In an interview with producer of The First Descendant, we explored the origins and how this shooter inspired by Overwatch and Apex Legends will be supported.
The First Descendant, the new free-to-play shooter developed by Nexon, has caught the interest of MMO sci-fi fans a lot thanks to its high-speed gameplay and unique class/hero system. To highlight this new project, among the first to be developed in Unreal Engine 5, We interviewed Lee Bum Joon, Producer of The First Descendant and Head of Studio Magnum at Nexon GamesTell us how the game world was born and how it will develop.
He told me, “Everyone who plays will be a descendant whose mission is to protect humans from dangerous aliens Volgus — in the past, attempts to invade these aliens have pushed humans to the brink of extinction, but the population of Continent Ingresswithin the framework of the game, they were able to stop the crisis together.
As a descendant, players must protect humanity and lead the counterattack against the Vulgus. By doing so, they will be able to unravel the mystery behind the invasion: this will be the focus of the main story. “The building may not be the most innovative, but First Descendant promises an ever-changing story that will amaze players.
“There is a lot of knowledge to discover where the game will be live service: Continuous updates to the scheme and gameplay will arrive. Our goal is to provide exciting stories with each update.”
Inspired by Halo and Metal Gear
After the first trailer was released, one of the aspects that sparked the community’s most interest wasaesthetics A hybrid of characters, with quotes from all over the world of science fiction, video games and not. “We have been affected by many miserable and post-apocalyptic acts because the game mode is a world on the verge of extinction. From a world blaming (both movie and comics) to Metal Gear Solid, but it wasn’t just the shooters or other shooters that affected the graphics in our game. As for the gameplay, we drew inspiration from the battles of masterpieces, which are now classics, such as Doom and Hello“.
In terms of managing the typical aspects of an MMO, he showed me how important it is for the development team not to make those who want to feel left out. play solo. “The First Descendant is set in Continent Ingris, and it’s not one big map but made up of several separate sections. We have two ways to immerse yourself in this world: private mode and general. The first allows players to enjoy the story themselves, according to their needs, while the general mode is designed to play with other users. On the other hand, Albion City is our gaming center where descendants will be able to interact with other members of the server.”
gear categories
The First Descendant aims to stand out from the competition especially in the way he has designed his characters, drawing plenty of inspiration from heroic shooters. “the game It does not have a caste system But a series of unique characters, each with a different fighting style. However, appearance, story, and voice acting are also important elements for gamers and we believe mastering the combination of all these factors leads to truly immersive gameplay. Since the fighting style and design of each character should be unique, we decided to avoid the class design and opt for a system similar to Apex Legends or Overwatch. Ten Descendants will be available in the next beta and we plan to continue adding more as part of the live service after the official release.”
Characters are not monolithic blocks like in Blizzard shooter: they can be customized with different characters gear Made with weapons and skills. Descendants are the central hub that players will be able to customize with a series of Weapons, accessories and runes. Weapons and runes have different effects and additional functions that can be combined to create custom strategies. The shooter would not be a shooter, then, without a rare system of items available in the game: “There will be three levels but this is not the case that a rare item the more powerful it is. As the rarity increases, there are more features but the slots available for each character are limited. Combining the elements by evaluating the costs and benefits of each is one of the main mechanisms in our game. During the next Steam beta, they will be available Eleven classes of weaponsEach has a different usability: there will be many ways to customize your gear.”
Just to enhance the uniqueness of its characters, The First Descendant is not designed to be an FPS like many of its competitors. “We chose the third-person view because it has a huge advantage: players can see their characters during the game. As mentioned earlier, the focal point of the experience is the descendants, and to highlight them, we decided to adopt a third person. Additionally, The First Descendant is a shooting game Focused on movement: For the harmonious combination of skills, melee attacks, high movement speed, and special moves like grappling hooks, we thought the third-person perspective was more useful.”
Move to Unreal Engine 5
We’ve been talking about her wonders for a whileUnreal Engine 5But Epic Games’ graphics engine is still young and adoption of such an ambitious video game was a risky choice for the Nexon Games team. “We started building The First Descendant with the latest version of Unreal Engine 4. Unreal Engine 5 was released during development and our team was very amazed at its visual quality. I decided to make a bold decision and go with Unreal Engine 5 just to be able to showcase memorable graphics even if I had to To admit I was a bit worried because development was already at a semi-advanced stage – he told me. The job that really convinced us to invest this time and effort was Lumen. For those unfamiliar with it, it’s actually a way to manage the lighting of the game in real time. After seeing it we said to ourselves We cannot launch a project that will be defined as a new generation without implementing it.Now all the team members are happy with the results.
Updates and monetization
Ghost of Anthem, a Bioware/EA MMORPG that failed because it didn’t get any post-launch support, and hovered over all new live service titles, Lee wants to reassure future players about the longevity of The First Descendant. “We will have major and minor updates after launch. With major updates, the story will continue with new levels and new enemies. Small updates, which will be more frequent than major updates, will add new characters, weapons, talismans and bosses. We are not. We are still able to communicate the exact frequency that They’ll get out.”
However, there is another aspect that worries new fans of the game more. “I know many players are concerned about monetization and we were surprised to see that after the announcement of The First Descendant, many were afraid of the excessive pay-to-win aspects of Nexon games. We aspire not to pursue this kind of aspect and model. Monetization will not differ significantly Much more than other games of the same genre. Paid products will be present, but the equipment, runes and characters needed to progress in the game can be obtained through the gameplay.” Only by trying it out manually will we be able to understand how much grinding it will bridge the gap between those who spend and those who decide to stay free to play.
The first open beta of the game will take place from October 20-26 only on PC and to participate, you must apply via Steam, on The First Descendant page. The first descendants will be able to try out some story missions, both solo and co-op, and try out some end-game activities. Speaking of which, the developers at Nexon Games told us that they are particularly excited about how they designed the game’s strongest enemies. “The big bosses in our raids require a team of four to face each of them with their own arena. There are different types of bosses and we have divided them according to the level of difficulty. Each has a recurring mechanic and a unique mechanic to be defeated. For example, all the bosses have certain parts that can be targeted With a grappling hook, but in order to grapple and damage it, you need an effective strategy. There will be intuitive bosses and complex bosses with secret mechanisms that require a high level of cooperation.”
