The First Descendant players slam “unacceptable” PS5 performance issues at launch

The First Descendant’s launched with a slew of performance problems, particularly on PlayStation 5, that players have labeled as “unacceptable.”

Players who participated in The First Descendant‘s beta phases experienced issues such as stuttering and lag. Developers have optimized the looter shooter since then, but its global launch on PC and consoles still boasts more than its fair share of hiccups.

A mega-thread on the game’s subreddit highlights the troubles players have encountered, thus far, which include FPS and download errors on consoles, game crashes, and Out of Video Memory errors on PC.

The PS5 version has received the brunt of the criticism, with Reddit users blasting its Performance Mode as “straight-up unacceptable.” Several other PS5 owners chimed in to say they’ve similarly experienced distracting FPS drops, especially in larger areas like Kingston.

Meanwhile, PS4, PC, and Xbox users claim the performance issues on their end seem minimal at most. One person even recommended downloading the PS4 iteration and playing in Performance Mode because they’re “getting 60fps and it runs much better.”

I’m having a lot of fun but so far there’s quite a lot of lag on the PS5 when exploring, and graphically it’s super grainy and it looks like all of the textures aren’t being loaded in. Here’s a video showcasing what I mean.
byu/WanderWut inTheFirstDescendant

Elsewhere on Reddit, user WanderWut shared gameplay footage that showcases the performance and graphical troubles besetting The First Descendant’s launch. The video shows weird flickering around various objects including windows, puddles, and foliage.

Notably, this thread also features players recommending that PlayStation users download the PS4 version instead.

In response to the repeated suggestions, one person replied, “And to think I downloaded the PS5 version strictly because I wanted better performance. Normally PS4 versions look and run worse, but apparently not in this case…”

The First Descendant additionally released with a microtransactions glitch that caused trouble for users trying to access premium currency, Twitch drops, and the free PlayStation pack.

While publisher Nexon has compensated players on this front, the developers continue to work on patches that will improve the game’s performance and remove bugs.