The First Descendant Launch: Warframe and Destiny Had a Baby

July 2, 2024

The First Descendant Launch: Warframe and Destiny Had a Baby

NEXON looked at Warframe and Destiny, decided "we can do that but with more particle effects," and somehow created a looter shooter that makes your GPU beg for mercy while your wallet hides in fear. The First Descendant is here, it's free-to-play, and it's exactly as "Korean MMO" as you'd expect from the publisher of MapleStory.

What Is The First Descendant?

Take Warframe's movement, add Destiny's raid structure, wrap it in Unreal Engine 5's shiniest graphics, and monetize it like only NEXON knows how. That's The First Descendant.

Descendants = Space Ninjas With Guns - 14 characters at launch, each with unique abilities. Think Warframes but they actually have personalities (and way more polygons).
Grappling Hooks Everywhere - Because walking is for peasants. Swing around like Spider-Man with a machine gun.
4-Player Co-op - Bring friends or suffer with randoms who don't understand "stand in the circle."
Boss Fights That Actually Slap - Giant robots, alien monstrosities, and health bars longer than a CVS receipt.

The Good: When Your GPU Doesn't Catch Fire

Graphics That Justify Your RTX Purchase:

Unreal Engine 5 flexing harder than a gym influencer
Character models so detailed you can see individual pores
Particle effects that would make Michael Bay jealous
Environments that actually look next-gen (when they load)

Combat That Feels Good:

Shooting has weight and impact
Abilities combo together in satisfying ways
Movement is fluid once you master the grappling hook
Boss fights require actual coordination (novel concept)

The Power Fantasy Works:

Start weak, end as a god of destruction
Build variety that actually matters
That dopamine hit when legendary loot drops
Numbers go up, brain makes happy chemicals

The Bad: It's a NEXON Game

Monetization Hell:

Want that cool character? $20 or 40 hours of grinding
Battle pass? Of course there's a battle pass
"Convenience" items that are basically mandatory
Premium currency with confusing conversion rates

The Grind Is Real:

Korean MMO DNA shows in the progression
Same missions, different numbers
RNG on top of RNG wrapped in more RNG
"Just one more run" becomes your life motto

Technical Issues:

Servers held together with prayer and duct tape
Loading times that let you make coffee
Optimization is apparently a foreign concept
Crashes more than a learner driver

Community First Impressions

The reception has been... mixed:

"It's gorgeous but shallow" - The most common take. Pretty face, not much personality.

"P2W trash" - From players who've never played an actual P2W game. It's more "pay to skip grind."

"Better than Anthem" - The bar was underground, but sure.

"My GPU is crying" - Running this on Ultra requires a mortgage payment's worth of hardware.

The Descendant Roster: Pick Your Poison

Lepic - The starter. Grenades go boom. Simple but effective.

Viessa - Ice queen with crowd control. Elsa with an assault rifle.

Ajax - Tank boy who refuses to die. Perfect for players who can't dodge.

Bunny - Speedster who makes Sonic look slow. Zoom zoom, pew pew.

Gley - Berserker who gets stronger at low health. For masochists only.

Each Descendant plays differently enough to justify the variety, though good luck unlocking them all without opening your wallet.

Endgame: The Real Game Starts at Max Level

Once you hit the level cap, the hamster wheel truly begins:

Void Intercept Battles - Massive boss raids requiring coordination
Hard Mode Everything - Same content, bigger numbers
Min-Maxing Modules - Spreadsheet gamers rejoice
Fashion Descendant - The true endgame, as always

Should You Download It?

Yes if:

You're burned out on Destiny/Warframe
Free-to-play doesn't scare you
You have a beefy PC that needs exercise
Grinding is your meditation
You miss Anthem (somehow)

No if:

NEXON's monetization gives you PTSD
You expect a deep story
Your PC is held together with zip ties
You have a job/life/responsibilities
You're prone to gambling addiction

The Verdict

The First Descendant is a beautiful, soulless grind machine that's somehow still fun. It's the gaming equivalent of fast food: you know it's not good for you, but sometimes you just want to turn your brain off and watch numbers go up while pretty explosions happen.

Is it revolutionary? No. Is it derivative? Absolutely. Will you play it anyway because it's free and your friends are? Probably.

NEXON has created the most "7/10" game possible. It does nothing new but executes everything competently while looking absolutely stunning. In a world where Destiny charges $100 for annual expansions, a free alternative that's "pretty good" might be exactly what the market wants.

Just remember to set a budget before you enter the cash shop. Those Ultimate Descendants won't buy themselves, and NEXON's shareholders need new yachts.

Welcome to The First Descendant, where the graphics are beautiful, the gameplay is solid, and your wallet's safety is definitely not guaranteed.