Since we’re at a loss for brand new games to talk about, maybe we should try something a little different. I want to talk about how you guys and girls feel about Destiny, two months after its release,.
Why Destiny? Well, probably because it’s interesting. At least I find it interesting. I find it interesting how people engage with it, the way people discuss it. There’s also the manner in which the game is supposed to work commercially speaking — we’re supposed to be talking and engaging with Destiny for years to come. That’s the idea.
But with the first DLC drop available — how does everyone feel about the game?
I was talking to my brother-in-law about the game over the weekend. Destiny is practically all he wants to talk about ever. The language he uses is the language of an addict. He was talking like I imagine those sad strange pokie-people talk. He was using the same vocabulary. He was complaining about the drops, complaining about how the update had changed the way his already leveled gear works. He is ensconced in the meta-game, that much is clear, frustrated with certain aspects of the game, but still — all he wanted to do was go home and play more of the game.
It feels as though I’ve had multiple versions of this same conversation. People who bitch and complain and laugh about Destiny and its problems, then two second later…
“Anyone want to do the raid with me?”
Here’s my two cents: with Destiny, Bungie has created a core so tight it’s almost impossible for them to screw it up, no matter how badly they bork certain aspects of leveling, or the weapons. It doesn’t matter that the game has issues: people are going to play this thing. They’re going to be playing this video game for a long time. It’s an inevitability.
How do you guys and girls see it?
Comments
78 responses to “Community Review: Destiny, Two Months On”
So this is completely off topic… but is that you being interviewed on ABC News 24 rgd. the hostage thing at the moment?
Yeah give us some updates on that situation! I saw you posted a quick video here: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-15/hostages-sydney-cafe-martin-place-police-operation/5967232
Don’t understand why the Opera House was evacuated…
Probably coz there are threats of explosive devices around Sydney. The Opera House would be a prime target.
Probably? None of the mainstream media sources have reported anything about what the (alleged) terrorists have done except that hostages are being forced to hold up an Islamic flag.
They were reporting it this morning, but you’re right, all mention of it has disappeared.
They sent in Elite Dozers
just give me your PSN so I can level you to 26 so we can raid already ya dingus
hey ben, on an unrelated note, i have had two unread notifications that dont link to anything (its been about 3 years now)
any way of clearing them?!?
Just picked up a PS4 a few days ago, haven’t actually got Destiny yet but I have been playing the trial version a bit and really enjoying it so far.
How weird that people are still talking about the game (despite the disappointment). Maybe it seems odd because companies like Activision ingrained the idea so much into our heads that once a game is released it’s quickly forgotten soon after and the next game is advertised.
It might be because the game is actually a lot of fun. In my opinion it is a few mistakes short of being the first actually fun MMO.
Bungie’s philosophy was always “create 30 seconds of fun, polish the shit out of it, repeat it in different ways.” Bungie refined that 30 seconds to an artform. The Halo games are all infinitely replayable because that 30 seconds of fun is so good, but also that their focus on dynamic AI makes each encounter just enough different to stop players doing it on autopilot.
So the brilliant thing about Destiny is it creates a way for people to play that 30 seconds of fun forever. Alone, with friends, as a raid or so on. To great extent, they succeeded! If you stripped away all the gear and levels, Destiny would still be a ridiculously replayable, addictive game – because the gameplay, the enemy AI, everything is so good.
The problem is, somewhere along the line they changed course. Whatever Destiny was before, it only loosely reflected what it is now – and they struggled to adapt the previous content to the new paradigm.
The result: out of about 20 missions, only the 6 strikes and raid are really there for people to play, as well as some vague open worlds. This is half what the Halo games had, and that game wasn’t meant for daily replaying. There is not enough content. The game world is too static and unchanging. There is just, fundamentally, not enough to do.
And if you want more to do, you have to buy the expansion (and if you don’t buy the expansion, we are locking you out of daily strikes. Cheers.)
