Nexon has made quite a name for itself over the past couple of decades. The company has seen continued success with games like Dungeon & Fighter, MapleStory, and KartRider. Nexon has also been able to expand and has offices in Korea, Japan, China, and North America. While they develop and publish a wide variety of games, most recently The First Berserker: Khazan, they have a firm footing in online games. Their most recent push is with The First Descendant, which released a little over a year ago and is entering its third season.
The First Descendant is an online multiplayer looter shooter. In the game, you take control of “Descendants” who must fight off an invading alien race. The free-to-play title released initially on July 2nd, 2024, and has been receiving steady updates since. It has had two full seasons, with a third approaching. That third season is called Breakthrough, and I recently had the opportunity to try the new update early. This update adds a lot and will probably be enjoyed by the current community, but as someone new to the game, not much was able to get me to stay.
It’s Time to Breakthrough
The Breakthrough update seems to be the largest one yet. A new area called Axion Planes is introduced, along with new challenging enemies. The update adds new ultimate weapons and some system overhauls to assist with player progression. A new Descendant is also in this update: Nell, the tactical officer players are already familiar with, finally becomes playable. There are also new raid bosses that are quite the challenge. The update even adds a hover bike, so now you can freely ride across the map.
Even though I’m not familiar with the game, I still made sure to try all the new content. The most significant being the new area, Axion Planes. It’s a large, crater-like map with scattered outposts. There isn’t much else besides a coliseum in the center; the map feels pretty empty. There was at least something to do; the build had seven missions available, along with time-limited loot drops. During all this, you’ll just be fighting hordes of enemies—that’s about it. I explored the map, checked out all the missions, and gave the limited drops a try, but in the end, it all boiled down to fighting hordes of enemies, which got tiresome quickly.
Some other additions are the new bosses. In the Axion Planes, there is a world boss called the Wall Crasher. It is enormous and quite the challenge that up to eight players can take on. I do not recommend attempting with fewer than four players. The closer you can get to eight, the better. There is also a new boss called Storm Hanger, whom I highly recommend having a whole party for. I was never able to get a full party for either, sadly, so when attempting these fights, they felt very one-sided.
Another significant addition in this update is the new Descendant Nell. Nell is an officer who has always assisted the Descendants, but now she has become playable. She prioritizes debuffs and buffs. Nell has four active skills, one of which is a projectile that can be used twice and does extra damage to enemies with scan.
One skill makes a breach and applies a debuff to enemies in front. The longer it goes on, the stronger the debuff is, but if you use the skill again, it will cause an explosion. Her third skill is attached to the second; you can only use it where there is a breach, and it consumes it to pull in enemies and do damage. The last active skill buffs all allies, and all your attacks hit weak points. She was interesting to play, and while she might not be ideal for new players, she did end up clicking for me, and I decided to keep playing her the entire preview.
One thing I liked about this update was the hover bike. With the map feeling empty, the addition of a vehicle made wandering around less tedious. There are also missions called “Mobile Energy Monitoring” that are time attack races. The hover bike could be controlled better, but it’s still fun, and I enjoyed doing the time attack missions. This update also features a NieR: Automata collaboration, bringing 2B and A2 as skins. It has other cosmetics and an emote that all look great and even fit the world pretty well.
Is It Enough?
This update is pretty big, and it seems like fans will have a lot to do, but what about someone who hasn’t played? I hadn’t played The First Descendant before, but I do enjoy the occasional looter shooter. While I can applaud the amount of content here, especially for a free-to-play game, nothing was able to grab me. The core gameplay loop is picking a Descendant, dropping somewhere, and fighting hordes of enemies for loot. It’s not a bad loop—it’s just one I’ve grown tired of. Not much sets it out from others in the genre, either, so I have trouble finding a reason to stay.
I also didn’t have much interest in the enemies themselves. There isn’t much visually interesting about them, and most of the time, they just felt like waves of bullet sponges. Some of the new enemies are a fun fight, but I didn’t see them that much while traversing the map, especially when compared to the hordes you fight for missions. The new bosses seem fun and have good designs. I just wish I could fight them with a full party.
While the core loop didn’t grab me, I can’t say I wasn’t impressed. This update ran pretty well for the most part. I was expecting a few hiccups, but for most of the playtime, my experience was smooth. Load times could get a little long, but it wasn’t an issue for me. As I already mentioned, I still have to applaud how much content is in this update, and the hover bikes, which were a fun time. In general, there is a lot of content here, and while it didn’t grab me, I can see it working for others.
The First Descendant‘s Breakthrough update (Season 3) is offering a lot for fans of the game. As the story continues, players will have a new area to explore, with new enemies, weapons, and even a Descendant. There is a lot here, but nothing stood out to me as someone not familiar with the game. It feels like another looter shooter with nothing that separates it besides the graphical fidelity. Breakthrough drops August 7th, and for fans, this update will offer a lot. But for those curious about the game, it may not be enough to convince you.
