Developer Nexon has released the first post-launch update for The First Descendant, which adds some much-needed improvements to the game after its rocky launch.
Hotfix 1.0.1 is out now for PC, PlayStation, and Xbox, and specifically improves performance on PlayStation 5 (the PS5 version has significant framerate issues). It also includes gameplay adjustments and fixes for various bugs. The volume of the logo sound when launching the game has also been adjusted.
In gameplay, knockback and knockdown recovery times have been accelerated by 1.5x, and the maximum use of the Eterllick shield ability per stage has been reduced from twice to once. However, there are no changes to The First Descendant’s heavily criticized monetization, which some have called “microtransaction hell.”
Nexon’s free-to-play co-op-focused looter shooter, a sort of fusion of Warframe and Destiny, launched on June 30 and has seen huge player numbers on Steam (Sony and Microsoft do not disclose player numbers for PlayStation and Xbox). On Valve’s platform, The First Descendant has seen 239,513 peak concurrent players to date, enough to put it in Steam’s top five most-played games. Check out IGN’s The First Descendant review is in progress to hear what we think of the game so far.
But the launch has been plagued by significant issues, including the aforementioned framerate issues and crashing problems, with many players still waiting for promised rewards, including Twitch drops. Nexon has apologized multiple times and offered compensation in the form of in-game resources and items, but that hasn’t stopped the complaints. Nexon even had to ask players to prevent players from purchasing the same item multiple times through Steam or the PlayStation or Xbox platform stores, as they would not get what they paid for.
The full patch notes for the First Descendant hotfix 1.0.1:
Platform & System
- Fixed an issue where the logo sound was too loud when starting the game.
- Server and client stabilization has been performed.
- (PS5) Removed unintended factors that degraded performance.
- (PS5, XSX) Fixed an issue where FSR Upscale was not working properly.
Content improvements
- Recoil and takedown times have been increased by 1.5 times.
- The maximum use of the Eterlick Shield ability per phase has been reduced from 2 times to 1 time.
Bugfixes
(1) User Interface/UX
- Fixed the issue where the back button did not work after closing the capacity exceedance popup in the module enhancement UI.
(2) Descendant
- (XB1) Fixed an issue where other players’ heads wearing skins would occasionally not display.
(3) Module
- Fixed the issue where the ‘Skill Power Modifier’ number was not applied correctly after the level 5 buff of the ‘Lethal Infection’ module.
- Fixed the issue where the ultimate module drop animation was used when the normal module ‘High-Power Rounds Capacity Increase’ was dropped.
(4) Field
- Fixed an issue where object destruction animations were not appearing in the strategic outpost.
- Fixed an issue where the name and description of the NPC Dominique in the Hagios region were displayed incorrectly.
(5) Equipment
- Fixed the issue where the guided round of the ultimate weapon ‘Restored Relic’ would not apply the ‘Ancient Fire’ status effect.
- Fixed the tooltip error for the Fire skill power of the 2-set effect External Components ‘Active Volcano’.
- Fixed the tooltip error for the weaknesses of the ‘Frozen Heart’ External Components 4 set effect.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].