First Descendant, the new free-to-play looter shooter developed by Nexon, has captured the attention of sci-fi MMO fans thanks to its high-speed gameplay and a genre-specific class/hero system. To shed light on this new project, one of the first to be developed in Unreal Engine 5, We interviewed Lee Beom-jun, Producer of The First Descendant and head of Magnum Studio at Nexon Gamestold us how the game universe was born and how it will evolve.
“Whoever plays will be a Descendant whose mission is to protect humans from dangerous extraterrestrial Vulgus – said Lee – In the past, these alien invasion attempts have brought humans to the brink of extinction, but Continental Ingristhe setting of the game, they managed to stop the crisis together.
As a Descendant, players must protect humanity and lead the counterattack against Vulgus. By doing this they will be able to unravel the mystery behind the invasion: that will be the focus of the main story. .
“As the game will be a game, there is a lot of information to discover. live service: There will be constant updates for the theme and gameplay. Our goal is to deliver exciting stories in every update.”
Inspired by Halo and Metal Gear
After the release of the first trailer, one of the aspects that most interested the community was,aesthetic A hybrid of science fiction, video game and characters with quotes from all over the world. “We were influenced by many dystopian and post-apocalyptic works, as the setting of the game is a world on the brink of extinction. Blame (both the movie and the comic) have moved on to Metal Gear Solid, but it wasn’t just other shooters or other loot marksmen that affected the graphics in our game. But when it comes to gameplay, we were inspired by the battles of now classic masterpieces like Doom and Doom. halo“.
In terms of managing the typical features of an MMO, Lee explained how important it is for the development team not to have those who want to feel left out. play alone. “The First Lineage takes place in Continent Ingris, which is not a large map but consists of several separate chapters. There are two ways to immerse yourself in this world: private mode and the public one. The first allows players to enjoy the story on their own according to their needs, while the general mode is designed to play with other users. The city of Albion is our game center where Descendants can interact with other members of the server”.
Classes and downloads
The First Descendant aims to stand out from the competition, especially in the way it designs its characters, and draws a lot of inspiration from heroic shooters. “The game there is no class system but a set of unique characters, each with a different fighting style. But the look, the story, and the voice acting are also important elements for players, and we believe perfecting the mix of all these factors leads to truly immersive gameplay. Since each character’s fighting style and design must be unique, we decided to avoid 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.”
The characters are not monolithic blocks like in the Blizzard shooter: they can be customized with different characters. load Made of weapons and skills. “Grandchildren are the central axis that players can customize with a range of games. weapons, accessories and runes. Weapons and runes have a variety of effects and additional functions that can be combined to create customized strategies. “Then, without a rare system of items found in the game, there wouldn’t be a loot shooter: ‘There will be three levels but that’s it. The rarer an item is, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s that powerful. The higher the rarity, the more features there are, but the available slots on each character are limited. Combining objects by evaluating the costs and benefits of each is one of the core mechanics of our game. They will be available during the next Steam beta eleven weapon classeseach with a different usability: There will be many ways to customize your load”.
The First Descendant isn’t designed to be an FPS like most of its rivals, just to enhance the uniqueness of its characters. “We chose the third-person perspective because it has a significant advantage: players can see their characters during the game. As mentioned earlier, the focus of the experience is Descendants, and to highlight them, we decided to adopt a third-person perspective. Additionally, The First Descendant is quite action-packed. A focused shooter: we thought the third-person perspective was more advantageous to harmoniously combine skills, melee attacks, high movement speed, and special moves like hooks”.
Migrating to Unreal Engine 5
What wonders have we been talking about for a while?unreal engine 5, but the Epic Games graphics engine is still young, and adopting it for 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 surprised by the visual quality. Although I have to admit that I was a little worried as development is already at a semi-advanced stage, I have to admit that the graphics are unforgettable. It was able to showcase it – said Lee. The functionality that really convinced us to make this investment of time and effort was Lumen. It’s practically a way of managing the game’s lighting in real time. After seeing it, we told ourselves that we couldn’t leave a project that would be described as a new generation without implementation. All team members are now very happy with the results. .
Updates and monetization
Ghost of Bioware/EA’s MMORPG Anthem, which failed for zero post-launch support, hovers over all new live-service titles, and Lee wants to reassure future gamers about The First Descendant’s longevity. “We’ll have major and minor updates after launch. Thanks to major updates, the story will continue with new levels and new enemies. Smaller updates, which will be more frequent than major ones, will add new characters, weapons, runes, and bosses. We can still communicate exactly how often they’ll be out.”
But there is another aspect that worries new fans of the game even more. “I know many players are worried about monetization, and after The First Descendant was announced we were surprised to find that many feared the excessive pay-to-pay aspects of Nexon games model. monetization will not be significantly different from other games of the same genre. Paid items will be available, but to progress in the game The equipment, runes, and characters needed can be earned through the game.” Only by trying it by hand will we be able to see how well it will serve to bridge the gap between those who spend it and those who decide to stay free to play.
The first open beta of the game will be held on PC only from October 20-26, and you need to apply on The First Descendant page on Steam to participate. First Descendants will be able to experience some story missions and try out some endgame events, both solo and co-op. Speaking of which, the developers at Nexon Games said they were particularly excited about how they designed the game’s strongest enemies. “The massive bosses of our raids require a four-person team face-to-face, and each has its own special arena. There are different types of bosses, and we’ve broken them down by difficulty. Each has a repetitive mechanic and a unique mechanic. For example, all bosses can be targeted with grapple. It has certain parts but you need an effective strategy to nip it and damage it. There will be intuitive bosses and complex bosses with secret mechanics that require a high level of cooperation.”
Source: Multiplayer