Destiny is really, really good. There’s just not enough of it, and what there is is pretty clearly cobbled together from content from a different kind of game. People see so much potential in Destiny, and I think people will keep talking about it. Destiny 2, if it realizes Destiny’s potential, will be paradigm-shifting. All the addictiveness and replayability of an MMO, with the fun of polished FPS gameplay. Traditional boring MMOs should be very afraid.
Scotsman called Mark Serrells in Sydney? Yeah, that’d have to be Mark. Hope you guys are all safe.
I played both the Alpha and Beta and thought it was great – i was a little worried about the story in Beta but i thought since its a beta they removed cutscenes to prevent spoilers but boy was i wrong.
I still played destiny for 1 month after release and finished all the content, done the raid, hit level 27 and was kind of done with the game. While i enjoyed the game, i found it was too grindy and i was coming off the immense disappointment the story was in the final ship, especially after reading how butchered the story was and what it was rumored to be. Even now i am still immensely disappointed that this game seems to have been butchered left right and centre from even where it was at 1 year ago with two planets missing, main narrative gone and a lot of great features intended for release seemingly also gone.
But for the past 2 weeks before the DLC dropped i got back into it. I am finding myself unable to put it down. The gameplay and shooting is top notch and yes while the grind is still there, it is lessened somewhat in recent patches and i am finding the crucible enjoyable a long with new challenging PVE content.
Regardless i am enjoying my time with it now but i likely wont be playing it in 1 months time and will need the next DLC to get me back in.
I got to level 26, and being an adult, professional male with no time to trawl through forums and therefore make destiny friends have since given up and gone on to other games. Loved the multiplayer (PvP), but got sick of being told to do Raids that were only accessible if I was in a clan etc. CODAW has replaced Destiny, love it – instant matchmaking.
I’ve played Destiny pretty much exclusively since its release… and I’m chomping at the bit daily to get home and play it again! I do however have a deluge of new games coming in 10 days time 😉 Will be interesting to see if any of them can break the addiction.
That being said, I really enjoy playing Destiny! I’m going to try and knock off Crota tonight before the reset tomorrow, made it all the way to him when then raid went live last week.
I’m the same as you. Just plain addicted. I get home round 6 and play it til 1am without even eating dinner. When I’m working I’m looking up videos etc.
This game will always recieve so much hate. It’s because it was marketed so massively everyone jumpes on to see what it is like.
1 – I don’t care that Activision is involved.
2 – I only like Halo 1. So I’m not a Bungie or Halo fanatic either.
3 – I don’t really like MMO’s
4 – I didn’t get it until 2 weeks afterit’s release and didn’t play the beta at all.
But this game has me hooked. It’s can be glitchy as hell but fun to play as some things can be so challenging.
I only 8 PSN friends now I have like 50 due playing Destiny.
If on Playstation add me if you want.
SoundwaveZabuza
PS3 at the moment, PS4 after Christmas.
My copy of Destiny ended up in the garden in pieces shortly after the content of the first expansion was released. I had been enjoying a few beverages with friends, and I decided to demonstrate my disproval of how royally screwed over I felt. (I should have traded it)
Destiny plays really well, has great multiplayer and looks awesome. But the lack of story, variety and content in general left us with just a tiny glimpse of greatness. That spark left me waiting for expansions to fix that, but they didn’t.
It could have been all they said it would be, but they either rushed release or decided to trickle bits out via paid expansions. Unacceptable.
Hopefully developers learn from where Destiny went wrong, and also where it went right.
I paid my $60 for the base game and despite the flaws had a blast.
But that’s it, game shelved.
The DLC is not worth it. DLC pretty much never is and Destiny has made no progress in changing that.
I picked up the DLC becuase it’s the best game to play with a bunch of friends that’s available at the moment. I was extremely unhappy paying $40 for DLC when the entire game cost me $67. Absolutely ridiculous. The problem is all my friends have the DLC so if I don’t get it I can’t really play with them.
My anger was even further enraged when I found out all the DLC was already in the original game I purchased, all I had to do was pay them to unlock it. So, 10 years ago it would have been included in the original. F%@$#! Micro transactions, DLC RUBBISH!
sorry, the end
The DLC’s not in the game bud.
