
Free-to-play PS5 shooter The First Descendant is a couple of weeks old now, and we want to know what you think of it. Granted, it can be difficult to judge live service titles like this just weeks into its full release, but divided opinions have already made for interesting reading in this case.
Prime example: we really weren't keen on the game in our The First Descendant PS5 review. We awarded it an immensely disappointing 3/10, concluding: "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."
However, The First Descendant has gone on to rack up a whopping 10 million players in its launch period, and there are clearly a lot of people who are simply enjoying the grind. And so we invite you to give the game your own review score in our poll. Cast your vote, and then explain yourself in the comments section below.
Comments 32
I couldn’t help myself but chuckle at the subheadline again. Now I feel obligated to at least give this a try.
The gunplay feels fine and it has potential. But i dont think it will be taking Destiny 2 off its pedestal any time soon!
It's a solid 7. It's a great looter shooter if you like them and it's all about the grind and end game same as all games in the genre. It's not for everybody granted and a lot of people will bounce off it fairly quickly due to the repetitive nature of these games but I quite like it and I'm having a good time with it for a couple of hours here and there. Personally I think pushsquare did this game a major disservice with that lack lustre review if you can even call it that and only scratched the surface of a game that has a lot to give.
A great 8 from me, one of my favourites of the year. One of those I can't wait to get stuck back into every day. Definitely not worthy of a 3. Although I do want to knock 8 points off for the Ultra-Precision Code Analyser mini-game.
I see people hating on this game for the price which is crazy
A very strong 8. Still can't get over the 3/10 from this site.
Honestly, as much as it has managed to catch me in the compulsion loop for the moment, it's a 6/10 if I'm feeling generous, realistically a 5/10 - on the mediocre side of average.
What it does well is largely ripped wholesale from other games (most glaringly Warframe), but it borrows their worst elements too while bringing its own glaring flaws to the table - an absolutely godawful, terribly acted story being at the forefront, making it one of the first games in years that I've actively skipped cutscenes and dialogue for.
The difficulty scaling is atrocious from the midgame onwards - you initially hit a wall once your character hits the level cap while enemies don't, only overcoming it by falling into the cycle of grind, craft, wait, repeat to slowly optimise your module capacity and move the scales back in your favor; though after a few cycles, likely after reaching Hard Mode, the scales tip too far and remove all challenge from the game bar the extremely spongey, overtuned bosses which remain.
Unfortunately this cycle also makes for a horrendous new player experience at this stage, as many of those mid/late-game players are there farming materials all throughout Normal mode, either blitzing through missions leaving newbies to chase dust or dropping out once they kill the enemy that holds their loot. It was already starting to be a problem when I jumped in a few days after launch, but now its rare to jump into certain dungeons without a Bunny zooming off to murder everything without a thought for anyone else. This borrowed system worked in Warframe because the game structured itself very differently - you found what you wanted, carved out a route to it (often a long, optional one), and farmed it - but it being overlaid on a linear story path here really does not work.
One example given too much time, but symptomatic of the game at large - too many conflicting ideas slapped together with too little thought.
7/10. I like the short missions that I can jump into when I have a spare 15 minutes. I also really like how people share missions. It's such a good feeling when you're getting your ass kicked and another player randomly shows up and helps out.
Poll is missing “this garbage should not exist”
Regardless of the game, I just can’t get behind the dev team who have so blatantly ripped off other peoples work.
I think it's a 6 but a good 6. If that makes sense. It has potential to get much better with updates. Time will tell.
I haven't played it. And the more I learn about it, the more I feel like I don't need to.
My head says 7 but my heart knows its a 6. Its fun and has surprisingly in-depth build crafting, but lots of room for improvement, and it seems like the devs are taking that feedback on board.
I agree with the annoying zooming to the end on missions. At least they make you stop a couple times before moving on. Also partly my fault as im terrible with the grappling rope. Game is fun for a 20 min run though. Will keep playing as a casual game.
Solid 7, certainly not a 3..............
3-5 tier, so a 4, I suppose. It represents a lot of the current problems in the gaming industry.
6/10. Liked it quite a bit but after about 9 hours I bailed. It begins to get super repetitive and feels more and more soul-less as time went by.
5.5/10 for me.
Pros: Looks nice, tight controls, fair lasses
Cons: Formulaic, grindy, boring story
One of the most addicting 6/10 games in awhile.
