10 ways The First Descendant is just like Warframe

The First Descendant just launched, but it’s hard to shake off how closely related it is to its competition– Warframe. While the two games will stand independently in the same landscape, there are just some glaringly similar things. 

If you want to see how close things are with the two games, just see these comparisons below.

10 ways The First Descendant is just like Warframe

The Descendants are literally just Warframes

I hate to be so brash right from the get-go, but as a Warframe player coming into the game, the classes, their presentation, and ability setups just scream Warframe. At the beginning, you have three classes to choose from, all with four different unlockable abilities. Every Descendant has a passive, too, complementing their intended playstyle. 

There are many more after the beginning hours of the game. You can obtain them either with the premium currency, Caliber, or by grinding out specific items for the Descendants. The process is the same in Warframe; you either buy one outright with the game’s premium currency or by grinding out specific components for them.

Ultimate Descendants are just Prime Warframes

If you scroll around in the game’s confusing menus, you can see that there are different variations of the standard Descendants with the ‘Ultimate’ prefix. They play and act the same as their normal counterparts, just with slightly better stats. They also come with hefty price tags. Not to mention, each Ultimate Descendant in the shop is all decked out in whites and greys with some gold trimming.

In terms of Prime Warframes, they play the same as their base forms, just with slightly better stats. They come in expensive bundles too, and sport similar base color schemes as those we see in The First Descendant’s shop.

The modding system feels the same as Warframe

The moment I saw the modding screen for weapons and the Descendants, it felt like a one-to-one layout of the Warframe modding system. Weapons and Descendants have mod slots with symbols that, when paired with a mod with the same shape, have their costs cut in half. It’s literally the same as Warframe, just with different terminology.

Mod capacity depends on levels and matching slots. You can even upgrade these mods to make them more potent in your builds in The First Descendant. People who don’t play these types of games are going to be so confused by the complexity of these menus, but Warframe veterans will pick this up within minutes.

Don’t even get me started on the Energy Activators, which are basically the Orokin Catalysts and Reactors of The First Descendant. Want to have more mod capacity on your stuff? Pop one of these, and you can customize your builds even further.

The movement is all too familiar

In Warframe, you’re almost always sprinting, zipping around, and double jumping as a means of getting around fast and staying alive. Here in The First Descendant, you’re doing the same. Double jumping and sprinting to your heart’s content is a good way to get through things and stay alive.

The Descendants don’t quite have the limber prowess as the Warframes do, but that gap is narrowed with the grappling hook system. 

Mastery Rank

This one just feels way too similar. The First Descendant has a total of 30 Mastery Ranks to progress through as you gain more XP. Warframe had 30 ranks but has gone past that with constantly new items to grind for.

In any case, every time you rank up in The First Descendant, you’d get more mod space for your weapons and Descendant. Pair that with getting more slots for your inventory and storage. It’s like you have more to work with as you invest more time into the game.

Karel is literally Captain Vor

Vor was the first big bad guy you fought in Warframe. He’s obsessed with this Janus Key that you’ll hear him talk about and how it’s related to the Void. Karel, though? Replace the Janus Key with the Iron Heart. The Void is also present in this game too. You really just can’t hold back how much you want to punch their ugly faces in.

The Guide is basically The Lotus

The Lotus is real in Warframe, but you don’t physically see her until way later. The NPCs you interact with have their reservations about her. In The First Descendant, people feel the same about The Guide. She’s always with you in every mission, helping you. She even has a similar aura to The Lotus: very calm, reassuring, and motherly.

The ammo drops scream Warframe

The ammo drops are basically like Warframe’s, too. Kill groups of enemies, and you see a bunch of colored modules on the ground. You pick things up based on the type of ammunition you need. The rest is just there like a pile of Legos.

The resources and crafting systems are just like Warframe

In both games, there are dozens of different types of resources to collect. Each resource will be useful for crafting something. It’s just a matter of managing your resources and making sure you have what you need. Otherwise, you have to go back to missions where these things drop and repeat the cycle.

Then there’s the crafting system. You need various materials to research new items, oftentimes with steep costs. Not only that, but there are also crafting times, meaning that you have to wait in between crafting stuff before you can use them. If you don’t want to wait, you can instantly finish crafting by spending the game’s premium currency. 

The cosmetic customizations 

There’s almost no contest when it comes to facing off against Fashionframe in Warframe. The First Descendant tries to emulate that in a very good and honest attempt. Allowing for different head, body, chest, and back attachments for your characters. Each attachment can also have different parts of them colored differently. 

It’s quite fun and very easy to fall into this for hours to get your Descendant to look just right. However, it isn’t a fair argument to say that Warframe has better customization. It’s been out for so long that there’s just a lot more stuff you can obtain and customize. It’s more just an observation that similar customization mechanics are in place.

In any case, while The First Descendant will more than likely be compared so much to Warframe because of many key elements pointed out here, it’s still unique in its own right. It’ll just feel all too familiar with a game that’s been around and has evolved in the past ten years.