The First Descendant’s rough launch continues, with players reporting significant frame-rate drops across PC and console.
Nexon’s free-to-download looter shooter launched big this week with a high concurrent player count on Steam, but user reviews are ‘mixed’ in response to what some are calling “microtransaction hell” as well as various performance problems and rewards issues. 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 problems. Nexon has acknowledged this and suggested a workaround.
The developer is linking these frame-rate issues to those who pre-downloaded The First Descendant, and suggested that if you run into the problem you delete the game and reinstall it “as a temporary solution.” Meanwhile, Nexon said it is investigating further.
Players report mixed results using this temporary solution, with some saying it helps improve the frame-rate on PC, but those on console appear to still be having trouble.
That’s not the only issue affecting The First Descendant at the moment. Nexon has offered compensation to players for launch troubles that have seen promised rewards fail to turn up. Some players say they haven’t received the premium currency they’ve paid real-world money for, either.
Per Nexon, here’s a list of all current The first Descendant issues the developer is working to fix:
[July 3rd (Wed) ]
■ (Additional) Issue with the Partial Distribution of Beta Test Rewards
– It has been identified that some rewards for participating in the 2022 Steam Beta Test and the 2023 Cross-Play Open Beta Test have not been distributed.
– We are currently verifying the information regarding the undelivered rewards and will redistribute them as soon as possible.
[July 2nd(Tue) ]
■ (Additional) Frame drop issues for pre-download
– We have received reports from some Descendants who pre-downloaded the game are experiencing frame drops.
– We are currently investigating this issue. In the meantime, if you encounter this problem, please delete and reinstall the game as a temporary solution.
■ (Additional) Issue where players are immediately moved after starting mission in Special Operations
– Found issue where players are immediately moved to Albion after starting the mission when entering special operations. Partial fixes have been implemented, and a complete fix is currently in progress.
■ (Additional) Issue of Players being occasionally placed into servers without other players during field transfers
– Found when transferring fields solo, players are occasionally placed on a server with no other players existing.
– Void Intercept battle, Infiltration Operations, and Special Operations matching works fine, also transferring fields as a party, all party members are placed on the same server as normal.
■ Temporary solutions for client termination issues with certain antivirus Programs
– We have requested for exceptions for The First Descendant to antivirus programs, but some have not been implemented. Below are temporary solutions for this problem.
(1) ‘Bitdefender’ Temporary Solution [FAQ]
– Go to System Protection > Advanced Threat Detection (ATD) > Manage Exclusions menu, select the file or folder for The First Descendant, and save.
(2) ‘McAfee Agent’ Temporary Solution [FAQ]
– Go to McAfee Security > Navigation > Quarantined and Trusted Items, select TheFirstDescendant.exe from the quarantined programs list, and restore it.
■ Solutions for ‘Easy Anti-Cheat’ not functioning correctly
– If Easy Anti-Cheat malfunctions, refer to the FAQ for solutions. If the issue persists, please contact customer support with relevant screenshots.
– Customer Support Access: Official Website > Customer Support > FAQ > Contact Us
■ Delay when purchasing items through baskets on PlayStation Store.
– When purchasing multiple items through the basket from the PlayStation Store, there may be a delay of the items to be delivered to your inventory.
■ Case for ‘Lethal Infection’ module. After enhancing ‘Lethal Infection’ module to level 5 we found that ‘Skill Power Modifier’ does not fully function.
– An issue where the ‘Skill Power Modifier’ does not increase correctly after enhancing ‘Lethal Infection’ module from level 4 to level 5 has been identified.
■ Unused items appearing in Access Info
– Some consumable items that have not been used are appearing in the information browsing list.
■ Sharen’s ‘Active Camouflage’ skill issue
– When using Sharen’s ‘Active Camouflage’ skill, it untargets the named monsters, switching their condition to non-combat mode, causing their HP to recover rapidly.
■ Ultimate Weapon’s kill not being counted for quests that require ‘Kill with Specific Weapon’.
– Monsters killed using the unique ability of an ultimate weapon are not being counted correctly for quests (e.g., Battle Pass challenges, Awards) that require kills with a specific weapon.
■ Weapon Module Enhancement display issue
– On Weapon Module Enhancing screen, the reduction effect of module capacity, due to socket type assignment is not being displayed correctly. Although the display of each individual module capacity reduction effect is not shown correctly, the summed 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 Fortress area are dropping common items from the Kingston region.
■ Incorrect display of Hagios Region Dominique NPC name and description
– The name and description of the Dominique NPC in the Hagios region is mis-displayed.
■ Monster Errors in White-night Gulch
– In the Infiltration Operation ‘Bio-Lab’ in White-night Gulch, monsters sometimes get stuck in the terrain.
– In the hatchery within the White-night Gulch region, monsters occasionally do not appear when progressing with void shard activities
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.