It’s true I’m still hooked on The First Descendant but I haven’t actually tried to push it on any of my friends or family. I think it’s a game you have to come to on your own and decide for yourself if you like it or not. I only played it because it was free and because I like to at least try as many games as I can since you never know where a comic strip idea will come from. This is a game I went into expecting to hate but ended up loving. That’s a hard trick to pull off.
I’ve got close to 40 hours in TFD so far and I haven’t spent a dime. A large part of the game is sort of self directed. You find something that you want, like a new weapon or a new Descendant (The characters you play as) and then spend your time in game grinding for the materials you need to build it. TFD is very transparent in this regard and will tell you exactly what missions or bosses drop the material you're looking for and even what the drop rate is. Last night I was trying to get the last piece I needed to build a new Hand Cannon called the Last Dagger and that meant running a relatively low level mission over and over again.
These open world missions can all be completed with other players and last night I noticed the same guy kept running this mission with me over and over again. After about thirty minutes and without any communication we had devised specific roles for each of us. He took care of the first group of mobs while I positioned myself to get the second as they spawned in. He moved up to kill a tough guy while I was already standing at the switch we had to throw. It was like clockwork and the result was that we were dismantling this mission in just three or four minutes. After almost an hour I got the drop I was after and I finally used the games chat to tell my new friend that I got it. As I suspected he told me he was after the same part and thanked me for running the mission with him. Even though I had my part I told him I’d stay until he got it since the two of us running it together with our system made the process so much faster. I had music going and my feet up on the desk and I was honestly having a great time. We ran it for probably another 30 minutes and eventually he got his drop. On some level I recognize that we're all playing a slot machine here, just pulling the lever and hoping to be a winner. It all comes down to how much fun it is to pull that lever and in my opinion the core gameplay in TFD is excellent. If all I have to do to get this stuff is to play more of a game that I really like playing, well I’m down for that.
Jerry did indeed try the First Descendant but I can see on Steam that he only played for 30 minutes. I don’t think it grabbed him in the same way it grabbed me and honestly I’m not surprised. This game isn’t going to be for everyone and like I said I didn’t even think it would be for me. It does scratch an itch though and if you’re in the market for a new looter shooter to sink some time into I think it’s worth investigating TFD. Just don’t blame me when you’re killing a boss for the hundredth time and the blueprint you’re after still hasn’t dropped.
-Gabe out
