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. Nevertheless, it’s the unknown variables, like Palworld, which have change into world sensations regardless of a a lot decrease price range. You even have comparatively under-hyped follow-ups like Helldivers 2 happening to promote tens of millions and breaking all preconceived notions about live-service titles.
Although the widespread 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.
Obtainable for Xbox, PlayStation and PC, the previous Undertaking Magnum was first introduced in 2021. A reputation change and a few closed beta assessments 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 Closing Form, which was near beating its all-time concurrent participant document on Steam earlier than server points derailed it. Even then, it acquired near-universal acclaim from critics and followers. It appeared The First Descendant could 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 document of 264,860 on July seventh. That is extra than simply the advantages of a nationwide vacation or the weekend – prior to now 24 hours, it peaked at 215,572 gamers on Steam right now. Participant numbers will probably drop after the primary month, however week-to-week, they’re nonetheless going sturdy, in contrast to looters with extra mainstream IPs, like Marvel’s Avengers or Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
When you’ve seen my assessment, the place I criticized the mission design, story-telling and characters, you’d know that The First Descendant has some flaws. The one redeeming side of the entire ordeal – the gameplay – pales compared to the highest canines 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 could 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 general extra optimistic tackle its model of looting and taking pictures. Nevertheless, The First Descendant has a “Blended” ranking with solely 51 p.c optimistic out of its 40,978 evaluations. Almost down the center, as combined as combined could be. The damaging 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’ll be able to have in a recreation, nevertheless it’s not the very best. It’s simply painfully mid throughout the board,” says one assessment. One other calls it “closely monetized and dealt with by a grasping writer with shady practices.” They nonetheless consider 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 satisfying with a “well-implemented mixture of Warframe and Future parts”, feels the grind and microtransactions have to 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 widespread?
As somebody who loved every kind of loot-based video games over the previous decade, it’s probably a mixture of things. When you’re somebody who binged Future 2, Warframe or another looter shooter prior to now month or so, it could possibly really feel like a reset – a recent begin. Not too recent, although – it has simply the correct amount 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 could be snappy and the facility fantasy considerably endearing, whether or not it’s working round as Bunny and electrocuting enemies or dealing dying 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 accomplished nicely to emulate, given their $70 value tags (and no, reductions months after launch aren’t the identical).
Is it only a part? Will participant numbers plummet like each different looter shooter as soon as gamers have their fill of the grind? It’s onerous to foretell, however I consider The First Descendant will keep an viewers, whether or not it’s the present numbers or tens of hundreds 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 (conform to disagree on the standard), nevertheless 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.
In fact, 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 way more content material directly and advance the principle story (reminiscent of 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 finally inform, however producer Beomjun Lee outright stated 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 discuss, however I consider there’s some sincerity within the growth group committing to long-term help. Perhaps others really feel the identical manner and take a look at the sport’s intensive content material and high-quality visuals as an indication of that dedication.
In some methods, you may consider it as equal to how Warframe and Future first began. Have been they probably the most polished and satisfying experiences? No. Did they’ve repetitive missions and woeful loot methods? In fact. Did they amass devoted fan bases who watched them develop over time and rework into some actually good-to-great titles? Sure, nevertheless it took time, help and some huge cash.
Nobody can assure that The First Descendant will comply with the identical path, but when Nexon can proceed to nurture its viewers, it might go from an uncommon upstart to a correct alternative amongst looter shooter followers. Within the meantime, nevertheless, it has a protracted approach to go.
Notice: The views expressed on this article are these of the writer and don’t essentially symbolize the views of, and shouldn’t be attributed to, GamingBolt as a company.
