I will try to save you some time by recommending Destiny 2 from the start. Yes, I am putting the cart before the horse, but there isn’t much else to say if you’re an experienced Destiny player.
Destiny 2 is literally more Destiny, but with a lot of smart improvements added in; therefore, if you were thinking about the game I would suggest you stop reading and go buy it already. If you need more convincing, I am happy to argue in favour of Destiny 2 for a few more paragraphs.
When you look at Destiny 2 in pieces or as a package, you can’t help but be impressed by what Bungie has accomplished. The visuals are objectively beautiful, and the item density of the game spaces has a lived-in feeling that makes the world seem alive. The controls are nearly identical to the previous game, but that’s fine because both games felt extremely responsive. The assistance features—like headshots—help just enough to make you feel like a god.
The digital artwork that makes up the solar system in Destiny is modelled as realistically as possible, and when science fiction takes over, it remains interesting. The voice acting is pretty solid, but how could it be bad with Bill Nighy, Gina Torres, Lance Reddick, Nathan Fillion, and others laying down vocals?
The music is also well done.
I should also mention that the story of Destiny 2 is a massive improvement on the previous game, but that bar is so low that Bungie had to bury it in the ground before they could step over it. It is also kind of disappointing in its own right. Without spoilers, I will simply say that the story of Destiny 2 is all about the journey and not the destination. There are a lot of awesome moments along the way, but it just limps off stage towards the end.
You should also accept that most of the questions you have from Destiny will not be answered. Who and where is the Stranger? What happens to the Queen’s brother? Why are the Taken still around? Didn’t we destroy the being that was controlling them? For that matter, didn’t I kill the Vex’s god? Destiny 2 is a self-contained story, and you will have to accept that any previous progress does not matter here.
Once you do accept that, you can focus on the gameplay of Destiny 2, and that is where the true fun will be found. A few weeks back, I wrote that the Madden franchise has the most gameplay for the price tag, but now I am forced to reconsider that statement. Destiny 2 starts with the campaign narrative out of the box, but slowly opens up to allow you to roam the various game spaces. Out in the open you will find community events, loot dungeons, individual quests with light narratives, and plenty of dancing with anyone who passes by.
After that, you can try your hand at one of the game’s various multiplayer modes, which make up for their unoriginality in sheer numbers. You can run the regular Strikes – 3-player missions that you grind for loot – or you can play the weekly Nightfall version of a Strike to test your skills. If you still need something to do, you can try your hand at a Leviathan raid. It’s an assassination mission to take out a high-ranking Cabal official who has somehow discovered and remodelled his base after ancient Egypt. Parts of it seem a little repetitive, but there are several secret paths around the map that will have YouTubers posting videos for weeks to come.
Luckily for those of you who want to play the raid, you’ll have an easier time finding a group this time around. Among the many new features is something called Guided Games, which allows you to temporarily team up with experienced players to access the more difficult parts of Destiny 2. It’s also a perfect representation of why I enjoy Destiny 2 so much. The original Destiny was a fun game, but most players agree that it was riddled with problems. Bungie took the opportunity to improve any part of the game that they thought they could improve, and that resulted in the Director.
The Director is a tool that allows you to navigate the maps of Destiny 2 from anywhere in the game. I know it doesn’t sound exciting, but it means you no longer have to go into space to load your next mission. Engrams are also now sorted in their own section of your inventory, and you no longer have to constantly switch weapons to take down shielded enemies.
The mission checkpoints are a little more reasonable this time around, and it is much easier to walk from activity to activity. The list of improvements goes on, but I know these are not the most exciting things to discuss, so I will just say that they all contribute to a better overall experience.
Unfortunately, that overall experience is not perfect. My biggest complaint about Destiny 2 is the multiplayer team sizes. This time around, Bungie decided to drop the multiplayer teams down to 4v4, and that’s not surprising since this is the studio that made Halo; however, dropping two people per team has had an unintended consequence: Destiny 2 multiplayer usually ends up being a one-sided battle.
I’ve played several games online against other players, and I’ve never seen a close game. I was either on a team that was dominating from the start, or I was on a losing team that was just sitting tight. This wasn’t as much of an issue in the original Destiny, as the six-player teams allowed for a few bad shots to be taken without blowing the game, but if you’re going to pick up Destiny 2, just know that you’re going to have to bring your A-game to the Crucible.
Shaders are also a big issue, but probably not for the reason you think. As everyone recently reported, a lot of the cosmetic aspects of Destiny 2 will be sold for real money. This isn’t really an issue since you don’t need this stuff to play the game, but as a result of this direction, Bungie has drastically changed the way shaders work. Before, everyone had a shader that covered their entire body and could be reused.
Now, each shader only covers a single piece of equipment – armour, torso armour, helmets, etc. – and once used, it’s gone forever. This makes the whole shader system completely useless since there is no point in applying shaders until the very end if you keep your gear. As a result, everyone has the style of a thrift store exploding on them, and it doesn’t look good. The last issue seemed like the biggest problem, but for me, it was the smallest.
Destiny used to give you markers along the way to show you where the next objective was. This hasn’t changed drastically, but I feel like Bungie has taken the training wheels off a bit this time around. As a result, expect to get lost a little more often in Destiny 2 because the navigation icons have less of a hold on you, and they may not always direct you to the exact place you need to go.
There is no reason to debate the idea of buying Destiny; a gut reaction is more than enough this time. The issues I just mentioned did negatively impact my experience, but only by a fraction. The overall product is great, and while it may be reductive, it is also accurate to call this game more Destiny. The majority of the changes are positive, and they are built on a solid foundation of gameplay. When people look back on this franchise in the years to come, I have a feeling that Destiny 2 will be seen as a turning point.
