While The First Descendant is mostly built from Warframe DNA, players have noticed that a number of in-game icons look awfully like ones from Destiny 2. One would be a coincidence, maybe, but there are many, and this is without checking more than a low % of all the icons in the game.
In this case, you can see that there are tiny tweaks to almost all of them, a “copy my homework without making it look like you copied it” type situation, but it’s pretty clear that if these weren’t flat-out taken from Destiny they were copied almost exactly with those small additions or subtractions added.
While I’m not sure anything else is 1:1 like this in the game, played have noticed a gun that looks a lot like a Destiny 2 design. The gun in question is the Different Dream, which you can see above. And the idea is that it has taken its design aesthetic from the IKELOS series of weapons in Destiny 2, namely the IKELOS sniper:
And more so the Sleeper Simulant.
The question is whether it was taken or a tribute. I don’t know. It certainly resembles the aesthetic, but it’s definitely not an exact copy. That barrel and Sleeper’s look extremely close, obviously. Though the fact that the gun is called “Different Dream” makes me think it could be a tribute rather than a rip-off. I am…almost willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. The icon thing is worse, if you ask me, and if they did it there…
There are a few other things, so far. There’s one shielded enemy with a weak spot in the center that reacts essentially identically to a Cabal Phalanx when it’s struck. There is of course one of the main pieces of art of the game that was compared to Destiny ahead of release, though that’s a little freeze orb, not a ghost.
Generally speaking, The First Descendant feels like an amalgam of a bunch of games with relatively few original concepts. Again, it is at least 85% Warframe DNA in almost every possible way, with more intrusive and expensive microtransactions (though even those are mostly from Warframe too).
I think a lot of this could be overlooked even if the “inspiration” is clear, if you can call it that. But the icons are problematic and I do wonder if Bungie will try to do anything about it. I do not know if other icons may be from other games I don’t play. I will continue looking for more comparison points, and submit any you may have to me on Twitter.
I’ve reached out to Nexon and Bungie for comment, and will update if I hear back.
Update: Adding more as they come in:
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