It’s been a wild yr for gaming. Sequels like Tekken 8, Dragon’s Dogma 2 and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth have earned their share of success and deservedly so, with distinctive quantities of promoting and hype behind them. Nonetheless, it’s the unknown variables, like Palworld, which have turn into international sensations regardless of a a lot decrease funds. You even have comparatively under-hyped follow-ups like Helldivers 2 occurring to promote thousands and thousands and breaking all preconceived notions about live-service titles.
Although the frequent theme is that looter shooters wouldn’t carry out nicely and the market is saturated – see Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and Cranium and Bones – it’s not essentially the rule. Nexon’s The First Descendant launched just lately, and seemingly in opposition to all odds, it’s maintained a reasonably wholesome participant base.
Accessible for Xbox, PlayStation and PC, the previous Undertaking Magnum was first introduced in 2021. A reputation change and a few closed beta exams apart, it didn’t have fairly the extent of hype that some looter shooters, good or unhealthy, have seen. Look no additional than Future 2: The Last Form, which was near beating its all-time concurrent participant report on Steam earlier than server points derailed it. Even then, it acquired near-universal acclaim from critics and followers. It appeared The First Descendant can be doomed, arriving roughly a month after, particularly for the reason that advertising cycle started a lot nearer to its launch.
Nonetheless, it peaked at a whopping 229,257 gamers on Steam at launch, beat that on July 4th with 239,494 gamers and achieved a brand new lifetime concurrent report of 264,860 on July seventh. That is extra than simply the advantages of a nationwide vacation or the weekend – previously 24 hours, it peaked at 215,572 gamers on Steam at the moment. Participant numbers will probably drop after the primary month, however week-to-week, they’re nonetheless going robust, not like looters with extra mainstream IPs, like Marvel’s Avengers or Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
If you happen to’ve seen my evaluation, the place I criticized the mission design, story-telling and characters, you’d know that The First Descendant has some flaws. The one redeeming facet of the entire ordeal – the gameplay – pales compared to the highest canine of the style, whether or not it’s Future 2’s gunplay and energy fantasy or Warframe’s melee fight and mobility. Certain, the weapon and Descendant customization are strong, however these are methods lifted straight from Warframe. It will be a travesty in the event that they weren’t.
Based mostly on these participant numbers, you’d assume that these on Steam have an total extra optimistic tackle its model of looting and taking pictures. Nonetheless, The First Descendant has a “Combined” score with solely 51 p.c optimistic out of its 40,978 evaluations. Practically down the center, as combined as combined might be. The unfavourable evaluations criticize monetization, abysmal drop charges, repetitive missions, optimization points (freezing appears the most typical) and extra.
But the optimistic ones aren’t shying away from its flaws both. “It’s undoubtedly not the worst expertise you may have in a recreation, however it’s not the perfect. It’s simply painfully mid throughout the board,” says one evaluation. One other calls it “closely monetized and dealt with by a grasping writer with shady practices.” They nonetheless imagine it’s a “good change of surroundings if you happen to’re from Warframe,” however that one ought to keep away from investing any cash. One of many extra optimistic evaluations, who discovered the title pleasing with a “well-implemented mixture of Warframe and Future components”, feels the grind and microtransactions should be toned down.
The unofficial subreddit is an identical mixture of complaints and reward, alongside the reposted, “Does anyone else the one Ajax in a sea of Bunny gamers?” meme. The complaints are beginning to construct up extra, however there was a good quantity of positivity over the weekend. It nonetheless doesn’t reply the query: Why is The First Descendant so well-liked?
As somebody who loved every kind of loot-based video games over the previous decade, it’s probably a mix of things. If you happen to’re somebody who binged Future 2, Warframe or every other looter shooter previously month or so, it could really feel like a reset – a contemporary begin. Not too contemporary, although – it has simply the correct quantity of familiarity with its methods and customization to make sure some gamers aren’t misplaced. As a lot as I and lots of others lament its points, that fixed suggestions loop of discovering higher loot, upgrading your character and discovering new issues to craft could be very a lot current.
For a lot of gamers, that’s greater than sufficient, particularly if you happen to give them sufficient freedom to customise their builds. It additionally doesn’t damage that the gunplay might be snappy and the facility fantasy considerably endearing, whether or not it’s working round as Bunny and electrocuting enemies or dealing loss of life from above as Kyle. You additionally shouldn’t underestimate the enchantment of a repetitive gameplay loop, particularly when there’s a lot to grind. The truth that the expertise is free-to-play additionally successfully removes any barrier of entry – one thing Suicide Squad and Cranium and Bones would have finished nicely to emulate, given their $70 value tags (and no, reductions months after launch aren’t the identical).
Is it only a section? Will participant numbers plummet like each different looter shooter as soon as gamers have their fill of the grind? It’s exhausting to foretell, however I imagine The First Descendant will preserve an viewers, whether or not it’s the present numbers or tens of 1000’s of devoted gamers who log in with out fail. That’s as a result of Nexon understands the opposite a part of a live-service title’s lifecycle – content material. Not solely has it shipped The First Descendant with an in depth quantity (comply with disagree on the standard), however it’s additionally outlined a reasonably packed roadmap that seemingly offers extra of what gamers need.
A brand new Descendant, Colossus, Final Weapon and Final Descendant are already set to debut in August. Season 1 will kick off later in the identical month, every season lasting three months and providing a big content material replace in every. New Descendant Tales, weapons, skins, Final Descendants, dungeons, seasonal development and a brand new Mega Dungeon are en route to maintain gamers grinding away.
After all, whereas common new content material is nice, there are different challenges. What occurs if gamers tire of the present seasonal mannequin? Will Nexon drop any main paid expansions that add rather more content material without delay and advance the principle story (corresponding to it’s), like Future 2? Will we see the identical sorts of content material, or is there extra experimental stuff within the works? How will the writer’s traditionally annoying greed issue into the monetization? Is the post-launch content material cycle merely an excuse to cram extra microtransactions into the sport (Final Descendants however)?
Time will in the end inform, however producer Beomjun Lee outright mentioned within the recreation’s Dev Launch Showcase that it started “with the purpose of making a live-service recreation that gamers will love for a very long time.” Name it advertising speak, however I imagine there’s some sincerity within the improvement workforce committing to long-term assist. Perhaps others really feel the identical method and have a look at the sport’s intensive content material and high-quality visuals as an indication of that dedication.
In some methods, you can consider it as equal to how Warframe and Future first began. Had been they probably the most polished and pleasing experiences? No. Did they’ve repetitive missions and woeful loot methods? After all. Did they amass devoted fan bases who watched them develop over time and remodel into some really good-to-great titles? Sure, however it took time, assist and some huge cash.
Nobody can assure that The First Descendant will observe the identical path, but when Nexon can proceed to nurture its viewers, it may go from an uncommon upstart to a correct selection amongst looter shooter followers. Within the meantime, nonetheless, it has an extended technique to go.
Be aware: The views expressed on this article are these of the writer and don’t essentially signify the views of, and shouldn’t be attributed to, GamingBolt as a company.
