Taking to Twitter, Nexon has revealed that The First Descendant was played by over 10 million players within just its first week. “Thank you for all your tremendous support and love. It means everything to us,” the company wrote. “We will do our best to bring you great experiences. Can’t wait to continue this journey together!”

Nexon recently released a new hotfix for The First Descendant, adding matchmaking to Infiltration Operations on Hard mode, in addition to other tweaks and improvements. Read more on that through here.

In our review of the game, we gave it a score of 5/10, saying, “On the surface, The First Descendant feels like an unoriginal but otherwise competently put-together looter shooter. Dig deeper, and its flaws, from the mission design and the story to the awful monetization, become more apparent.” Read the full review through here.

The First Descendant is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

🎉 10 Million Descendants! 🎉

We’ve reached 10 million Descendants in just 7 days!
Thank you all for your tremendous support and love. It means everything to us.
We will do our best to bring you great experiences. Can’t wait to continue this journey together! pic.twitter.com/SsvcelMTsh

— The First Descendant (@FirstDescendant) July 12, 2024

Performance Issues on PC

When I played The First Descendant on PS5, there was some heavy frame rate stuttering in the first Battlefield. It would have been game-breaking if persistent throughout the experience, but subsequent regions were much better. PC performance is a completely different matter, with reports of freezes, frame rate drops, crashes and more, even for those with powerful rigs. Further fixes will undoubtedly roll out to improve the same, but right now, it’s far from the ideal way to play for some (which is a shame because the visual fidelity is pretty high).

Enemy AI

I’ve had my share of baffling fights with the enemy AI and can confirm how utterly terrible it is at times. Grapple to a high enough location, and they seem incapable of responding when they’re not blindingly running in, trying to leap up to you. On the other hand, there have been plenty of encounters where they simply don’t miss and nail every shot like a washed MLG pro. It’s almost early Redfall-esque in how wildly it swings, making for an annoying experience. I’m not expecting Half-Life-style Marine Grunts in terms of intelligence but at this point, they would probably make for a more balanced affair.

Bullet Sponge Enemies

Scaling difficulty in any looter game is challenging, especially when you must account for characters and weapons that deal tens of thousands of DPS. Nevertheless, the higher difficulties that turn enemies into damage sponges feel like they could be toned down a bit. Even if this is a sci-fi post-apocalyptic title, the power fantasy is somewhat dulled when your enemies can soak up so much damage and keep going. It’s a balancing act, so we’ll see how Nexon approaches this with future updates, but hopefully, it emphasizes more tactical enemies and mechanics over cranking enemy health up.

Lack of Movement Options

Once you’ve played Warframe and experienced bullet-jumping, it’s hard going back to your average looter shooter. However, every game has its share of traversal mechanics that feed into the overall loop. Destiny 2 has Eager Edge swords, mid-air dashes, grapples, slides, dodges, crouching, double and triple-jumping, you name it. The Division 2 lets you tactfully shift from one piece of cover to another (sometimes slide) and vault over cover to fit its more grounded combat.

The First Descendant has running, jumping and grappling – that’s it. No crouching or sliding. Some Descendants, like Kyle, have movement options tied to their Overkill while Bunny can increase her sprinting speed with an ability but that’s it. Long story short, more movement options, please.

Descendant Instructor’s Text Speed

Imagine, for a moment, that you’re not a Warframe veteran or completely new to looter shooters in general. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a character that could explain the game’s systems and mechanics, like why dismantling a Reactor is ideal and useful? Fortunately, Nexon thought of such a character in the Descendant Instructor.

Unfortunately, they forgot to regulate his text speed, and he has a lot to say. Imagine reading entire swathes of information in just three seconds, never mind processing it. No confirm button or anything to indicate you’ve understood. This is one issue I can see getting hotfixed soon (like Hard Mode dungeon matchmaking), but even in the game’s relatively short life cycle, it’s still irritating.

Body-Blocking Allies

Who doesn’t love body-blocking in a PvE-focused game, especially when your allies hinder your movement? Imagine playing a character like, say, Bunny, who has running around and slaughtering mobs built into her kit. Wouldn’t it be funny to try doing this while your allies constantly get in your way? Imagine playing as Sharen and going invisible, only to have others collide with you en route to executing an enemy. It’d be one thing if they blocked your shots, but these movement hindrances are no good.