You know that massive 2.5gb update you did a few weeks ago?
That was it.
The amount of people that get that mucked up is amusing.
You know technically he is right. The rasputin bunker that one of the main story missions in the DLC takes place in has actually been part of the original game since Alpha. While the area itself was not open to anyone prior to this DLC opening up, people were able to glitch into the fully finished area since Alpha – there were just no enemies in it.
I suspect the area was supposed to be part of the original game, was cut as part of stupid butchering of the story and did not fit the new “narrative” and has been retooled for this DLC.
But for the most part – yes the majority of content is new and was added as part of a 2.5gb update patch. Main reason it was patched for everybody was simple – obviously there is a lot of new weapons and armour in the game and non-dlc owners still need those assets to see other players in game.
Oh not to mention nearly all the new bounties are mostly (80% ish) in the same old areas already available in the original game.
Well… IMO bounties are different as they are simply a means to rep grind rather then new content. Plus i really enjoyed the Eris bounty chains as it added new content to existing areas and some of it was quite challenging which was nice.
Sorry about that. My xbox does auto updates. All I know is that when I paid for the update it was 9mb. . My assumption may be wrong. Still doesn’t justify a $40 DLC.
Are you forgetting that the $40 includes 2 DLC’s?
The 2 I was forced to buy? Why couldn’t I buy only the current DLC? I don’t know if I’ll still be playing this game when the 2nd ones comes out. Really silly
Forced to buy? Uhh. If it’s becoming a thing where you’re “forced” to buy it then you might want to re-evaluate the game. Regardless whenever the second DLC comes out (Quite likely earliest is February) you’ll have a slew of new content to try out and see whether you like it.
I’m hoping that HoW has the flavour of Bungie ‘back on their toes’ after their internal blow out a year prior to release, which I believe is the cause of all the major cock-ups we’ve seen as of recently (recently = within the last 12 months of development).
Yeah its totally not cool. There was no option for getting only one part of the DLC. there are many many poor choices here
A quick Playstation Store search yielded in this result:
https://store.sonyentertainmentnetwork.com/#!/en-nz/destiny-expansion-i-the-dark-below/cid=EP0002-CUSA00568_00-DESTINYEXPNPACK1?smcid=pdc:en-us:pdc-games-detail-destiny:buy-download:destiny-ps4-ps4:up0002-cusa00219_00-destinyexpnpack1
Hmmmmm. Not trying to be rude, but you did look, right? :/
Xbox one mate.
I should also probably add that online the xbox store says it is available by itself but through the xbox one store you can only purchase the destiny season pass. Click the individual DLC and it takes you straight to the “season” pass
So when you found this one here:
https://store.xbox.com/en-US/Xbox-One/Dlc/DESTINY-EXPANSION-I-THE-DARK-BELOW/5d64abe6-3d2e-485d-93d1-42271fd9b2b5
It took you to the season pass? Mate, that’s ratshit – but if it’s the store that was acting up I don’t think that would have been Bungies fault. You’d be flinging the insults at Micro$ imo 😛
Need a new writer Kotaku?
Haha sorry, it’s just a funny quote.
The $40 is like a season pass and gives you access to 2x DLC. You could purchase the individual DLC for $25
Yeah man. No option on the xbox one store for individual purchase
Eat, sleep, play destiny, repeat… this has been my life (well work too)… and yet I have no idea why.. the game itself was bitterly disappointing in the story aspect, forces you to grind relentlessly to level your gear, then tells you your gear is obsolete and makes you grind to upgrade / get new gear…
And yet, I can’t stop playing.. Dragon Age and Shadow of Mordor are laying on my pile of shame, with no less then 3 more games being gifted to me at Christmas, I still cant see myself playing anything but Destiny… It’s addiction at it’s core.. you know its bad for you, but you can’t stop doing it!
