One of the best trailers to drop during Summer Game Fest was arguably Nexon’s exciting launch date reveal for The First Descendant. Not only did it stir up the feels with excellent use of M83’s epic song “Outro”, but it also gave us a concrete release date to look forward to: July 2, 2024.
During SGF, The Nerd Stash had the opportunity to conduct an interview with the game’s Creative Director Minsuk Joo and the game’s Producer Beaomjun Lee. In particular, we wanted to discuss how the free-to-play title will be monetized, home in on how linear the moment-to-moment gameplay is, and get a sense of how the South Korean studio will support The First Descendant following its initial launch.
The First Descendant Interview with the Game’s Creative Director and Producer
Editor’s Note: The following interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
Dylan Chaundy, Editor at The Nerd Stash: The third-person shooter genre is a competitive space to break into as it has so much stiff competition. What would you say differentiates The First Descendant from other shooters and live-service games?
Beaomjun Lee, Game Producer: The development team prioritizes three main aspects. The first is focusing on cooperative PvE content. We believe cooperative PvE shooters are still lacking compared to competitive PvP shooters, which is why The First Descendant is developed with a focus on cooperative PvE rather than PvP. Secondly, the fast-paced, action-packed combat. Based on the grappling hook, our combat system offers exhilarating action with a variety of skills and firearms, more so than other games. Lastly, I want to talk about continuous content updates. Currently, the development team is preparing for the launch along with updates for week 5, and Seasons 1 and 2. Through this, we aim to continuously provide engaging content for our players.
Dylan: Do you look at other live-service games like Destiny 2 or Warframe and feel like you’re doing something very different or something quite similar?
Minsuk Joo, Game Creative Director: Both games start from the same root as looter-shooters but provide different experiences. It serves the same for The First Descendant. We have learned from both games but strived to add our own unique flavor. This includes three-dimensional maneuvers using grappling hooks, interception battles with giant bosses, and uniquely attractive characters not found in other games.
We hope that The First Descendant will not compete with the two games, but as a live-service looter-shooter, will broaden the genre and enhance the playing experience.
Dylan: From what I’ve seen so far, it appears that your team has really focused in on character interactions, story, and cinematics. How much of a focus has there been to create deep lore to draw people in?
Minsuk Joo, Game Creative Director: Through multiple tests, we have gradually increased our investment in the story and universe, responding to high expectations from many players.
At launch, in each field, the main story will unfold through one or two cinematics. The launch includes an exclusive story of Bunny, which also contains two cinematics. We don’t stop there; every season update will include additional episodes and cinematics for Descendant exclusive stories.
The development team is preparing to service The First Descendant for a long time. The story is no exception. We’ve prepared a vast and deep universe capable of witholding a deep story. The story of the war between Karel and humanity over the Iron Heart, which will be available at launch, is just the surface of the story we will explore through updates. We have stories about the origins of the Descendants, the purpose of the Colossi, and the saga of Karel and Amon ready, so please look forward to them.
Dylan: How linear is your game? Is the game even more complex beyond that? Or will you largely be following checkpoints and fighting off waves of enemies?
Minsuk Joo, Game Creative Director: The main story and missions progress linearly; playing the main story allows access to more content. However, The First Descendant is not a typical linear game.
Players must collect and enhance multiple characters. Each player will select a different character and will start in different points for character enhancement. The ways in which they will enhance their characters will differ as well. Some might enhance characters through mission progression, while others might do so in Special Operations.
Some days, it’s fine to follow the linear missions of the main story, but on other days, you might enjoy farming your favorite characters, weapons, and modules.
Dylan: I noticed that you used M83’s song “Outro” in your latest Summer Game Fest trailer — It was really well-edited and well done! Obviously, that specific song carries with it a real “This is the end of the world” feeling and evokes very epic emotions. Do you think the lore and the world will reflect this level of epicness? Is there any reasoning behind why you chose this song in particular?
Beaomjun Lee, Game Producer: Thank you very much. Many people have praised the trailers produced by our development team and the BGM in the trailers. As you mentioned, the reason for choosing the outro was not only the atmosphere of the music but also because the message and lyrics represent the setting of the game and the spirit of the development team. Like the Descendants, we want to do our best to protect the game.