Level Design

I wasn’t a big fan of the gameplay loop for story missions, and a lot of it was due to the level design. You may run into some light platforming or have the ability to grapple to different places, but for the most part, many of the levels feel uninteresting. It’s not the worst problem for Battlefields, though it certainly doesn’t compel me to want to explore them. However, the instance dungeons, which make up the actual story missions, all feel monotonous and dull – it’s a simple run from point A to B to C, much like the old Destiny 1 strikes. Some of the Colossus fights take terrain into account, especially when you have to platform to avoid some attacks, but they’re even more visually dull.

Repetitive Quests

It also doesn’t help that many of the quests feel repetitive. The dungeons don’t have any deeper mechanics – many of the bosses boil down to shooting them continuously and then shooting whatever defense mechanisms to continue whittling away at their health.

Most activities on the field are similarly dull – you can choose to kill waves of enemies during a Void Fragment, kill waves of enemies while hacking three objectives, kill waves of enemies while attacking three points, kill waves of enemies while escorting a drone and kill waves of enemies while defending something. Looter shooters do have that “turn your brain off appeal” but surely there can be some more variety than this (and no, the horrendous Encrypted Vault mini-game doesn’t count).

Lack of Interesting Skills

In a looter shooter with multiple characters, it helps to have distinctive kits. Bunny is cited as one of the better Descendants, especially early in the game since her charge meter and electric aura encourage running around. Being able to dispel that energy into a powerful blast, let alone increase the damage on her aura, is great. However, that’s the extent of her complexity, and many other Descendants follow the same routine.

Except for Lepic, of course, whose modus operandi boils down to “Throw a grenade, increase skill power and add burn effect, then throw a different grenade.” Or the barriers for Ajax and Kyle – the former is stationary and can deal damage back to enemies when upgraded, while the latter can be moved around. Character-specific Transcendent Modules do alleviate this to a decent extent. However, it would be nice if the base kits offered more variety or the Modules encouraged more experimentation a la Warframe.

Lack of Free Premium Currency

Imagine an in-game store where everything is tied to premium currency (aka, Caliber). Wouldn’t it be nice for those who are free-to-play to earn some of that while playing the game? You could argue that this is how The First Descendant makes its money and how necessary the microtransactions are, but having a smidge of Caliber, perhaps to obtain more paint options due to the ridiculousness of the current system, won’t break the bank. For that matter, neither will adding Caliber to the free track of the Battle Pass while increasing the amount obtained from the Premium track.

It further acknowledged the current monotony of Named Monsters and will look to add more unique traits “soon.” Encrypted Vaults also dole out increased Rare basic materials, which can now drop from Elite Vulgus in Field Missions and Infiltration Operations. The duration of messages for party invites is also improved.

However, the most welcome change is the Descendant Instructor’s lines having increased duration. Though there isn’t an option to revisit previous dialogue, the development team is working to address this. Check out some of the patch notes below, including improvements to optimization like reducing CPU load when shaders are generated (though you’ll have to generate shaders again as a result).

The First Descendant is available for Xbox One, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. Check out our review here.

The First Descendant Hotfix 1.0.2

Content Improvements

• Added the ‘Start Public Operation’ function (matchmaking) to Infiltration Operations (Hard). ‘Start Public Operation’ is available even if you change the selected reward, but if you select an additional option, only ‘Start Private Operation’ will be available.
• Removed the sequential type Immunity Spheres from Named Monsters. They have been changed to either the default or extermination types.

# Director’s Comment

The Dev Team acknowledges the community’s concern about the monotonous patterns of Named Monsters and strives to enhance them.

In particular, we’ve noted that the pattern involving breaking spheres in a specific order isn’t appropriate for public matching and have decided to remove it immediately.

As new patterns are developed, we will soon update the patterns of existing Named Monsters one by one.

As Named Monsters frequently appear in Hard difficulty and Special Operations, we will continue working towards diversifying their patterns.

• Increased the quantity of rare basic materials dropped from Encrypted Vaults three-fold. The Elite Vulgus that appear in Field Missions and Infiltration Operations will now drop them too.

