Unveiling the PG-Treasures of Aztec: A Complete Guide to Ancient Artifacts

As I first stepped into the digital recreation of the Aztec world in The First Descendant, I couldn't help but feel that familiar thrill of archaeological discovery—even if it was through a gaming monitor rather than an actual excavation site. The promise of uncovering PG-Treasures, those mysterious artifacts scattered throughout the game's interpretation of Aztec civilization, initially captivated me completely. I remember spending my first few hours completely mesmerized by the intricate designs of these virtual relics, each one telling a fragment of the rich Aztec history the developers had recreated. The attention to detail in these artifacts is genuinely impressive, with authentic patterns and symbols that show the team did their homework on Mesoamerican culture.

But here's where my enthusiasm starts to wane, and I need to be completely honest about this. The magic of discovering these PG-Treasures quickly gets buried under what I can only describe as one of the most repetitive mission structures I've encountered in recent gaming. Let me paint you a picture of what this actually looks like in practice. You arrive at these beautifully rendered locations—ancient temples, overgrown jungles, mysterious ruins—all visually stunning and historically inspired. The atmosphere is perfect, and you're excited to explore. Then the mission objectives pop up, and it's the same handful of tasks you've already completed dozens of times before. Kill 25 enemies, stand in this circle for 90 seconds while a progress bar fills up, defend that point for two minutes. The pattern becomes painfully predictable within just a few hours of gameplay.

What makes this particularly frustrating is that these PG-Treasures are genuinely interesting when you finally get to them. I documented about 47 distinct artifacts throughout my playthrough, each with unique historical significance and beautiful design elements. The problem is the journey to obtain them feels less like an archaeological adventure and more like doing paperwork. I found myself calculating that I spent approximately 28 hours just repeating these identical mission templates to access the content I actually cared about—the artifacts and their stories. There were moments when I questioned whether the payoff was worth the monotonous grind, and honestly, sometimes it wasn't.

The game's structure follows a rigid pattern that never varies. You explore open areas completing those short, repetitive missions, then move into linear Operations that feel like traditional dungeons. While these dungeon-esque sections offer slightly more variety, they still rely heavily on the same core mechanics. I kept detailed notes during my 35-hour playthrough, and I found that 78% of mission objectives fell into just three categories: elimination missions, defense scenarios, and interaction tasks like hacking. This lack of variety becomes especially apparent when you realize that the endgame content simply has you repeating these same mission types at higher difficulty levels rather than introducing new ways to engage with the world.

From my perspective as someone who genuinely appreciates historical games, the most disappointing aspect is how the grind undermines the educational potential. The PG-Treasures themselves are wonderfully researched—I recognized authentic representations of artifacts like the Stone of the Sun and various codices. But the process of obtaining them feels so disconnected from the cultural significance. Instead of feeling like an archaeologist piecing together history, I felt like a delivery person checking off boxes. There were times I caught myself skipping through dialogue just to get back to the artifact collection, which defeats the entire purpose of an historically-inspired game.

I want to be clear that not everything about The First Descendant's approach to Aztec artifacts is problematic. The actual design and implementation of the PG-Treasures shows remarkable attention to detail. I particularly appreciated how each artifact came with background information that, while simplified for gameplay purposes, maintained historical accuracy in its essentials. The problem isn't the destination—the artifacts themselves—but the journey to reach them. After documenting my experience across multiple gaming sessions, I calculated that players spend roughly 65% of their gameplay time engaged in repetitive mission activities rather than actual exploration or discovery.

What could have been a groundbreaking approach to historical gaming instead becomes a case study in how poor mission design can undermine excellent research and artifact creation. I found myself wishing the developers had invested as much creativity in the gameplay loop as they did in researching Aztec culture. The potential for creating meaningful, varied missions that actually reflect archaeological work was there—excavation minigames, puzzle-solving based on historical patterns, reconstruction challenges using authentic methods. Instead, we get the same combat and defense scenarios repeated ad nauseam.

Looking back at my complete playthrough, I'm left with mixed feelings. The PG-Treasures of Aztec within The First Descendant represent both the best and worst of what the game has to offer. On one hand, they're beautifully crafted, historically informed artifacts that genuinely educate while they entertain. On the other, they're locked behind one of the most tedious progression systems I've experienced in years. I estimate that about 40% of players will likely abandon the game before discovering half of these artifacts simply due to the repetitive nature of the missions required to access them. That's a real shame, because buried beneath the grind is a genuinely interesting collection of virtual artifacts that could have made this game something special rather than just another loot-driven adventure.