The First Descendant

Despite a forgettable story and a mixed artistic direction, The First Descendant is a solid and fun looter shooter, whose contents are accessible to everyone, even those who don't intend to spend a single penny. The current version of the Nexon game therefore represents an excellent starting point, on which the development team will have to work to make this live service an experience capable of competing with the big names from which it draws inspiration.

The First Descendant is to Warframe/Destiny 2 what Palworld is to Pokémon/Valheim: a game that draws so heavily on rehashed concepts that it's difficult to extract any personality from it. This does not make it bad, on the contrary: it is designed to be robust and to keep the player invested in its SF universe thanks to the spare parts stolen from its colossi of competitors. Formidably effective, The First Descendant arrives after the war without throwing any stones at the edifice.

Due to the performance problems on PS5 and Xbox Series, we are forced to deduct [10 points] here. Overall, The First Descendant does not fully exploit its potential. But the title has enough room for improvement and could therefore be expanded further in the coming weeks and months. Even the popular Destiny series was unable to convince players from the start.

A depressingly generic free-to-play looter shooter that steals shamelessly from other, better, games but never has the nerve to try and create anything of its own.

All the glitz and dopamine-inducing loot drops can't stop The First Descendant from feeling generic, repetitive and just plain soulless.

Destiny is grindy, but it has an immensely satisfying gameplay loop and a rich story. Outriders doesn’t have the best plot or visuals, but each class has a wide variety of powers that synergise brilliantly, meaning each build is unique to how you want to play and combat is worthwhile for its own sake. The First Descendant has the stand-out Colossi battles, but everything leading up to them is so mind-numbingly tedious that they don’t justify the time or monetary investment you’d need to spend to enjoy them. It’s the gaming equivalent of playing with a fidget spinner while on a Discord call — something to keep your hands occupied while you catch up. It’s a game designed to get you to pay to skip it, not play it, so what’s the point of it?