Very much this for me, I’ve put 400 hours into destiny and have middle earth:shadows of mordor and I really like it but can’t seem to close destiny down to load up mordor and I don’t know why
Whoa 400 hours!? That is insane. Although I’m probably around the 240+ mark now…
I’m like your friend(s) Mark. I play it, I complain a lot about how things should work, I play it some more. Recently I’ve distanced myself a bit and slowed down how many times I’ll play a week as I know it’ll quickly go back to the same old problems once I get tired of the new content.
As you say though, the core game is fairly solid. It’s just the majority of things around it that’re the problem. Weapon & armour drops, leveling up weapons, lack of content etc
I’ve stopped playing. I was enjoying putting a couple hours into it every night until they patched the difficulty balancing one too many times and made the level 28 strikes impossible for my wife and I, both level 29, to finish without a third.
I thought I would go back for the DLC but I’ve heard nothing that makes it seem worthwhile.
I think it’s a good game with a lot of story potential, but I’ve had my fill.
I’ll be jumping in again this week to check the DLC, but I haven’t played since about 2 weeks after it came out. I like to think I’m something of an MMO veteran, and the best explanation I can find for what’s so simultaneously right and wrong with Destiny is as follows.
Destiny has all the worst aspects of an MMO, slapped onto an FPS. The grinding, the repetition, the endless pursuit of ‘completion’ or whatever’s nearest to. The reason it’s less of a problem on an MMO (WoW, Guild Wars 2, SWToR, etc) is you generally have a far larger world to explore, with more variety, more enemies, more everything. You also generally have more than 3 classes, that all play quite differently. Even MMOs become a self-loathing filled grind eventually, just with Destiny it happens far sooner.
On Destiny, you have three classes, and a world that’s honestly not that big or varied. Without the endless MMO-esque grind for gear, weapons, and rep, you’d have literally nothing to do. You wouldn’t play after a week or two. Destiny’s longevity is purely because of the lengthy grind they keep extending. Which is why you get the love/hate relationship I’ve seen and heard a thousand times over, but normally regarding MMOs.
As an FPS though, Destiny is pretty sweet. It plays and handles beautifully, as I would expect from an FPS vet like Bungie. Just beyond that well rounded FPS title, it’s a game of grinding. That’s it. If it was an FPS game, you’d be mortified at how small it is, and how little content there is – but for Destiny it’s OK, because ERMAGHERD GEAR GUNS SHARDS *flails*
The new raid gear is sweet. Oh my lawd, the popped collar that Warlocks get is sick.
EDIT: Destiny has it’s flaws, that’s undeniable. However it still has a flair and compelling sense of addiction for me (as I love both the PvP/Crucible and PvE aspects) and I keep going back. Just leveled up my Warlock to 26 from 8 in the space of … 5-7 hours yesterday and it’s nice having a change from the fistbro style of gameplay.
I’m seeing how people are saying Sun/voidbros = master-race hahaha.
I think I’ve spent way too much time on it but this is the only game so far that I can meet new friends to do those repetitive missions together, loving it!
The greatest 6/10 game I ever played
and… we have a winner!
The thing I’ve found so interesting about this in particular this year – the fact that Destiny is a constant talking point, you see it everywhere, yet Elder Scrolls Online? Nothing.
I don’t play either, but it’s interesting to see how each of them has panned out. Bungie has done an amazing job of grabbing and retaining both its user base and media attention, where as Bethesda hasn’t seen anything after the initial launch – all I’ve really seen from them is to do with The Evil Within. Do people still play ESO? I’d love to know.
I highly doubt I’ll ever go back to it, fun while it lasted despite some of its deep flaws,
I love it…..but I simultaneously dislike it…..I dislike it for the fact I feel like I deserved more story and I dislike it because I feel like there is an amazing, great game in there but it is being hamstrung by the people who created it. Its such a weird feeling to have towards a game and it is one I havent felt before.
Keeps pulling me back and I grumble about that….but love it.
Well I’m still playing it and bought the DLC, so take from that what you will.
