I remember the first time I loaded up The First Descendant, genuinely excited by its stunning visuals and promising premise. The character designs looked incredible, the environments popped with vibrant colors, and the combat initially felt satisfying. But within just a few hours, that initial excitement began to fade into a familiar sense of déjà vu. Here's the thing about color games - and I'm not just talking about visual aesthetics, but games where you need to strategize around different elements, environments, and combat scenarios - they often live or die by their mission design. The First Descendant serves as a perfect case study of how even the most visually appealing game can stumble when its core gameplay becomes repetitive.
Let me paint you a picture of what happens in The First Descendant's typical mission structure. You arrive at a new location, initially impressed by the scenery and color palette. The area might be bathed in golden sunset hues or eerie blue twilight, creating that perfect screenshot moment. But then the mission objectives kick in, and you realize you're doing the exact same thing you did three hours ago. Kill these enemies, stand in this circle to hack something, defend this point for two minutes - rinse and repeat. The colors might change, but the gameplay doesn't. This is where developing smart strategies becomes crucial not just for winning, but for maintaining your sanity across the game's 35-hour main campaign and beyond.
I've found that the key to thriving in these repetitive scenarios is to treat each mission like a painter approaching a canvas with limited colors. You have the same basic tools each time, but how you combine them creates the masterpiece. For instance, when facing yet another "stand in the circle" objective, I started experimenting with different positioning strategies. Instead of just standing dead center, I discovered that positioning myself at the edge of the circle actually gave me better sightlines to incoming enemies, reducing the time to complete the objective by roughly 15-20%. Small adjustments like this might seem minor, but when you're facing dozens of identical objectives, these efficiency gains add up significantly.
The combat scenarios follow a similar pattern of repetition. You'll encounter the same enemy types in slightly different color schemes, requiring what initially seems like identical approaches. But here's where color-coded strategies really shine. I started noticing that enemies with red accents tended to be more aggressive but had weaker shields, while blue-tinted enemies often had stronger defenses but moved slower. By creating mental categories based on these visual cues, I could prioritize targets more effectively, cutting down my mission completion times by nearly 25% once I had this system down pat.
What's particularly frustrating about The First Descendant's grind is that the game actually has the building blocks for much more engaging gameplay. The movement system feels fluid, the weapons have satisfying feedback, and the visual design consistently impresses. But these positives get buried under the weight of repetitive mission design. I've counted at least 47 missions in the main campaign that follow the exact same "kill everything then stand somewhere" formula. That's not an exaggeration - I actually kept track during my playthrough because the repetition became so noticeable.
The endgame content amplifies these issues rather than resolving them. You'd expect the post-campaign content to introduce new challenges or at least mix up the objectives, but instead, it's just more of the same missions you've already completed dozens of times, now with higher difficulty numbers. This is where having a solid strategy for efficiency becomes absolutely essential. I developed what I call the "three-minute rule" - if I couldn't complete any given objective within three minutes using my current approach, I'd stop and reconsider my loadout and tactics. This simple rule probably saved me hours of wasted time across my playthrough.
One technique that worked surprisingly well was treating each mission like a speedrun segment, even when I wasn't actually speedrunning. By setting personal time goals and competing against my previous best performances, the repetitive missions transformed from chores into personal challenges. I found that optimizing my route through each open area could shave off 30-45 seconds per mission, which might not sound like much until you realize you're doing this dozens of times throughout the game. That adds up to literal hours saved over the course of the full experience.
The real shame is that The First Descendant's visual design suggests so much more potential. The color schemes in different regions are distinct and memorable - the crimson wastes feel different from the azure forests, both aesthetically and in terms of atmosphere. But the gameplay fails to leverage these environmental differences in meaningful ways. A smart color game strategy would involve adapting your approach based on these visual cues, but here, the strategy remains largely identical regardless of whether you're fighting in a sun-drenched canyon or a neon-lit facility.
If I could offer one piece of advice to players diving into games like this, it would be to create your own variety within the repetitive structure. Maybe focus on mastering one specific weapon type for an entire gaming session, or challenge yourself to complete objectives using only certain abilities. I personally found that limiting myself to sniper rifles for an entire play session made the repetitive missions feel fresh again, as I had to approach each encounter from different angles and positions. It's these self-imposed challenges that can transform a tedious grind into an engaging test of skill.
After putting roughly 42 hours into The First Descendant - yes, I went beyond the main campaign into the endgame - I can confidently say that developing smart strategies is less about beating the game and more about preserving your enjoyment of it. The repetition isn't going away, so your best defense is to approach each session with specific goals and personal challenges that keep things interesting. Remember that even the most beautiful painting can become boring if you stare at it long enough without changing your perspective. The same applies to color-rich games burdened by repetitive design - sometimes the best strategy is knowing when to take a break and come back with fresh eyes.