# Director’s Comment

The most efficient way to farm rare basic materials is still through Encrypted Vaults, but for those who prefer hunting monsters, we have updated Field Missions and Infiltration Operations to drop these materials too.

The Dev Team will closely monitor the overall farming status and do our best to create a joyful environment for all our Descendants.

• Reduced the time from two 90-second to two 60-second occupations for the Kingston ‘Vulgus Data Transmitter’ Hacking Mission.
• Improved the Battle Pass Battle Supply Shop button’s visibility by redesigning it in the format of the Bonus Shop banner.

# Director’s Comment

You can get season-limited skins for free from the Battle Supply Shop. Complete pre-season challenges to claim your special skins!

• Updated the Library window from closing when the map is opened and closed through the Acquisition Information pop-up.
• Improved the duration of party invitation messages to make them easier to confirm and accept.
• Improved the duration of the Descendant Instructor’s lines.

# Director’s Comment

Many Descendants have commented that the Descendant Instructor’s dialogue contains many useful game tips.

Currently, it’s not possible to revisit previous dialogues, but we are planning to fix this.

We will continue to make improvements so that Descendants can easily access the information they require.

• Moved the guide NPC you meet after first arriving in Albion closer.

Optimization Improvements

• [PC] Improved the stability of the shader preparation process by reducing the CPU load during shader generation.
• (Updated) Due to shader optimization, shader has to be generated again. It may take some time depending on the device
• Currently, we are actively monitoring this issue, and if you encounter issues with a 13th or 14th gen Intel, please refer to Intel’s official guide.
• [PC] Lowered GPU memory usage when set at High or higher quality.
• [PC] Fixed an issue where character skins were displayed abnormally in low graphics settings intermittently during extended play.
• [PC] Fixed a bug that allowed frame limits to be set when using Nvidia and AMD’s Frame Generation.
• [Common] Fixed an issue where shadows were intermittently displayed abnormally depending on the view.
• [Common] Made various other fixes for optimization purposes, and we will continuously monitor them.

Bug Fixes

(1) UI/UX

• Fixed an issue displaying unused items in the Library.

(2) Descendants

• Fixed an issue where Descendants could not get out of DBNO when their HP was below -100% from module settings.
• Fixed an issue where Kyle would occasionally go up into the air when using ‘Superconductivity Thrusters’ during ‘Repulsion Dash’.
• Fixed an issue where Esiemo could not get back up while using ‘Arche Explosion’ and being inflicted with Knockback.

Though the common theme is that looter shooters wouldn’t perform well and the market is saturated – see Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and Skull and Bones – it’s not necessarily the rule. Nexon’s The First Descendant launched recently, and seemingly against all odds, it’s maintained a fairly healthy player base.

Available for Xbox, PlayStation and PC, the former Project Magnum was first announced in 2021. A name change and some closed beta tests aside, it didn’t have quite the level of hype that some looter shooters, good or bad, have seen. Look no further than Destiny 2: The Final Shape, which was close to beating its all-time concurrent player record on Steam before server issues derailed it. Even then, it received near-universal acclaim from critics and fans. It seemed The First Descendant would be doomed, arriving roughly a month after, especially since the marketing cycle began much closer to its release.

Nevertheless, it peaked at a whopping 229,257 players on Steam at launch, beat that on July 4th with 239,494 players and achieved a new lifetime concurrent record of 264,860 on July 7th. This is more than just the benefits of a national holiday or the weekend – in the past 24 hours, it peaked at 215,572 players on Steam at this time. Player numbers will likely drop after the first month, but week-to-week, they’re still going strong, unlike looters with more mainstream IPs, like Marvel’s Avengers or Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.

If you’ve seen my review, where I criticized the mission design, story-telling and characters, you would know that The First Descendant has some flaws. The one redeeming aspect of the whole ordeal – the gameplay – pales in comparison to the top dogs of the genre, whether it’s Destiny 2’s gunplay and power fantasy or Warframe’s melee combat and mobility. Sure, the weapon and Descendant customization are robust, but those are systems lifted directly from Warframe. It would be a travesty if they weren’t.

