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It has been proven time and again that the looter-shooter genre has legions of fans as indicated by the player counts of genre flagbearers such as Warframe and Destiny 2. So it’s no surprise that other studios want a piece of the pie. They don’t always succeed, however– attempts like EA’s Anthem were dead on arrival despite the huge budget and developer reputation. Still, that didn’t stop a new contender, The First Descendant, from stepping into the scene.
The First Descendant is NEXON Games’ entry into the looter-shooter genre. Seeing as it competes with Elden Ring in the concurrent player count, that in itself should be a hint to dive in, right? Well, I’ve done the diving in part for you. As someone who has committed thousands of hours to Warframe and a fair amount of experience in Destiny 2, the short answer is that The First Descendant is worth a try, at least. It’s a free game. But there’s more to that answer.
It Depends on Your Expectations
Perhaps this explains the massive player count. Hormonal fan service aside, looter-shooters are not for everyone, after all.
- If you’re new to the genre and haven’t tried Destiny 2, Warframe, or The Division 2, then I recommend you play The First Descendant. See if it’s for you.
For anyone coming from either Warframe or Destiny 2, then whether The First Descendant is worth it or not depends on your expectations.
- If you’re burned out from either Warframe or Destiny 2 after hundreds or thousands of hours, then definitely check out The First Descendant.
It’s a simpler version of both games with a more casual gameplay loop.
- If you’re still not out of your honeymoon phase from either Warframe or Destiny 2 (mid-game players, for example), you might find yourself disappointed with some of the aspects of The First Descendant.
The First Descendant adopted some of the parts of Warframe and Destiny 2. But it ends up being somewhat worse than either of its prime inspirations.
Don’t Expect To Be Better Compared To Warframe or Destiny 2, For Now
As a Warframe veteran, I was somewhat delighted to see that The First Descendant copied Warframe‘s mod system. They didn’t mask the imitation too much by calling them “Modules.” The implementation is decent though the user interface could use more refinement (it’s quite an eyesore).
Meanwhile, The First Descendant‘s lore also imitates Destiny 2‘s mythos. Some boss mechanics even feel like deja vu if you’re a longtime Destiny 2 player.
Still, while The First Descendant takes some of the best parts of the looter-shooter genre heavyweights, it’s hard to consider it better than either Warframe or Destiny 2. It copies some of the identities of the two games as mentioned earlier, but The First Descendant doesn’t add its own remarkable twist or innovation to these systems.
Hence, The First Descendant doesn’t do anything technically better for its gameplay than Warframe or Destiny 2. It’s no match for Warframe‘s complex systems or frenzied parkour, and it also doesn’t have Destiny 2‘s presentation or polish.
In hindsight, that’s not an issue if you’re going in blind or have no experience from either Warframe or Destiny 2. However, you might find The First Descendant as lacking in its own identity or personality. It does have a story, but it’s painfully generic and forgettable. Even Warframe‘s Kojima-esque lore is comparatively inspiring. The First Descendant‘s bland lore and info dumps add little to no context or sense of urgency as to why you must grind or get stronger.
At times, it can even feel like you’re grinding for the sake of it, but some might enjoy this and consider it a reason why it’s worth it to play The First Descendant.
Simplicity & Casual-Friendliness Will Draw You In, But It Might Not Keep You
On the other hand, while The First Descendant borrowed a lot from Warframe, it also streamlined most of its complex and unfriendly systems. You can log in, play some white noise on YouTube, shoot enemies, and zone out for hours.
So while it lacks the jaw-dropping progression paths and the novelty of Warframe, The First Descendant offers less friction in its general gameplay.
Action is a mix of Warframe and Destiny 2, but the gameplay variety is more akin to Destiny 2. You’re mostly confined to gunplay and skills. Whereas Warframe lets you build for melee playstyles or even “mage” playstyles, The First Descendant‘s scope is much limited– and simpler. It’s a double-edged sword if you’re considering whether The First Descendant is worth playing or not.
You might eventually get tired of this simple gameplay loop of going into missions, gunning down enemies, and then repeatedly opening loot via bosses. You’ll only start seeing how shallow it is once you get to the endgame. But seeing as it’s a live-service game, you will surely get more stuff to do in the near future.
It’s a Free Game But…
This is where we get to the polarizing part. The monetization structure.
The First Descendant, being a free-to-play live-service game (with no paid expansions), also closely follows Warframe‘s monetization structure. For the uninitiated, Warframe‘s monetization is celebrated in the gaming industry and by its community for its fairness and generosity. You can even earn premium currency in Warframe without spending real money.
Sadly, you can’t do that in The First Descendant. Caliber, The First Descendant’s premium currency, is strictly obtainable only through real money. That means it’s a lot less “F2P-friendly.”
In-Game Shop Items Are On The Pricey Side
Most in-game shop items are also more expensive. The most expensive bundles are those of the Ultimate Descendants (more powerful variants of the normal characters). The cheapest Ultimate Descendant bundle costs $70 USD (worth of premium currency).
By comparison, Warframe has similar premium bundles for its Prime Warframes (more stylish and more powerful variants of normal characters). It’s called Prime Access. While it does cost $80 (much cheaper in certain regions), it also comes with thousands of premium currency, weapons, boosters, and cosmetics. There’s better value there, whereas you only get the premium character and skin in The First Descendant for $70 USD.
For those who don’t want to pay, you can grind and try out your luck with these premium characters in either game. Even then, the Ultimate Descendant grind in The First Descendant is locked behind the harder difficulty. The drop chances are less generous compared to Warframe‘s drop chances for Prime parts.
Even Basic Cosmetics Cost Quite High
Meanwhile, basic, noticeable cosmetics like backpacks, hair, and skins can cost upwards of $10 to $20 USD each. Warframe skins and helmets, by comparison, run for as little as $4 to $10 USD each. Some color palettes and helmets in Warframe are even given for free. The pricing for cosmetics in The First Descendant reminds me of Diablo 4, which is notorious for its overpriced cosmetics.
In short, cosmetics, upgrade components, premium characters, and premium weapons are more expensive in The First Descendant. Sure, you can opt to just grind for some of them. But as always, the game will indirectly discourage you with its unforgiving drop rates and RNG.
You might have to make peace with the fact that you won’t get all the best Ultimate Descendants and best weapons as an F2P player. And even if you do manage to get lucky with the drop chances, several new shiny things for sale in the shop (and in the meta) will have taken over. It will be hard to keep up for you as a non-spending player if you’re always after the best stuff.
If you’re fine with that, then this shouldn’t be an issue, and you can enjoy the game as it is. I still recommend playing The First Descendant and getting your mileage of fun and exhilarating combat, if only to see how long that fun will last before the grind compels you to spend real money.