Would like to try the raids but still haven’t done any yet though as I haven’t had anyone to raid with (27 Warlock if anyone is interested on PS4).
I think the main thing I like about it is the shooting and everything feels really nice, and since I don’t play non-stop, I can zone out and do a few strikes and bounties without burning out on it.
Opinion remains the same. Its a good template that hasnt been used properly, and is more focused on getting a return on its expense account over being a reasonable AAA game.
I still enjoy it, but I can’t quite define why! It’s a grind, it’s repetitive, there’s barely any content, but for some reason it’s fun, the gameplay is great and I keep going back to it.
Perhaps against my better judgement I forked out $40 for the expansion pass on the weekend to access The Dark Below. Even though one of the main features of it is a new raid and I haven’t done the existing one because there’s no matchmaking for it.
Matchmaking is definitely my biggest gripe, that and the repetitive nature of the game. I guess when I compared it to WoW when that first came out it really feels small in comparison.
Having said that though, when I do play it’s a lot of fun, it’s a really solid shooter and that’s usually enough for me most days 🙂
Isn’t it more three to four months after its release? I stopped playing Destiny about a month after it came out, having done everything I wanted to and having no motivation to continue PVP or the same horde mode strikes over and over. Even though there have been several content drops (including raids), tweaks to the loot system and the DLC, I still have zero interest in returning to the game. It sounded interesting at first and I was keen for what they said it would be but Destiny just isn’t what I wanted it to be and never will be unless it radically changes in the next expansion.
Destiny has been out for 3 months.
I went the digital deluxe and I haven’t logged back in since before the DLC dropped. Maybe over Christmas. Destiny arrived at a time when I wanted something spiffy for my PS4 and I found the gunplay to be nice and mindless.
Hitting that end game grind though. I wouldn’t have got from 20-28 if not for a friend who was logging in every night to egg me on (not to mention carry me :p).
Now months later I’ve already put some solid time into the game, have burned out and now I’m playing the next round of games so no real love. There are better was to spend my gaming time 😉
I love it and hate it. Spent 5 hours Sunday to go up 3qrtrs of a level.
Grind, grind. grind.
It has way too many different types of money. Nothing much is explained.
all this glimmer, strange coins, vanguard points, and such WTF!!!.
It needs matchmaking for the raids real bad!!!
I am level 25 & still have not done any raids. No VOG or the new one for me as I guess my level is to low.
I hate it I tells ya!!!!
but I jus gotta play more!!!
If you had Matchmaking for the raid you would be forever paired with people that are 13 year olds and people that would just be in the raid to fuck you off and make sure that NO ONE would get through.
What platform are you on? PS4? If so I can probably help you run VoG sometime this week and possibly the Nightfall – which should help you out quite a bit.
On PS4, Add me to your friend list if you want PSN Rodhelh1965
I have a 3yo, and a wife my time on is late like 9pm on. That’s probably why I am still only Lv 25.
Can add you – we have a late evening group running strikes/daily most nights.
Are you based in Aus or NZ? Late-night would suit me great. I’ll add you shortly.
It makes me sad that the core gameplay is so satisfying. The business practices surrounding it are heinous at best. Definitely not buying the DLC.
Got it launch day, palyed it solid for a week and traded for Far Cry 4
Far Cry 4 is awesome
I play regularly with my brother and his friends online. We are all quite invested in the game, in particular my friends as they all have 2 or 3 Level 30s+. We raided VoG for weeks on end, and despite our gear now ,being absolute we still are smashing out the game like it’s brand new. Got up to Crota last night on our first attempt. It was tough. And that is what is refreshing out the game, a decent Raid component. It is the best part of the game without a doubt. Hopefully get down Crota tonight before reset.
For those people who don’t have anyone to play with, destinylfg.com is awesome.. We regularly keep in contact with some american buddies who help us raid and have became a good part of our Destiny experience. I must admit i wouldn’t play as much without my friends, the same reason why i quit WoW years back.