Based on these player numbers, you would assume that those on Steam have an overall more positive take on its brand of looting and shooting. However, The First Descendant has a “Mixed” rating with only 51 percent positive out of its 40,978 reviews. Nearly down the middle, as mixed as mixed can be. The negative reviews criticize monetization, abysmal drop rates, repetitive missions, optimization issues (freezing seems the most common) and more.

Yet the positive ones aren’t shying away from its flaws either. “It’s definitely not the worst experience you can have in a game, but it’s not the best. It’s just painfully mid across the board,” says one review. Another calls it “heavily monetized and handled by a greedy publisher with shady practices.” They still believe it’s a “good change of scenery if you’re from Warframe,” but that one should avoid investing any money. One of the more positive reviews, who found the title enjoyable with a “well-implemented mix of Warframe and Destiny elements”, feels the grind and microtransactions need to be toned down.

The unofficial subreddit is a similar mix of complaints and praise, alongside the reposted, “Does anybody else the only Ajax in a sea of Bunny players?” meme. The complaints are starting to build up more, but there was a fair amount of positivity over the weekend. It still doesn’t answer the question: Why is The First Descendant so popular?

As someone who enjoyed all kinds of loot-based games over the past decade, it’s likely a combination of factors. If you’re someone who binged Destiny 2, Warframe or any other looter shooter in the past month or so, it can feel like a reset – a fresh start. Not too fresh, though – it has just the right amount of familiarity with its systems and customization to ensure some players aren’t lost. As much as I and many others lament its issues, that constant feedback loop of finding better loot, upgrading your character and discovering new things to craft is very much present.

For many players, that’s more than enough, especially if you give them enough freedom to customize their builds. It also doesn’t hurt that the gunplay can be snappy and the power fantasy somewhat endearing, whether it’s running around as Bunny and electrocuting enemies or dealing death from above as Kyle. You also shouldn’t underestimate the appeal of a repetitive gameplay loop, especially when there’s so much to grind. The fact that the experience is free-to-play also effectively removes any barrier of entry – something Suicide Squad and Skull and Bones would have done well to emulate, given their $70 price tags (and no, discounts months after launch aren’t the same).

Is it just a phase? Will player numbers plummet like every other looter shooter once players have their fill of the grind? It’s hard to predict, but I believe The First Descendant will maintain an audience, whether it’s the current numbers or tens of thousands of dedicated players who log in without fail. That’s because Nexon understands the other part of a live-service title’s lifecycle – content. Not only has it shipped The First Descendant with an extensive amount (agree to disagree on the quality), but it’s also outlined a fairly packed roadmap that seemingly provides more of what players want.

A new Descendant, Colossus, Ultimate Weapon and Ultimate Descendant are already set to debut in August. Season 1 will kick off later in the same month, each season lasting three months and offering a significant content update in each. New Descendant Stories, weapons, skins, Ultimate Descendants, dungeons, seasonal progression and a new Mega Dungeon are en route to keep players grinding away.

Of course, while regular new content is good, there are other challenges. What happens if players tire of the current seasonal model? Will Nexon drop any major paid expansions that add much more content at once and advance the main story (such as it is), like Destiny 2? Will we see the same kinds of content, or is there more experimental stuff in the works? How will the publisher’s historically annoying greed factor into the monetization? Is the post-launch content cycle simply an excuse to cram more microtransactions into the game (Ultimate Descendants notwithstanding)?

Time will ultimately tell, but producer Beomjun Lee outright said in the game’s Dev Launch Showcase that it began “with the goal of creating a live-service game that players will love for a long time.” Call it marketing talk, but I believe there’s some sincerity in the development team committing to long-term support. Maybe others feel the same way and look at the game’s extensive content and high-quality visuals as a sign of that dedication.

In some ways, you could think of it as equivalent to how Warframe and Destiny first started. Were they the most polished and enjoyable experiences? No. Did they have repetitive missions and woeful loot systems? Of course. Did they amass dedicated fan bases who watched them grow over the years and transform into some truly good-to-great titles? Yes, but it took time, support and a lot of money.

No one can guarantee that The First Descendant will follow the same path, but if Nexon can continue to nurture its audience, it could go from an unusual upstart to a proper choice among looter shooter fans. In the meantime, however, it has a long way to go.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Thankfully, developer Magnum Studio is looking to alleviate this. It confirmed that an upcoming hotfix will add matchmaking, allowing players to tackle some of the hardest end-game content without manually searching for others. There’s no timeline other than “as soon as possible,” so stay tuned for more details.

