First Descendant’s rough launch continues, with players reporting significant frame rate drops on PC and console.
Nexon’s free-to-download looter shooter launched widely this week with high concurrent player numbers on Steam, but user reviews have been “mixed” in response to what some are calling “microtransaction hell” as well as various performance issues and problems with the awards. Check out IGN’s The First Descendant review in progress to find out what we think of the game so far.
The main performance issue revolves around frame rate drops across all platforms, which for an action game can cause gameplay issues. Nexon recognized this and offered a workaround.
The developer attributes these frame rate issues to those who pre-downloaded The First Descendant, and suggests that if you experience the issue, you should delete the game and reinstall it “as a temporary solution.” Meanwhile, Nexon said it is investigating further.
Players have reported mixed results using this workaround, with some saying it helps improve frame rates on PC, but those on console still seem to have issues.
That’s not the only issue plaguing The First Descendant right now. Nexon has offered to compensate players for launch issues where promised rewards don’t appear. Some players say they also didn’t get the premium currency they paid real money for.
According to Nexon, here’s a list of all the current issues with the first successor that the developer is working on fixing:
[July 3rd (Wed) ]
■ (Additional) Problem with partial distribution of rewards for beta tests
– Some rewards for participating in the 2022 Steam Beta Test and the 2023 Cross-Play Open Beta Test have been found not to have been distributed.
– We are currently verifying the information regarding the undelivered rewards and will redistribute them as soon as possible.
[July 2nd(Tue) ]
■ (Additional) Prefetch frame drop issues
– We have received reports from some descendants who pre-downloaded the game experiencing frame drops.
– We are currently investigating this matter. In the meantime, if you encounter this issue, please delete and reinstall the game as a temporary solution.
■ (Additional) Issue where players are instantly moved after starting a mission in Special Operations
– Fixed an issue where players would immediately move to Albion after starting the mission when entering Special Ops. Partial fixes have been implemented and a full fix is currently in progress.
■ (Additional) Issue with players occasionally being placed on servers without other players during field transfers
– Found in solo flight transfer, sometimes players are placed on a server without other players.
– Void Intercept battle, Infiltration Operations and Special Operations mapping works fine, also transfers fields as a group, all group members are placed on the same server as usual.
■ Workarounds for client termination issues with certain antivirus programs
– We requested exceptions for The First Descendant from antivirus programs, but some were not met. Below are workarounds for this issue.
(1) Bitdefender Workaround. [FAQ]
– Go to the menu System Protection > Advanced Threat Detection (ATD) > Manage Exclusions, select the file or folder for The First Descendant and save.
(2) McAfee Agent Interim Decision. [FAQ]
– Go to McAfee Security > Navigation > Quarantined and Trusted Items, select TheFirstDescendant.exe from the list of quarantined programs and restore it.
■ ‘Easy Anti-Cheat’ solutions do not function properly
– If Easy Anti-Cheat doesn’t work, see the FAQ for solutions. If the problem persists, please contact customer support with appropriate screenshots.
– Access to Customer Support: Official Website > Customer Support > FAQ > Contact Us
■ Delay when purchasing items via PlayStation Store baskets.
– When purchasing multiple items through the PlayStation Store basket, there may be a delay in the items being delivered to your inventory.
■ Case for the Deadly Infection module. After upgrading the Deadly Infection module to level 5, we found that the Skill Strength Modifier was not fully functional.
– Identified an issue where the “Skill Power Modifier” does not increase correctly after upgrading the Deadly Infection module from level 4 to level 5.
■ Unused items appearing in Access Info
– Some consumables that have not been used are displayed in the information view list.
■ Problem with Sharen’s Active Camouflage skill
– When using Sharen’s Active Camouflage skill, it untargets the specified monsters, switching their state to non-combat mode, causing their HP to recover quickly.
■ Ultimate Weapon kill does not count for quests that require “Kill with Specific Weapon”.
– Monsters killed using an ultimate weapon’s unique ability do not count correctly for quests (eg Battle Pass challenges, rewards) that require kills with a specific weapon.
■ Weapon module upgrade display issue
– On the weapon module upgrade screen, the effect of reducing the module’s capacity due to the slot type assignment is not displayed correctly. Although the display of the capacity reduction effect of each individual module is not displayed correctly, the total amount of module capacity is displayed correctly.
■ Incorrect item drops in certain regions during infiltration operations
– During infiltration operations, destructible objects in regions other than Kingston and the Stronghold region drop common items from the Kingston region.
■ Incorrect display of NPC name and description in Hagios Dominique region
– The name and description of the Dominique NPC in the Hagios region are displayed incorrectly.
■ Monster bugs in White-night Gulch
– In the “Bio-lab” infiltration operation in White-night Gulch, monsters sometimes get stuck in the terrain.
– In the hatchery in the White-night Gulch area, monsters sometimes do not appear when progressing with empty fragment activities
Wesley is the UK news editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can contact Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or privately at wyp100@proton.me.
