The First Descendant Preview: Beautiful Carnage

gamerant.com:

The First Descendant is a marvel to look at; between the character models and semi-open world, fans of Borderlands and other Looter/Shooters will instantly be familiar with it. The trailer released in August paints an exciting and impressive world to explore, and going hands-on with the game for the first 2 hours is awe-inspiring, especially during the beautifully animated and rendered cutscenes that play in between each mission area.

The general flow of an area is simple. First, players will enter a region through a teleportation device where an introductory mission will await. This mission will then have players explore and kill inside the area until they complete all objectives. Upon completion, another quest will open up, usually around the same place where the previous one ended, ensuring that players need not look far for the next story objective.

Attempting to explore outside of missions also reveals how empty the world is, as enemies do not spawn until after activating a quest. The problem only increases with the ability to unlock more characters later by grinding materials, which players can find on the corpses of fallen foes. Players must either repeatedly complete the same objectives or partake in a horde mode with others in a squad. The advantage of horde mode is that players can grind more easily, as enemies throw themselves headfirst into shotgun blasts.

After completing all primary objectives, players will unlock the horde mode. Once horde mode is activated, a specified site will overflow with enemies eager to kill players and the item they are defending. This mode is perfect for players who are looking for more of a particular resource or want to find a new gun. Being at the end of an area ensures that the