In anticipation of the release of the multiplayer looter shooter The First Descendant, Nexon held a press conference where media representatives were able to play the game and talk with the developers. The questions covered a variety of topics: from the monetization model to player feedback during testing. We selected the most interesting information from the answers:
- All videos and trailers are developed by the game development team, as direction and integrity of the game are very important. Nothing was created by other studios.
- The creation of the game took five years, and currently the team consists of 190 specialists.
- The development process was difficult. The developers had a goal to create a project for PC and consoles for a global audience. As work progressed, it was decided to move the game from the fourth version of the Unreal Engine to the fifth, which caused additional problems. The team had to put a lot of effort into optimizing the game for all platforms.
- Feedback from players after the first tests greatly influenced the game. Changes were made to the story at the beginning of the game, and the not yet shown story was enriched with lines to give the characters charisma and better develop their personalities. The system of randomly obtaining paints received many complaints, and therefore it was abandoned. The user interface has been repeatedly improved based on feedback, and a hint system for inventory and equipment will appear at release.
- Over the entire period, more than 100,000 reviews were received in several languages, and the developers had to put a lot of effort into systematizing and analyzing such a volume of information.
- Easy Anti-Cheat and Nexon’s internal software will prevent cheaters.
- Giant bosses, fast-paced combat, and a grappling hook are the main features of The First Descendant.
- Looter shooter players are prepared in advance to farm and replay content for valuable rewards. However, the developers tried to diversify the process of obtaining equipment and resources: many bosses, cooperative dungeons with 16 difficulty modifiers, two world difficulties and many other solutions.
- Seasons will be released every two to three months. They will contain new story missions, local stories, bosses, equipment, and playable characters (the first of them will be Bunny). It will take players around 10-15 hours to unlock new characters in the season. Cosmetic items will appear every month.
- Ultimate versions of characters are marginally better than their base versions and are intended for fans of that character.
- You can get almost all items through the game. The only exceptions are some skins. In the in-game store you will be able to purchase skins and various items, including those that accelerate character development. There will also be a battle pass with different rewards. In the future, it will be possible to receive rewards from past seasons. All content will be available even if the player has not spent a penny.
- The second half of the game will introduce co-op dungeons that will require player coordination, which is why the game features voice chat. The initial bosses are deliberately made easy so that players get used to this content. As the game progresses, it will become possible to solo the initial bosses.
- The developers will try to maintain a balance between the characters, but this is quite problematic, since 19 heroes and hundreds of pieces of equipment have already been prepared.
- Exchange between users is being developed. The decision to introduce this function will be made after the project has been launched and all processes have stabilized.
- The game ranks fifth on the list of most anticipated games on Steam. The developers hope that the project will be of great interest to players for many years to come.
Let us remind you that The First Descendant will be released on July 2 at 10:00 Moscow time on PC (Steam), PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
