Many co-op shooters have entered the fray over the past few years, and one of the most intriguing on the horizon is Nexon’s First Descendant. Developed by Nexon Games’ in-house studio Magnum, this is a sci-fi shooter where the player’s super-powered characters, called “Descendants”, defend humanity against invading forces. Along the way, they’ll face off against hordes of enemies and massive bosses as they shoot and loot. Intrigued by this bold new franchise in one of gaming’s most popular subgenres, we spoke with Lee Beo-jun, Producer and Head of Magnum Studios to learn more about the vision behind First Descendant before its Steam beta next month.
During the interview, Lee Beom-jun discusses how this new co-op shooter IP is trying to stand out, what Nexon wants to learn from the upcoming Steam beta, and why the team made the jump from Unreal Engine 4 to Unreal Engine 5. He also got the first details on how character customization works as well as what players can expect from The First Descendant’s evolving narrative and monetization as a free-to-play title.
Announcement for The First Descendant│TOKYO GAME SHOW 2022 (4K)
Digital Trends: The co-op shooter genre has seen a major resurgence recently. What made this genre appealing to Nexon and how do you plan to create First Descendant stand out from other games in the genre?
Lee Beom-jun: As you said, the cooperative shooter genre has recently been gaining attention again. And I think it’s a genre that’s still growing. We focused on the cooperative shooter genre because we wanted to create an online game that is loved all over the world. I would like to highlight two points that distinguish them First Descendant from other games of the same genre.
The first is our service philosophy. Our goal is to create a game that players will love and enjoy for a long time. We strive to provide constant updates and satisfy our players with stable online services. The second point is related to the game itself. First Descendant has diverse, attractive characters who fight with their unique skill sets and various weapons. Based on this combat mechanism, we offer massive boss battles where players must defeat bosses through cooperation. There are many other points of distinction, but these are the two we feel are the most important.
Digital Trends: How will players be able to customize their character abilities and loadouts in the game?
Lee Beom-jun: Each character’s skill set is fixed because it is the area of their unique background, personality, and strategic combat. However, players can customize their characters and weapons by attaching equipment called “Runes”. Runes provide various functions, such as increasing specific stats or providing additional performance or passives. Players have limited resources for choosing Runes, so they must think about the best Rune setup that suits their playstyle or character traits.
Image used with permission of the copyright holder
For example, if you are playing a character with a high shooting ratio, it would be useful to focus on the defensive stats of the weapon and the character. Whereas if your playstyle consists of skill-based ranged combat, you might want to pick a Rune that will increase the range of your skills or even reduce the cooldown of a skill. The freedom to make all these choices will provide the fun of customizing your game.
Digital Trends: What’s the hardest part of making a brand new IP?
Lee Beom-jun: Like any team, we face difficulties and excitement in developing a new IP. Various amazing games and content are constantly being released in terms of visuals. Therefore, it is not easy to create an outcome that successfully preserves our unique identity and satisfies the taste of many people. We have focused on what our team does best and it is constantly being improved.
During the process, the visual theme shifted from fantasy to sci-fi after getting feedback from people around us, and I’m currently happy with the results. Another attractive aspect of creating a new IP is watching the creativity of different teams come together to form an entirely new universe. I’m really looking forward to seeing how the world that each team has contributed to evolves in the future.
The First Descendant│Official Announcement Reveal (4K)│Gamescom 2022.
Digital trends: How narrative content will be delivered First Descendant?
Lee Beom-jun: We have a main story in the game, and the content is delivered through missions and cinematic cutscenes in the game. We will continue to add these stories with each major update. As you might guess, the character featured in the Gamescom trailer is the main villain of this story. In addition to the main story, several other stories and story settings will be shown through different methods in the game. Uncovering these hidden side stories and background lore will be exciting and fun.
Digital Trends: Why the team chose Unreal Engine 5 as the The first descendant game engine?
Lee Beom-jun: We started developing First Descendant with the latest version of Unreal Engine 4. Unreal Engine 5 was released during our development, and our development team became very interested in its visual quality. Although I was a bit concerned because the development was already quite advanced at that point, I decided to boldly upgrade our game to Unreal Engine 5 for the best visual quality.
The main reason for the upgrade is Nanite and Lumen Unreal Engine 5. In particular, we believe that the lighting quality provided by Lumen, a real-time global lighting solution, is crucial for next-generation projects. Now everyone in the team is delighted with the results.
Image used with permission of the copyright holder
Digital Trends: How you approach monetization First Descendant as a free game? Will you be charging for specific characters, stages, or gear?
Lee Beom-jun: I believe many players are curious and worried about this. Having followed the same path and direction since the beginning of development, we were surprised to see that upon unveiling our game, many players were concerned about the excessive pay-to-win aspects of Nexon’s games. Ultimately, we don’t tend to go for excessive pay-to-win aspects. The monetization model will also not deviate significantly from games of the same genre. There will indeed be paid products, but the characters, gear and stages that are required to play and progress in the game can be earned through gameplay.
Digital Trends: What areas of the game are you hoping to get the most feedback on with the October beta?
Lee Beom-jun: Since this is our first official test, we would like to get feedback on all aspects. However, I am interested in assessing the areas that the development team has worked particularly hard to improve following the closed FGT we held earlier in the year.
Image used with permission of the copyright holder
Since this is a looter shooter, the most critical areas to check, in my opinion, are combat and progression, along with the fun of co-op play. The co-op content and functions have been significantly improved since the closed FGT and I hope players can enjoy playing together. Additionally, I can’t wait to hear user feedback on the visual quality and smooth control (which was previously highly rated), the change in core PvE content, and the UX, which has also been improved by implementing feedback from FGT.
First Descendant is in development for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. The PC open beta will take place on Steam between October 20th and 26th.
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Source: newstars.edu.vn