poised to push the players through to the endgame too quickly to sustain itself as a solid campaign experience.
Visually, this game has potential. Everything in the beta space was designed with a high amount of detail, from the character models to the landscapes and man-made environments. Several times I wandered Albion, the central hub for players, looking at the different structures and tech that exist in the background. However, just like the missions, none of this felt utilized in any of the mission areas, at least not very often. Most of the campaign I explored existed in a desolate grassy area of broken-down buildings spaced out sparsely. I may have experienced one or two small locations where I could admire the futuristic designs of certain things but most of my gameplay was spent on combat and nothing else.
Battles in The First Descendant consisted of the typical third-person shooter scenarios we’ve experienced in games like Gears of War. If I’m being honest, I felt like I was back playing the gun-fighting sections of Anthem. Snapping my zoomed-in aim felt quick, and there was something satisfying about killing the different enemies quickly. As the missions carried on, the enemies grew more difficult, and I noticed a moderate difficulty spike after about an hour or two. The audio for these fights felt somewhat satisfying to me as well, mostly because I’m a fan of unique firearm sounds and satisfying hit marker registries. Ammo, health, and loot drop rates seemed pretty generous as well, as I never felt like I had to scour for healing or bullets.
One of the biggest grievances I have with these faster-paced RPG games is the lack of pacing in how the story and game mechanics are delivered to the player. As soon as I opened my menu for the first time I was inundated with loads of how-to’s on every single aspect of the tabs. Each tab I entered came with a 10-12 step tutorial on what things are and where they fit in, which I find annoying. I feel as if players need time to learn these things organically and to have time and pacing in accessing these systems. The First Descendant threw everything at me at once. I am willing to concede that this could be because of beta purposes and to get the player acclimated as quickly as possible, but it still felt like a bit much to me. The story pacing was somewhat better, though I do wish there was a bit less of the in-game terms being casually tossed around as if we knew what was happening. Again, this is most likely a product of it being a beta, so I can hold my judgment for now.
Overall, I feel somewhat neutral about The First Descendant. I can see the entertainment value of it, being a faster sci-fi RPG where the gameplay would take precedence over anything else. As a co-op experience, this could make for some satisfying hours. However, in what I played I don’t quite think this is going to make the impact the developers have promised. Also, once it does release I have this feeling the whole experience will go so fast for players that there will not be much in terms of replayable content and sustainability. Time will tell if the developers have an endgame planned and what that might look like. For now, I plan on waiting for release and seeing impressions on this game before I make the plunge back into Albion.
SNIPERPUNK is a 1v1 rogue-lite in the style of games like Enter the Gungeon and ROUNDS with an emphasis on multiplayer mayhem.