One month in the past, I used to be sitting in a gathering room at Summer time Sport Fest about to go hands-on with The First Descendant. I used to be desirous to see how Nexon’s multiplayer looter shooter would shake up an area dominated by Warframe and Future 2. Earlier than I might begin, I used to be proven an extended video presentation breaking down how the sport works in exhaustive element. I used to be immediately misplaced; it felt like I used to be studying gibberish. That confusion didn’t clear up after I was tossed right into a hub with no route and needed to be shepherded right into a dungeon by a close-by PR particular person like a misplaced sheep.
I got here away from that have appreciating its sharp capturing and character-driven gameplay, however felt like I’d must see the sport in context to actually get it. I wished to know extra concerning the world and its characters. I wished to construct a Descendant from the bottom up as an alternative of getting thrown right into a hub. It felt like I used to be doing it a disservice by judging it primarily based on a high-level exercise that I couldn’t probably hope to grasp.
After lastly attending to play proper from the beginning, I now understand that I had gotten a reasonably correct slice of the total sport in spite of everything. The First Descendant is an inscrutable looter shooter that also doesn’t make a lick of sense to me a number of hours in. My mistake was that I used to be making an attempt to place an oz of vital thought in whereas I performed. In actuality, I’d must nearly shut my complete mind off to take pleasure in it.
Tune in and tune out
You’ve in all probability heard somebody say — and even stated your self — that they need to flip their mind off once they watch a film or play a sport. It’s a standard chorus for individuals who see blockbusters as nothing greater than mild escapism that may entertain for just a few hours. I’ve by no means associated to that sentiment. Even essentially the most bombastic motion film can nonetheless be an enriching expertise that sticks with me. Why would I need to waste my valuable time on this Earth simply flashy noise that can go in a single ear and out the opposite?
Nonetheless, I can perceive the need for that sort of expertise. Life is difficult and explosions are cool. Why not escape a horrific information cycle every so often and go comatose? For many who actively need that have, I’ve nice information: The First Descendant doesn’t require gamers to make use of a single mind cell. In reality, it’s higher in case you don’t.
After I load in, I’m shortly hit with a barrage of nonsense. I’m not going to try to clarify the narrative setup. After taking part in for just a few days, I don’t perceive a single phrase of it. Charisma vacuum NPCs spend numerous time monologuing about lore, however none of it sticks. I stare at my display slack-jawed as correct nouns are flung out at me. I’m thrown into the deep finish from minute one and I by no means submerge. After a gap tutorial, I’m tossed into an MMO hub full of quest markers I don’t perceive. I open a menu display to see partitions of textual content and numbers. There isn’t a hope for me.
I’m satisfied that developer Nexon understands how borderline nonsensical all of it is, as a result of it doesn’t waste time in getting me into the motion. I load onto a planet and begin following a colourful quest marker like a bull charging at a pink fabric on intuition. A mission prompts proper on the earth. Instantly, I’m capturing a bunch of aliens. I don’t know what they’re or why I’m doing it. I simply shoot them till I’m informed the mission is completed. Different missions ask me to face round an unexplained machine for some time and fend off aliens. I do not know if these missions are associated to the story in any means, as a result of I do not know what the story is. All that issues is that I’m capturing aliens with a gun.
To The First Descendant‘s credit score, that capturing is actually tight. Every gun feels prefer it has actual weight after I pull the set off (the PlayStation 5’s DualSense actually sells the feeling). I really feel a way of energy as I mow down waves of enemies. There’s additionally some wonderful sound design right here to emphasise every shot, making my bullets really feel actually lethal. It’s not fairly as sharp as Future 2, however I shortly sink into the movement. Earlier than I do know it, I’m activating extra missions simply so I can hold emptying my clip.
A sure attraction
There are different gameplay items right here that examine the suitable containers. I’ve a grappling hook, which lets me swing as much as ledges like I can in Halo Infinite. I’ve a set of character-sspecific talents to deepen the motion, à la Overwatch. I begin by taking part in as Ajax, a beefy tank who can drop shields and smash down on enemies like considered one of Future 2‘s Titans. All of the whereas, I’m getting increasingly more weapons that I can experiment with. After I energy my mind completely off, all of it feels nice. At one level, I understand that my jaw is actually hanging open. It’s like I’ve misplaced all management of my physique for a second and dropped right into a blissful state of nonexistence; I’m functionally useless.
Anytime I attempt to spring again to life, it poses a critical menace to my enjoyment. I’m utterly overwhelmed by the quantity of loot I can equip without delay, most of which raises a stat I don’t perceive by a meaningless quantity. I can actually get nitty-gritty with my character construct, equipping a number of mods on particular person weapons. As a substitute, I simply seize no matter is in my stock and fasten it to no matter’s outfitted with out even it. I don’t discover a distinction after I begin capturing once more, so it hardly looks like I would like to consider it way more. One other menu offers me an unlimited record of stats which are on no account tangible and even legible. None of it issues. So long as the numbers are large, I’m meant to really feel like I’m doing job.
I get that attraction. I used to be a Future participant for a number of years, even through the narratively hole moments of its unique marketing campaign. There’s a thrill that comes from watching numbers go up as I equip new gear. I’ve seen loads of individuals loving their time with The First Descendant to date, whether or not they’re simply having fun with its capturing or ogling its characters (search the sport on X and also you’ll discover numerous very bizarre posts). There’s clearly a primal pleasure right here that’s resonating with a sure sort of participant. I can nearly really feel it as I sit on my sofa and disassociate whereas my rumbling DualSense controller offers me constructive reinforcement. I’m a canine pawing for treats.
At first, it was my intention to write down a full overview of The First Descendant. I don’t suppose I can try this in good religion. A overview would require me to place some vital thought into my playtime and take into consideration what the work goals to speak and the way effectively it accomplishes that. It could additionally require me to commerce in numerous hours of my valuable life when all I actually need to do is play for half-hour right here and there after I must expertise time journey. Certain, I might energy my mind again up and let you know how its lack of coherent story sucks any motivation out of it, criticize its unbelievably egregious microtransactions, or evaluate it to the myriad of video games its taking notes from to scientifically engineer a “enjoyable” looter shooter. However sooner or later, that seems like overkill. Reviewing The First Descendant can be like reviewing a fidget spinner. It spins. What extra do you need to know?
So in case you’re the sort of one who maintains that artwork ought to require no brainpower, please be happy to reap what you’ve sown right here. The First Descendant is the final word conclusion of that line of considering: an IV bag that dribbles out a constant dose of morphine. I’m not going to evaluate anybody for hooking it as much as their arm; all of us want one thing to get us by means of this life.
The First Descendant is out now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Sequence X/S, and PC.