If one thing keeps me returning to a video game, it's loot. Once limited to RPGs, loot has entered all kinds of video game genres, including shooters. Thus, the looter shooter was born.
Welcome! This column is part of a series in which members of the Tom's Guide staff share what they're playing and enjoying right now, with the goal of helping you find great games that you might want to play next. Be sure to check out our last entry, where we talked about Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree and how it's as good as most full games.
Games like Borderlands, Destiny and Warframe have sat atop the shooting and looting throne for years, and plenty have come along to try to take the spot. The Division, Anthem and Outriders tried to pull players from the long-running games with varying degrees of success.
I admit I got caught in the hype for all of those games, only to find myself back in the comfortable arms of my Hunter in Destiny 2. Eventually, I got bored with Destiny 2 (Borderlands and Warframe, too) and completely fell off the looter shooter genre.
But that's changed with The First Descendant, which has fully sucked me back in. The last time I had this much fun plugging an enemy with bullets and watching colored loot fall out of them was the first time I played Borderlands. I'm back in, and it feels so good.
So much to do, so much to see
Like most of these games, your first foray into the hub city feels like someone threw up icons all over a map. But once you figure out what each NPC and other intractable is, it'll feel as comfortable as navigating Destiny 2's tower. You'll know how to get from the Descendant trainer to the research NPC. It starts to feel like a second home, which is what I want from a game like this.
Once you enter the various combat zones, you'll realize there's much to do. You'll be busy with this game for a long time between the main story-based missions and the fun side missions that get you new guns, equipment and even new Descendants.
Each zone looks and feels different enough that you won't feel like you're just rehashing the same old content. Sure, some of the mission types can be repetitive, but that's par for the course in games like Warframe and Destiny 2. How many times can you defend this thing from enemies and gather intel on that thing? For me, the answer is thousands as long as the shooting and powers feel good to play with.
Didn't make sense not to live for fun
At the end of the day, a game you're going to spend hundreds of hours in needs to be fun. If the gameplay is boring, it doesn't matter how much stuff is in it. Thankfully, the shooting and powers tucked into The First Descendant are enjoyable. As you level each Descendant, their abilities become more powerful, giving you the sense that you're growing with the content.
Most importantly, pointing your gun at enemies from a third-person perspective feels good. The shots have a satisfying thud when they hit the various enemy types. Speaking of enemy types, the developers developed some interesting mechanics to keep them alive longer without simply making all bullet sponges (though some do exist). There are exciting uses of shields and evasive maneuvers that even rank-and-file enemies use to fight.
The game is just fun. NEXON Games took elements from all of the popular looter-shooters and mixed them together to make you feel satisfied and accomplished as you play. Players of the genre are here to shoot stuff, get loot and get stronger, and this game delivers on that and then some.
You'll never know if you don't go
I can talk about how much fun the game is until I'm blue in the face, but it's free, so you should play it. If you've ever enjoyed shooting things and collecting loot while performing various quests in an RPG-like game, you'll love The First Descendants. With it being available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PS4, and PC, nothing stops you from getting in and shooting it out.
Sure, there are microtransactions, but after several hours digging into the game, unlocking new Descendants and finding tons of cool loot, I haven't spent a penny. I might buy something to support the developer and the extraordinary game they created, but I don't feel like I must in order to have fun.
Of course, like most people with a full-time job and responsibilities, I haven't made it to the end game yet, and that's the key to any game like this. If it doesn't have a good late game, players, myself included, will fall off quickly. I've read about it, and it sounds fun, but it'll be a test to see if it can keep me sucked in for the long haul.
