We recently dove back into the latest beta of The First Descendant, a third-person looter shooter set in a sci-fi universe. Scheduled for release on July 2, 2024, this version allowed us to rediscover the title in two different ways: starting with a level 1 character for natural progression, and exploring a mode where we choose from a hero already level 40 We tested these two approaches and here are our new impressions.
A jagged narrative
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During this beta, Explorer The First Descendant presented us with a challenge: immersing ourselves in a scenario that struggles to captivate. Despite a few cutscenes and initiations that introduce the main antagonist and the general context, the game world fails to arouse real interest once you dive into the heart of the action. As in titles such as Destiny, Anthem or Outriders, The First Descendant frequently brings us back to a central hub.
This central hub is full of various services: merchants, upgrade options, a mail system and even a skin store. This is also where the main quests start. However, despite their name, these quests are often just pretexts to send us to clean up different regions of the game. The construction of the universe is strongly reminiscent of that of Destiny and Outriders: from the start, routine sets in, it you have to rush to quest points and systematically eliminate enemies, without any real context. This pattern repeats itself over and over again every time we return to the hub, with a new destination and similar quests.
We could keep the hope that the other zones will bring more variety and that the scenario will expand, but, in the state of this early access, this is not the case. So we can't ignore the current gameplay loop. Although dungeons are accessible quite early, the structure of the game seems somewhat outdated, reminiscent of game mechanics from a decade ago. Quests often boil down to a series of tasks with no real narrative thread: eliminate hordes of enemies, defend a point for a set time or transport objects from point A to point B. But is that not the case? Isn’t that what we expect from a looter shooter? Face enemies in waves to level up and find better equipment?
Compared to our previous hands-on this summer, the difficulty has increased slightly, but no real surprises. Whether playing solo or co-op, it's easy to traverse the battlefields. The majority of enemies are easy targets, with a few tougher opponents using area attacks that require dodging or positioning strategies to defeat. However, this technical and strategic dimension quickly fades due to the overall ease of the game. We're counting on the fact that this is a beta to justify the almost non-existent challenge being specific to Early Access.
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Gameplay driven by its characters
When it comes to gameplay, the experience remains undeniably satisfying and fluid in The First Descendant. In true Outriders fashion, the game offers a range of skills to use alongside an arsenal of weapons collected from the field. Although the visual effects sometimes lack dynamism, the abilities are varied and adapted to each Descendant. Our testing revealed a nice balance between solo and co-op skills.
One of the strong points of The First Descendant then lies in the team synergy well thought out by the developers, thus highlighting the importance of this aspect. As with all Free to Play, the game offers a well-stocked store from this beta, providing skins for each hero, variations for weapons and various customization options at sometimes high prices.
The sensations of the controller in hand are quite respectable: the interaction between our actions, the sound design and the animation effects is well done. In addition, the addition of a grappling hook enriches the exploration and movement phases. The level design effectively exploits verticality, even during combat, to bring diversity and intensity to the clashes.
Regarding the characters, unlocking them requires prior “Research” for each, requiring various materials. It is still too early to assess the required farming time, but the question of fairness in this process naturally arises, given the game's economic model.
Confusing menus and correct technique
As we explored The First Descendant again, one major problem quickly emerged: the confusion caused by an overabundance of menus. Between the inventory, weapon mods, Descendant mods, the many resources, and the interfaces of the various merchants and services, navigation quickly becomes chaotic. While a few tutorials are available, they fail to compensate for the overall lack of ergonomics of the user experience.
On a technical level, the game looks decent visually at mid-range, but it's far from uniformly good-looking. Environments, colors, framerate stability, and resolution are generally consistent, but their quality varies greatly depending on the situation. Resolution drops at close range and artificial lighting effects are common to maintain performance, sometimes at the expense of immersion. Despite this, we note a clear improvement compared to our first session in September, the state of which was more worrying.
Additionally, the game world is remarkably empty. Although a few enemy patrols are present sporadically, the whole lacks animation, including in the hubs and teleportation points. Public activities aren't much more exciting than “Fedex” type quests. In summary, the experience is strongly reminiscent of the launch of a certain Destiny 1, released in 2014…
The First Descendant therefore struggles to fully convince us, despite good gameplay ideas with the different Descendants. Unfortunately, these ideas are not reflected in the quests and activities that we were able to test during the beta. This new looter shooter offers a very conventional approach to the genre and lacks its own personality. Being Free to Play, like Destiny 2 or Warframe, the game can be tried for free from July 2. We encourage you to form your own opinion, hoping that many improvements and adjustments will be made between now and the official release.
Tested on Xbox Series