A good free-to-play action shooter is always on my radar, even if I'm reviewing a dozen other titles at a given time. However, when you're as much of a looker as The First Descendant, then you really have my attention. Showcasing the power of Unreal Engine 5, Nexon Games' upcoming third-person looter shooter has a lot to show for itself in The First Descendant.
Rather than starting from scratch and having to sit through tutorial after tutorial, Nexon Games' opened our session with a brief pitch deck on the general systems and overall vibe of The First Descendant before letting us run free in the open environments. With a wide list of characters unlocked to play through, I opted for the Ultimate variant of one of the fourteen available characters: Ultimate Bunny. With a thigh gap that even the Evergreen could pass through and more skin than Metal Gear Solid V's Quiet, I went with the most photogenic character on the roster. The fact that she came with chain lightning abilities and multiple sniper weapons was just the icing on the peach cake.
In talking with one of my colleagues that also demo'd The First Descendant, they didn't quite understand where to go after being set free in the demo. Truth be told, in the span of 30 minutes, I didn't really have the freedom to explore the hub city and get my bearings straight. Instead, I popped out to the minimap, got a good look at the nine available regions, and then jumped straight into some Void Intercept Battles. Here, instead of learning about the game through tutorial after tutorial, I took my level 40 Ultimate Bunny and challenged a level 34 Executioner Colossus. If I had the foresight, I probably would have picked an enemy that didn't have electric attribute resistance, but it was still a good place to grasp the combat.
The First Descendant is a very mobile type of third-person shooter. Staying grounded in one spot and even strafing from side to side won't prevent players from catching a stray bullet to the face. Instead, adding in jumps and a sleek grappling hook helps the player bounce around the battlefield and circle to the backside of an oversized boss and escape attacks coming their way. Having the grappling hook set to the middle mouse button took some getting used to, but with a very short cooldown and a generous range, I could unload a full clip into the boss' weak point, grapple onto a nearby pillar, and hide behind it as cover while I reload. The first Void Intercept battle lasted barely more than a minute even as a first-time player but it certainly helped that I had a sniper rifle that could hit for over 250k damage and killed the boss before I even needed to reload the five-round magazine. All character abilities are cooldown-driven, so there are no extra resources to juggle beyond just having enough bullets on hand. Fodder enemies will occasionally show up in combat, acting as loot pinatas that burst open with recovery items and spare ammo.
Gunplay is quick and snappy in The First Descendant and would be the main draw as a casual non-IAP, or truly free-to-play, player. Nexon granted us level 100 gear that would far exceed what the common player would have access to for hours in the game and the power difference was quite noticeable as the second Void Intercept, a level 54 Devourer, took a bit longer (almost three minutes) to down but without having to break a sweat or even retreat to recover health and shields. That fight took longer simply for the shield mechanics on the boss where I had to seek down these green bubble-covered nodes and destroy them to remove the boss' shielding. I do enjoy when bosses implement new mechanics beyond simply being a bullet sponge and at least this was a challenge to break away from the DPS phase and do something different in the fight. My third Void Intercept was against a level 118 Swamp Walker which kept summoning a bunch of adds and despite my best attempts, couldn't even break its shielding before the 10-minute quest timer elapsed.
For the second portion of my gameplay session, I picked one of the playable regions at random and delved into the arctic region, thinking it to be a good change of pace from the boss arenas although my bunny girl was quite underdressed for the occasion. I had just enough time to eke out a zone recon mission and jump into a few shootouts for loot and glory before my session came to an end. One thing that I'll have to give Nexon praise for is continuing the trend of implementing Korean vocal tracks into your open world exploration. It's a thing I thoroughly enjoyed in Stellar Blade, and I earnestly want the trend to continue.
The First Descendant has had its share of beta test phases and hands-on opportunities but this was one of the last events that Nexon will be showing off the title ahead of its launch next month. Officially launching on July 2nd, 2024, The First Descendant will be available across PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S|X, and PC (Steam).