The First Descendant is available for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5 and PC. You can check out our review here, where we gave it a 5 out of 10. Though its story-telling, mission design and characterization aren’t good, the gunplay can feel snappy, while the customization systems (many lifted from Digital Extremes’ Warframe) are robust.

Nexon has more content on the way, including new Descendants, Ultimate Descendants, Colossus bosses, and more. Head here for the roadmap.

🔧 Hotfix Incoming 🔧
We’re preparing a hotfix that includes matchmaking for public Infiltration Operation (Dungeon) on Hard Mode. We’ll update as soon as possible, so please stay tuned! pic.twitter.com/bXxGZ1dp3k

— The First Descendant (@FirstDescendant) July 9, 2024

Void Fragments

Wandering through the different Battlefields, you may have noticed structures that can’t be damaged through weapon use. These are called Void Fragments, essential for unlocking the Void Fusion Reactors dotting the landscape. The key to activating these is to have a Descendant of the corresponding element. If you find a Fragment is vulnerable to electricity, then you need to use Bunny, while pillars weak to ice necessitate Viessa.

Use an ability to deal damage, and you’ll initiate a series of enemy waves. Upon defeating a wave, continue to attack the Fragment with your ability and fight through the subsequent waves. Once this is complete, you’ll receive Void Shards. One thing to note is that you can continuously farm the same Void Fragment for Shards, which confers XP and Gold alongside a chance to drop Modules.

Void Fusion Reactors

However, you can’t just gather Shards from any Void Fragment. Depending on the Fusion Reactor, you’ll need specific types of Shards. Check the map for the requirements of the Reactor and then look for corresponding Fragments to get the Shards. It helps to have Descendants of varying elements on standby to farm the different elemental Fragments.

Upon activating a Void Fusion Reactor, you must defeat some bosses, which should be easy enough to handle if you meet the level requirement. Doing so will confer rewards like Reactors, weapons and Modules, with the most powerful – Transcendent Modules – having a one percent drop chance. It’s thus worth farming Void Fusion Reactors for the same, and they also provide Gold, XP and Mastery Level XP. Since Mastery Levels will increase inventory slots and mod capacity, the higher levels are worth grinding out.

However, that’s not all. A Reconstructed Device will also become available after clearing the Void Fusion Reactor. It allows for opening Amorphous Materials – similar to Void Relics from Warframe, they have a chance of providing specific rewards (including materials to research new Descendants). If you’re not a fan of the Void Intercept Missions or want a break from them, then Void Fusion Reactors are an alternative. Just make sure you’re at a point in the game where Amorphous Materials are dropping on the regular to take full advantage of this.

Encrypted Vaults

Something else to watch out for on the Battlefield is an Encrypted Vault. Opening them is essential since they’re required for completing missions and obtaining Negative Ion Particles for crafting. First, ensure you have a Code Analyzer – the Regular version is used to open them in Normal difficulty fields. The Precision version is necessary for Vaults on Hard difficulty fields.

Next, watch out for the little holographic bits on the ground. Initiate a scan, and a sound will play. Follow it and keep scanning until it gets louder and leads you to the Vault. Upon consuming a Code Analyzer, you must complete a timed-button press mini-game. If you fail, the Code Analyzer is consumed, and you’ll need another. The Regular versions are easy enough to procure, dropping from just about any Normal mission, but be careful when using higher rarity Analyzers.

Leveling Resistances

If Path of Exile and many other action RPGs have taught anything, it’s that the resistance stats aren’t to be underestimated. The same goes for The First Descendant, especially if you play a less tanky character like Bunny or Viessa. Equip Modules like Heat Release, Perfect Antivenom, Antifreeze Solution and Insulate Conductor to become immune to their corresponding status effects. Polygenic Antibody will also raise all attribute resistances by +60, so it’s worth equipping. Level them as you progress the story, lest you’re at the mercy of bosses chunking your shields and HP with elemental attacks.