Feel free to hit us up on PSN (PS4) @ shredRRR
I am enjoying Destiny, but have not got to experience any of the raids since all of my friends are still in America.
and yes, I realize how much of a grind the game is, and I really do hate grinding in games, but damn this is a fun grind.
Try DestinyLFG if you want to find people to do a raid! Doesn’t take long at all.
I have played it entirely too much but fatigue has set in.
I took a break with FC4, just have to get one more trophy for platinum.
Back for the DLC buuuuuuut, done again. Maxed out my V2Icebreaker, hit 31… bah.
Getting GTAV on the PS4 later this week along with several of my friends… stoopid activities online abound!
After the way they burned everything from the original game I will leave my next super grind until the next installment comes out. Why grind for gear you will only scrap again in a few months?
Did you ever play WoW? It’s for new content and progression. This isn’t CoD, fyi.
Yeh, wow has great new gear to grind for… Not the same old crapola.
I don’t play CoD, but at least they don’t make three months of playing obsolete as a guy who only started three weeks ago catches up to you (yes, that happened).
crack, crack, crack. 10/10 game.
I played some on the weekend for an hour or two, check out the DLC content, etc.
As predicted, there was no real story to speak of, just some new arenas for people to repeat strikes/raids in and a new faction to grind rep for. Go through once solo by way of familiarization/tutorial.
I won’t be going back to it for the raid. I doubt I’ll even load up House of Wolves.
It’s boring. I’m done.
Maybe Destiny 2 will scratch the itch I was hoping for.
🙁
If you don’t worry about levelling and just do what you enjoy i think the game is a blast. Those trying to level up are the people who notice the grind and the frustrations with it.
this game is boring, shooting wave after wave of boring enemies zzzzz, friend bought me the dlc and i found eris quest cool at first until i realised i was grinding for nothing. or maybe i should do her bounties so i can get a fking shard. honestly i cant believe people still play this. the moment i realised there was no point in wasting night after night i decided to quit. give me my 150 hrs back
This isn’t even that much of a grind. It’s not even a grind at all. Go compare it to other ‘grinding’ games.
The only game that has hinted at me what a gambling addiction would be like. The new DLC is great, but again… like with the whole game, there’s just a complete lack of story. I mean sure, I get that there’s this “god” and he has minions … kill them all, bla bla bla. I get it. I just find it quite hard getting into a story with all of the exposition is by VO while you’re in the middle of a firefight or from a static vendor screen. What about some god damned cutscenes?! What’s so bad about FMV’s? They use to be the best looking most dramatic part of gaming….
but aside from that the core game is still the best in it’s class; the new weapons are good, and feel more varied; the loot system really seems to be nearly fixed and way more generous (although the Cryptarch is still a dick and gives me titan armor when I’m a warlock…errrg); the enemies are a lot more aggressive and seem to work together more now; the strike is great (PS4) and it’s one of the only games that I’m happy to replay levels again and again (hell, I didn’t even finish Batman: arkham city due to me hitting a very tough bit that I had to replay 10 times… I rage quite and have never been back). It also feels like they’ve refined code a bit as It feels like the game is a little crisper and faster.
So personally, I like the new DLC but it feels more like something that should have just dropped with no price tag or be a $10 dlc than a full expansion. I mean has Activision seen the new WOW expansion? That thing is huge, and that’s what we all expect…. well to a point.
7/10
And just a side note: These people complaining about how boring it is to just kill swarms of enemies, and …”errrg… there goes 150 hours” I get the impression that they’ve probably got no issue playing zombies in COD again and again on 4 maps, so why hate so much on this? I too have disappointment but that’s mainly in the story and the openness of it, not the gameplay. 150 hours for any game is brilliant and well worth the $69. … give me my 150 hours back, if it was such a shit game stop playing at 80 hours. 🙄
Bungie made a believer out of me…again.
Here is my review.
Game is still garbage now more broken.
I have friends who pay hundreds of hours on it and also talk like addicts defending the crap that is the game. If I hear another “It is not for everyone” I am going to shoot them to fix their Stockholm syndrome.