As a gamer with over a decade of experience under my belt, I have seen my fair share of free-to-play games that try to lure players into spending real money for in-game advantages. But The First Descendant takes this monetization strategy to a whole new level, leaving a bitter taste in my mouth.
The First Descendant is a disappointing video game with occasional bursts of enjoyment. These brief moments of fun highlight the game’s underlying potential, where quick combat brings fleeting delight amidst a deluge of disappointment and annoyance. However, the game’s fast-paced shooting is surrounded by dull, tedious, and exploitative elements. The First Descendant is a free-to-play, third-person looter shooter that seems more focused on pleasing shareholders than its players. It lacks originality and soul, offering nothing new beyond various ways to extract money from the player base. Sadly, it’s an uninspired example of a game prioritizing monetization in an already saturated market of freemium looter shooters.
The First Descendant’s tale gets off to a rocky start and is complex and uninviting. However, the fundamental concept draws you in as one of the Descendants – a band of humans endowed with distinctive talents bestowed by their forebears who met their demise. You are duty-bound to safeguard mankind against an extraterrestrial adversary, the Vulgus, who arrived on Ingris, a colonized planet, in pursuit of an endless energy source.
The beings from other dimensions exhibit vast diversity in appearance. Some resemble humans with gray skin, while others are monstrous creatures adorned with massive, radiant claws. There are also sleek and streamlined robots and bulky, rustic ones. A few take the form of humanoid lizards, whereas others are orbiting orbs that unleash bolts of lightning. The Vulgus does not adhere to a singular aesthetic; their disparity is boundless. Their names reflect this heterogeneity, ranging from commonplace Greg to the otherworldly Alzaroke.
As a long-time fan of immersive RPG games, I’ve spent countless hours exploring intricately crafted worlds and getting lost in captivating stories. But my recent foray into “The First Descendant” left me feeling more like a disappointed spectator than an engaged player.
In this game, battles are fast-paced and engaging. You’ll encounter various types of weapons such as assault rifles, snipers, and shotguns, which pack a punch against most enemies. However, fighting certain foes can feel less rewarding due to their high resistance to bullets. The thrill of watching numbers rise as you shoot an enemy is still present, adding to the satisfaction. Each character comes equipped with a grappling hook that allows for swift movement throughout the environment and pulling yourself towards adversaries.
Luckily, every Descendant and their distinct skills make the game experience unique with a total of 14 playable characters. Five of these characters have stronger Ultimate versions. At the outset of the game, you get to select one of three initial Descendants. Later on, you can acquire or buy the remaining ones if desired.
As a gamer, I’ve discovered that each Descendant in this game comes equipped with four active skills and one passive ability, all operating on cooldowns. I began my journey with Viessa, who specializes in icy assaults to inflict damage and immobilize foes. She gets the job done, but she falls short compared to Bunny, the first new character I’ve unlocked. Bunny embodies the game’s agility and power with her swift movements and electrifying attacks. The faster she darts around, the more electrical energy she collects, which can be unleashed in powerful shockwaves. In full sprint, you become a moving area-of-effect attack, weaving in and out of enemy formations while electrifying them to their doom. It’s an exhilarating experience, especially when paired with an SMG or shotgun. However, I can’t help but feel that each Descendant could benefit from more synergy between their abilities.
As someone who has spent countless hours immersed in this game world, I can tell you from my personal experience that while it’s possible to complete each mission solo, the cooperative aspect adds a depth and excitement that is truly essential, especially during the more challenging missions. Now don’t get me wrong, having the ability to call all the shots and play at your own pace can be quite satisfying. However, when it comes to the later levels, having teammates by your side makes all the difference.
The First Descendant’s positive aspects are soon overshadowed by its outdated mission design and laborious progression. In the game, you travel to different places and carry out a series of brief tasks in an open environment before advancing to a more confined, maze-like operation. These assignments involve repetitive objectives that mainly entail eliminating enemies and interacting with objects such as hacking or defending. The monotony sets in quickly, only to be prolonged throughout the game’s 35 hours and beyond, as the endgame also requires the repeated completion of these same tasks.
I’ve spent countless hours playing this game, but lately, I feel like I’m stuck in a monotonous loop. Every mission feels the same – standing in one place and shooting endless waves of enemies that come at you in a predictable pattern. It’s not just tedious, it’s suffocating, like being trapped in a small circle with no room to breathe or move.
In simpler terms, progressing through missions in The First Descendant sees only slight improvements, as most still feature monotonous objectives. What’s more frustrating is that the bosses at the end of each mission follow an identical script. Initially, they have a health bar which can be depleted. However, once this is exhausted, they become invulnerable, guarded by floating orbs. To damage their health bar again, these orbs must be destroyed, sometimes in a particular sequence and other times all at once. Although novel the first time, this becomes a repetitive task for approximately 95% of the bosses encountered. Additionally, many share identical attack patterns or simply stand still and attack, making these battles an unwelcome and exhausting aspect of The First Descendant’s gameplay.
Despite the numerous challenges I’ve encountered in the game, my frustration level has escalated due to its method of advancement. To access new Descendants and exclusive ultimate weapons, I must collect a substantial amount of materials first. In the middle of the game, I was assigned a side quest to introduce a fresh character named Freyna. This mission required me to complete three distinct missions with the hope of obtaining three specific materials as rewards. I spent nearly an hour replaying the same short two-minute level repeatedly in my attempt to obtain one of these items, which dropped only 20% of the time. Later on, I repeated a separate Operation multiple times, investing over an hour in this endeavor, anxiously waiting for the material I required to appear.
I’ve been putting in the effort, slogging through repetitive missions time and again. But what kept me going was the promise of a new character to add to my roster. However, the excitement was short-lived as I found out I had to wait an agonizing 16 hours before I could even use them. This tedious experience left me feeling drained and unmotivated.
At The First Descendant’s shop, you’ll find an abundance of items for sale with real money. A separate tab is labeled “Convenience,” filled with options to quicken the game’s progress, such as speeding up timers or unlocking more mod slots that enhance your character’s power. Each Descendant you purchase comes at a varying cost, surpassing the in-game currency limit, encouraging additional payments. The Ultimate version of a Descendant, boasting advanced stats, added mod slots, stronger abilities, and multiple skins, typically costs approximately $104.
Playing the game is the key to unlocking Ultimate Descendants, but be prepared for dismal drop rates below 3% on essential materials. This is an exorbitant hurdle, especially considering the game offers a premium battle pass and employs questionable tactics such as limiting single-use armor dye to one item. Although it’s not a competitive shooter, players who circumvent the grind can create an unfair balance during Operations. Powerful speed-based characters can effortlessly breeze through linear levels, leaving other players with no enemies to engage. The entire game is engineered to entice you into spending your earned money. A $10 Descendant becomes a tempting solution when the alternative is a soul-crushing and monotonous experience.
The First Descendant provides some enjoyable moments, yet its action is frequently hindered by tedious mission structures and an unappealing free-to-play monetization system. Its primary goal seems to be to annoy players and push them towards a lengthy storefront, which offers relief from the monotony but delivers more of the same. Unfortunately, there’s nothing appealing about The First Descendant’s exploitative business model; it comes across as a game developed in a corporate boardroom, with every design decision prioritized for maximum profit over player experience. I wouldn’t advise anyone to play this disappointing title.
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2024-07-19 21:39