Avoid “Recommended Modules”

This is more of something that you can and should ignore. On the surface, it sounds like a nice quality-of-life feature – why bother modding each weapon, when you can click the Recommended Modules button? As anyone who’s played Warframe will tell you, the game isn’t great at equipping the desired Modules on a weapon or Descendant. Furthermore, as you progress and receive better Modules, there may be specific elemental damage types or builds you want to lean into. Manually equipping and optimizing these will always be preferable in the long run.

Filter as Junk

If there’s one thing The First Descendant gives you a lot of, it’s loot, but there’s a finite amount of inventory space. Since you’ll pick up everything, it’s easy to run out. Fortunately, the Filter as Junk function comes out. Available in your equipment screen for Reactors, weapons and External Components, it allows for segregating loot based on rarity, weapon level and Unique Abilities. You’ll still pick up items meeting the criteria, but the filter will mark them as junk. You can thus open your equipment screen and hold down the button to Dismantle Junk, which clears them out quickly. While there’s still some inventory management required, it cuts down on the busywork significantly.

When to Dismantle (and Not Dismantle) Weapons

Aside from items denoted in the junk filter, you may be tempted to dismantle a weapon simply because you don’t like it. Maybe your build doesn’t benefit from it, or it’s just a weapon type that you never use. Perhaps a better option is available. Either way, try hanging on to and consuming it to level up other weapons instead at the Workbench. You’ll need a Phase Exchanger, crafted from materials obtained by dismantling weapons, with Ultimate Weapons requiring the higher-level Precision Phase Exchanger. The best method is to hang on to the higher-level and rarity loot while marking the less desirable items as junk to dismantle for materials. If you’re unsure whether to dismantle or keep a weapon, especially if it has a good roll, store it – you can adjust it later with an Adjustment Control Axis.

The Access Menu

It’s been said before, but the Access menu is probably the most valuable tool in The First Descendant. From here, you can discover where every item, crafting material, weapon, Amorphous Material, etc. drops from. Even better, selecting Acquisition Info will bring up a list of missions where you can farm said items (if they’re unlocked, of course). It’s incredible, especially since you can track bigger projects like Descendants and their requirements.

Crafting Thunder Cage

Another thing that bears repeating is to craft Thunder Cage. You’ll obtain the materials for researching it while playing through the story, but must go to the Research lab to begin the process. As tempting as it can be to ignore, it’s a worthwhile detour since this can become your first Ultimate Weapon (and it takes four hours of real-time to research, so it’s best to get it out of the way before continuing to play). Its Unique Ability is also ideal for clearing out multiple enemies with electric damage, which is great in horde-like activities.

Level Up Sub Modules

Sub Modules alter your Descendant’s charged melee attack, turning it into something like Shock Punch or Tonfas. As rudimentary as the melee combat can feel, it’s worth leveling up those Sub Modules. They’ll increase your overall mod capacity, which means more space to equip other essential Modules.

Opinions aside, however, there’s no denying that Nexon’s free-to-play shooter has many issues, ranging from irritating to frustrating, that it needs to sort out and fix immediately. Let’s take a look at ten such things here.

Matchmaking in Hard Mode

As you properly dive into the end game, Hard mode becomes available for many activities. Infiltration Operations, for example, have more modifiers to up the difficulty, and you can tack on some more for an increased Kill Score (which raises the chance of certain rewards). The same goes for Special Operations and Void Intercepts, the latter required to open different Amorphous Materials. In theory, it’s not a terrible way to repurpose a lot of existing content. The problem is the lack of matchmaking, making things much more challenging than they need to be and effectively handicapping solo players, especially since you must redo segments like bosses if you die before they’re slain (that too with limited lives).

Looking for Group

The only option then is to play with friends, but what if (no offense) you don’t have any, or at least any online at the time? Why isn’t there a Looking for Group tool? Even Bungie eventually smartened up and added the Fireteam Finder, allowing players to create listings in-game and seek out others to help them in group activities. Your options in The First Descendant include going to Albion HQ and messaging random players (like many were wont to do in Destiny 1). Maybe they’ll join you for the activity in question. Maybe they’ll immediately leave and flame you for the unwanted invites – roll the dice and find out. If Nexon is deadset on no matchmaking for its Hard mode content, then an in-game LFG tool is the least it could offer.

