The First Descendant Summer Game Fest Impressions – Let the (Loot) Rain Fall on Me

A good free-to-play action shooter is always on my radar, even if I'm reviewing a dozen other titles at a given time. However, when you're as much of a looker as The First Descendant, then you really have my attention. Showcasing the power of Unreal Engine 5, Nexon Games' upcoming third-person looter shooter has a lot to show for itself in The First Descendant.

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Rather than starting from scratch and having to sit through tutorial after tutorial, Nexon Games' opened our session with a brief pitch deck on the general systems and overall vibe of The First Descendant before letting us run free in the open environments. With a wide list of characters unlocked to play through, I opted for the Ultimate variant of one of the fourteen available characters: Ultimate Bunny. With a thigh gap that even the Evergreen could pass through and more skin than Metal Gear Solid V's Quiet, I went with the most photogenic character on the roster. The fact that she came with chain lightning abilities and multiple sniper weapons was just the icing on the peach cake.

In talking with one of my colleagues that also demo'd The First Descendant, they didn't quite understand where to go after being set free in the demo. Truth be told, in the span of 30 minutes, I didn't really have the freedom to explore the hub city and get my bearings straight. Instead, I popped out to the minimap, got a good look at the nine available regions, and then jumped straight into some Void Intercept Battles. Here, instead of learning about the game through tutorial after tutorial, I took my level 40 Ultimate Bunny and challenged a level 34 Executioner Colossus. If I had the foresight, I probably would have picked an enemy that didn't have electric attribute resistance, but it was still a good place to grasp the combat.

The First Descendant is a very mobile type of third-person shooter. Staying grounded in one spot and even strafing from