Like playing the characters and the looting/build options but my survivability has tanked once I hit hard mode and the RNG loot drops which require RNG loot drops which are done through RNG missions, it's just a bit much...
6/10. Its fine it works and it can be a ton of fun especially with the bosses but its very bland and generic and can feel like a rip off at times. I will say as F2P game despite how bad the MTX are i do like that the MTX aren't forced on you, Bunny alone can take you to the endgame.
@Johnnycide lol, grow up
No real incentive to play since the only character I'm interested in you can't get until almost the end of the campaign.
Also, the crappy shadows in caves and bunkers that make it so you can't even see half the screen at times really detract from the good gunplay.
Did PushSquare push this poll because the game hit 10 million players, or because they can't write an article without a handful of people poking at the 3/10 review? Bahahaha.
Anyway, previously I gave it a 6, but on PushSquares measure it'd be a 7. I like playing it, I don't take the story seriously so the bad lipsync (I assume Nexon left the lip-motion as-is from the Korean language version) is comical. The grind is rewarding enough and the steep curve most Colossi pose is challenging enough to make you want to go grind some loot to get a better kit for that specific boss. And that's the loop - facing Dead Bride without chill resistance? You're going to lose and need to grind up. Facing Devourer without toxic resistance? Back to the grind you go.
@Mortal it definitely has something to do with the 3/10 rating 😂
@Anke play with enzo, with him the mini games are much easier to beat
@Mortal just max hp and Def, you don't really need resistances, Molten fortress is the only one I couldn't beat yet.
If it is difficult to give a review of a live service game perhaps you should not give a score. Give a review and say you will come back and re-review and score in a few months.
Metacritic will forever say this is a 3 from PS, and its not is it? a 3 is a very low score given to exceptionally poor or broken games. Games reviews are exceptionally divisional these days. Someones 9 is another persons 4 - Excuse? Oh its just an opinion...no its not, its fundamentally wrong way of scoring from an official publication. There is some wiggle room for someone enjoying something more than someone else, but such a disparity in scores is ridiculous. I enjoyed this game until a point, then i realised it is not for me, in the same way as other LS games are not for me, but it is very well made with some nice production values. I'd say it is a 5 or 6 for my personal tastes, but those into these types of games its an 8. Perhaps reviewers are best suited to reviewing the genres they like. I mean if you hate driving games then your opinion on one would be worthless.
I played it up to lvl 30 but no more, the enemies need to drop more of different kinds of ammo, right now some ammo types barely drop at all, it's so infuriating when there is literally no reason for it to be like this, most games if this type give you a basic weapon with unlimited ammo or even better a sword for when you have no ammo, it's a 5/10 game and a big part of that score is its free also why are lvl 4 players allowed to join assault missions, yesterday there was me lvl 30, a 40, a 23 and a lvl 4 .......who cost us the mission, he shouldn't even be able to join Pfffft
I voiced my opinion fully on the actual review page but I'll reiterate that I think this game is a 6, probably a 7 for those into this genre.
I am going to be honest- I love it. The world is gorgeous and unique. While the story isn't anything revolutionary it is keeping me engaged and most of all I am addicted to the gameplay loop. I see myself playing this for a long time. No issues with the pay to play mechanics. I've already dropped $150 for unlocking some season pass levels and descendants I want right away.
@Danbottomburp character level really isn't a reliable representation of another players experience or "power". When you hit level 40 you can use a crystallization catalyst to reset your character to level 1. Your gear including weapons stays at whatever level they were at before, so you could have a level 3 character with level 80 gear, because your gear is high level you'll punch hard, but as your character is low level you'll be a glass cannon. If that player was playing with you on high level missions, it shows that they've already completed and unlocked those missions, and are re-doing them on a reset character. Nexon haven't and shouldn't lock those players out of hard missions as that is the end-game experience.
@Mortal Having a "glass cannon" in your group being a liability is absolutely something they should look at, this person can effectively fail the mission for everyone else, why should that be a thing ?
If they've already gone through the levelling process once, they know or rather should know what a stupid and more importantly selfish decision that is.
As I said I didn't t want low level players in any group regardless of what they've achieved in the past or how good their gear is.
Unless they are in their own pre made group I shouldn't be expected to carry them or have my mission fail because of their selfish behaviour.
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