Kicking AFK Players

I feel like I’m in a time machine, reading some of the complaints for this game since they mirror many of the issues that Destiny 1 had at launch. That includes the lack of options to kick AFK players. Say you’re on a mission, whether it’s a Void Intercept or a particularly difficult Infiltration Operation. The assistance of your team is paramount, but you get that one player who idles around and does nothing. You can’t kick them, and the game itself lacks anything to detect their AFK behavior, so you can do nothing but watch as they leech off of hard work and reap the rewards. It’s 2024 – the fact that this is still something that happens in a looter shooter is baffling.

Drop Rates

There are mixed opinions about drop rates currently. Some feel that the best items and materials should be rare and that’s fair. Others think that abysmally low drop rates that run in the single digits are just straight-up unfun and that’s also fair. Considering how many rewards are tied to a low drop rate, I’m inclined to agree – some more guaranteed sources would be ideal.

Also, raise the drop rates or implement methods like a knockout system in harder activities where players have an escalating chance to receive the rarest item with each completion. Maybe there’s some concern that players will run out of things to grind for, but the bigger issue is grinding for hours and not getting what they want, potentially causing them to leave and not return. It’s happened before in other loot games and it can absolutely happen here.

Encrypted Vaults

The concept of Encrypted Vaults isn’t bad – find some holographic doodads, ping them and follow the sounds to find the Vault, “???”, profit. It’s the third step where the problems begin and seemingly never end. First, you need a Code Analyzer to open it. Next, you need to complete a timed-button press mini-game. Miss the inputs within the given time, thus failing to open it, and the Vault won’t open.

Also, your Code Analyzer is consumed. Better get another one (and hopefully it wasn’t a Precision Code Analyzer, which is rarer). The more annoying thing is that even if you successfully hit the many inputs, you don’t slightly extend the time (and the timing is iffy). I get it – Nexon wanted to rip off the lockpicking mini-game from Warframe. Unfortunately, it’s one of the few copied mechanics that feels significantly worse than its inspiration.

Caliber Purchase Issues

Caliber is the premium currency, meaning have to pay real money for it. Used for directly purchasing Descendants, accelerating research and whatnot, it’s pretty important. If players aren’t receiving Caliber after purchasing it, that’s a big problem, yet somehow it’s occurred a couple of times within the first few days of launch. Perhaps it will be resolved sooner rather than later, but regardless of how you or I feel about the monetization, there’s nothing worse than paying for something in a game and not getting it.

Consumable Paint Jobs

Speaking of terrible monetization, why the heck are paint jobs consumable? Why do players only get one use out of paint colors and then have to spend the cash for more? Has Nexon not learned from Destiny 2, which received backlash for this at launch? Warframe has you pay for entire sets of color palettes, but they have unlimited uses. It’s one thing to sell Ultimate Descendants at absurd prices to skip the grind, but shaking down players for paint? Absurd.

Boss Design

A new hotfix is available and nerfed Eterllick the Tracker’s use of shield skills per phase. That’s good. Bosses like Devourer still don’t scale well for four players, leading to endless frustration. That one boss in that story mission can easily chunk down your health with fire damage, even if you have Fire Resist Modules. Then there’s the Dead Bride with her annoying immunity phases, especially if your teammates don’t prioritize breaking her parts. Ordinarily, a challenging boss would be nice, but this isn’t a Souls-like. There are plenty in The First Descendant that need a few balance passes to reduce their more annoying characteristics.

HUD Customization

If you’ve seen any gameplay, especially on consoles, the heads-up display can get a little…busy. Between displaying objectives, items you’re tracking, the map, your abilities and so on, there can be some clutter. While the HUD can be turned off for a more immersive experience, it would be nice to remove some information for a cleaner appearance. Add a dynamic option as well, turning the HUD invisible after some time for good measure.

Melee Combat

Aside from the absolute lack of melee weapons, melee combat just lacks punch overall. Whether you’re initiating a grapple strike, using a charged or uncharged melee or abilities like Sharen’s electric slash, they all lack impact. The first order of business is to revamp the system to be less clunky, then add some greatswords, lances and whatnot into the mix. Turn them into heavy ammo weapons if necessary, but they’re a must.