The First Descendant: Season 1 is launching later this month
Two months after its launch, The First Descendant is about to release its “first” season. Sure, there was a “Season 0” bundled in at launch, but if you’ve been playing regularly since then, odds are it’s long been finished. Aside from a new battle pass, players can get their hands on the new sniper Descendant, Hailey.
“Free” doesn’t include acquiring additional waifus
Season 1 launches on August 29, 2024. Nexon released a trailer this morning that doesn’t show off a whole lot besides what I suspect is Ultimate Freyna and some new bad guys that are coming from beyond the stars. I suppose that makes sense with the season being named “Invasion.”
Looking at Steam Charts, the player population has been steadily declining, but is still at a healthy 60k, not including console players. While a new season will inject some life back into the looter shooter, there are larger issues that still need to be addressed, primarily when it comes to the grind and drop rates.
The First Descendant’s gameplay loop is essentially a flowchart of grinds with poor drop rates. This problem is compounded by aggressively expensive costs for upgrading modules and crafting. The most efficient way to earn enough is to endure mindless slogs for hours on end.
As someone who spent several dozen hours a week for over a month straight, there are still a number of weapons I don’t have and even more that aren’t fully upgraded. I want to play more, but the stingy drop rates really put a damper on the experience.
Throw in having to level Descendants and weapons to max about 10x over for a viable build, and you’re looking at a serious time investment. That’s not taking into account part of it is assigning slots to specific mods. The system ultimately doesn’t translate well for multiple builds on the same character.
Wow, that took a turn. I really like The First Descendant and am pleasantly surprised at the amount of support Nexon has given it. With Destiny 2 all but dead, I’m hopeful the developer and publisher can address these larger issues and keep the quality content a rolling.