Dylan: Switching gears, The First Descendant is confirmed to be a free-to-play game. How will Nexon Games approach the monetization side of the game? Will there be a focus on in-game cosmetics? Will any of these impact the gameplay and give those who purchase in-game cosmetics any advantage in combat?
Beaomjun Lee, Game Producer: Yes, The First Descendant was decisively set as a F2P game from the start of development. This was a choice to reach more players with a new IP and to create a long-loved live-service game.
Although it is a F2P game, we are not considering any P2W [Pay-To-Win] elements. Based on a seasonal battle pass, we are selling various cosmetic and growth-assisting items. All necessary equipment and Descendants can be acquired and crafted through gameplay. We plan to maintain this approach moving forward.
Dylan: Of course, live-service games really rely on an active community and this often goes hand-in-hand with a solid roadmap that keeps players consistently busy. How is Nexon Games going to handle post-launch support? Is there lots of new content in the pipeline? What will that look like?
Minsuk Joo, Game Creative Director: The development team is already preparing updates. We plan to launch a new season every three months. Each season will add new episodes, Descendants, ultimate Descendants, Void Intercept Battles, dungeons, ultimate weapons, modules, external components, and Descendant stories.
But that’s not all. We aim to add new systems and content each season, enhancing the player experience with fresh encounters in The First Descendant. For example, Season 1 will introduce a new type of solo dungeon called Invasion along with seasonal growth.
To incorporate such a variety of content, our development team has prepared a seasonal development process and is concurrently developing multiple seasons. It’s quite busy and challenging. I look forward to the next opportunity to discuss the new content of Season 1.
Dylan: From the footage I’ve seen, there doesn’t seem to be much in regards to background music, which may lead to it feeling a little empty. Is this something you’re going to address before launch?
Beaomjun Lee, Game Producer: We are reviewing various aspects for our music that’ll be available during gameplay. Some improvements will be made at launch, but we will strive to further enhance this aspect going forward.
Dylan: The world looks absolutely stunning in The First Descendant and this likely has something to do with the cutting-edge Unreal Engine 5 engine that you’ve built your game on. Were there any challenges during development while using Unreal Engine 5 or was it quite a smooth process?
Beaomjun Lee, Game Producer: The First Descendant was first realized with Unreal Engine 4. However, during development, Unreal Engine 5 was released, prompting us to switch. The visuals realized using Unreal Engine 5 was superior but the quality and impact it offers is on a completely different level. Thus, we decided to change our engine despite the challenges. As you might expect, the engine transition process was extremely challenging. I believe it was only achieved through the tremendous efforts of many engineers and artists. Supporting cross-platform between numerous consoles and PCs added to the complexity.
Dylan: In some of the beta footage I’ve seen so far, it appears like the difficulty is pitched quite low as the enemy AI can be quite easy. Is this a deliberate decision? Will enemies pose a big challenge to players or would you prefer to pitch the difficulty quite low so that the game is more accessible to a wider gamut of players? Will the difficulty ramp up in the end-game?
Minsuk Joo, Game Creative Director: The difficulty of the endgame is planned to increase gradually. Our first goal is for as many players as possible to reach the endgame.
Players can actively adjust the difficulty of instance dungeons using modifiers. Various modifiers control the difficulty, such as prohibiting the use of grappling hooks, limiting jumps, or making Descendants more vulnerable to certain elements.
Intercept Battles feature more challenging AI. Particularly, the harder difficulty interceptions include gimmicks where failing to strategize correctly can result in the instant death of the entire party. Players must work together to conquer the boss’s mechanics to avoid instant death.
We plan to continue releasing various endgame content and are committed to delivering endgame experiences that will satisfy players who enjoy challenging difficulties.
We’d just like to say a huge thank you to both Minsuk Joo and Beaomjun Lee for taking time out of their busy schedules to speak to us.
The First Descendant launches on July 2 for PC, PlayStation4 , PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S.
