It's a joy of PC gaming that you never know what breakout hit will dominate the Steam charts in a given month. This week it's not an unknown indie making waves, but a South Korean publishing giant whose games rarely catch fire in the west: Nexon. Its new looter shooter The First Descendant peaked at 203,244 players today despite only 51% of its Steam reviews being positive.
It's not entirely clear to me why The First Descendant is so huge—I've been extremely bored by it so far—but I have some guesses. It's pretty, high-budget, and as far as I know, there are no paywalled missions. It's a big game you can squeeze a lot out of for free.
Nexon would love it if you paid up to unlock more characters, the battle pass, and expensive cosmetics, but after a few hours working through the campaign, it's nice that I'm not getting nagged to open my wallet. It's also a great time for a free-to-play, low brain activity grindfest to hit. We're in a summer drought for big games, the kiddos are home, and my fellow desert dwellers are holed up during a streak of 100+ degree days.
The First Descendant is something to do. I wager The First Descendant's biggest appeal (beyond its cast of exclusively and comically beautiful supermodels) is how hard it's ripping from Destiny 2's playbook. The creative borrowing goes beyond The Divisions or Warframes of the world—everything from the makeup of The First Descendant's loadouts and gun types, to its premise, social hub, MMO lexicon, iconography , a.