I, like many other hardcore Destiny players, have been lapsed for the past year but returned to the game yesterday for the launch of Forsaken. It’s a weird, wild and comforting feeling, like slipping into a familiar pair of shoes. Or, more accurately, like getting on a familiar treadmill.
Some background: Between September 2014 and August 2017, I played roughly 600 hours of Destiny.
Then came Destiny 2, which I initially loved but then bounced off for a few reasons: My friends had all moved from PS4 to PC, the raid wasn’t quite as fun to repeat as Oryx or Wrath of the Machine, and I couldn’t find many reasons to keep playing.
I blazed through Curse of Osiris and barely even touched Warmind before uninstalling the game from my PS4, wondering if this game was no longer for me.
Destiny had been a regular habit in my life for three years. I had farmed Relic Iron, grinded the Crucible, and knew the layout of Venus just about as well as I know my apartment. And then it was just over.
Over the past few months, however, I’ve started to feel the tug again. After Bungie committed to making Destiny 2 more palatable to hardcore players — by adding activities, overhauling the weapon system, and revamping microtransactions, among other things — the buzz started to grow.
Whispers and group texts from my Destiny pals suggested that the developers were getting things right. They’d even added secrets to the game again.
So with the release of Forsaken yesterday and the launch of Destiny 2‘s Year Two, I’ve come back, using a level booster to jumpstart a brand new character on PC.
I’m rusty, and whatever semblance of PvP skill I ever had has atrophied, but slipping back into Destiny mode has felt surprisingly comforting.
It will take at least a couple of weeks before we all really understand Forsaken and get a feel for Destiny 2‘s second year, but what I’ve played so far has been great.
The premise is that there’s a breakout at the Prison of Elders, a high-security gaol near Destiny’s purple Reef, led by the Awoken Prince Uldren. (If that’s all gobbledegook to you, don’t worry. It makes sense when you play.) Uldren, alongside eight Fallen Barons, kills your buddy Cayde-6, and you’re tasked with going out and getting revenge, whether or not you actually care about Cayde-6.
So far I’ve hunted down six of those Barons, all of whom were fantastic boss fights, with their own mechanical twists and fun encounters. There’s the Rifleman, a master sniper who conjures clones of himself all over the map. And the Mad Bomber, who drops mines for you to defuse mid-combat. And quite a few other creative fights, often involving vehicles or other gimmicks.
There are also a ton of new bounties to collect, along with an endgame zone called the Dreaming City that I haven’t even unlocked yet.
There’s a lot to do. I’m loving the new hybrid PVE-PVP Gambit activity, and I’m really enjoying the increased speed of Crucible play in general. I’m digging Forsaken’s story, and have had a good time with all of the new missions.
It’ll be a while before I can really evaluate this game, and we’ll have plenty more coverage in the coming days as we play more, but so far, I’m satisfied.
I’m also having fun trying to wrap my head around yet another convoluted levelling and resource system, as I gradually gain power and try to figure out what all these new currencies do.
It’s never easy with Destiny — just this morning I discovered that old blue items have different power caps than new ones — but that’s just part of the fun, isn’t it? It’s so good to have Destiny back.
Comments
11 responses to “It’s Nice To Have Destiny Back ”
Damn you… I was determined to stay out but I feel that tug pulling me back in. I haven’t cracked yet but it might not be long.
So I downloaded the free game and started back up. I looked through my weapons, jumped to a planet, started running around and thought, ‘Why the fuck am I still trying to convince myself?’. I then deleted it.
This game hasn’t changed since the beta of Destiny 1. It still plays the same and it’s still incredibly boring. Only having value to those chasing the same dragon and working endless hours to make the same weapon everybody else uses 1 DPS higher than it was before. Once they get it they work on making it 1 DPS higher. Then high, then higher. So it’s nice for the people who spent 500 hours grinding for a weapon that they don’t use to finally get a boost.
But enemies are still incredibly boring to fight, being nothing but walking health bars for your dopamine to deplete in large volumes. None of them actually interact with you. They all dash back and forth between pieces of cover, taking pot shots that gain a massive accuracy debuff when your regen is low. None of them make you think and they all pretty much play the same.
What’s the difference between fighting a Goblin or a Cabal? Oh, I guess sometimes when when you shoot a Goblin it sits down, becomes immune to all damage for 3 seconds, then stands back up. *clap clap* I’m so glad I studied this alien race thoroughly so that I can react appropriately.
Do the Taken do anything different from what their original creature did before? Not really, they’re just a skin swap.
Has the game been patched enough so that your character has more than one ability? Cause I gotta tell ya, a dodge move that I can only do once every 30 seconds isn’t exactly selling it to me. Oh, it also refills ammo? That’s cool I guess. I mean, the reload animation is about the same length of time that the dodge animation is, so, yeah…
Wow some much incorrect cynicism. I get when something is not your thing and you don’t like it,that’s fine, but all this was thoroughly laughable.
And dull repetitive wordage too! Incredibly boring read that!
I can see you really wanted to like Destiny, but it clearly isn’t your game. Just remember that that is all destiny is, a game. If something doesn’t appeal to you, you shouldn’t try to force yourself to see the appeal in it. At the same time you shouldn’t try to beat people down if they enjoy something you didn’t. So what if someone spends hours trying to unlock the perfect weapons? That’s how they find value in the game.
I’m no good at RTS or turn based combat games. I don’t find them fun. But I’m not going to go to a pokemon fan and tell them the reasons why I don’t like the game. Clearly there is an audience to it, and to Destiny. Don’t waste your time hating something because you tried to like it. Just let it go
Yeah. Well said. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. One person’s poison is another person’s treasure. We are all different and freely allowed to like or dislike whatever we want.
Meanwhile I’ve spent god knows how many hours simply running whisper solo to see how far I can get and because it’s just so cool looking in there. Different strokes for different folks mannn
HAHA I too am no good at RTS of any kind. But am not going to get on my soap box and tell people why RTS sucks to me.
Finished the new campaign last night – definitely one of the better ones, and very much looking forward to opening access to the Dreaming City tonight and having a crack at the raid on the 15th. So much to do, so little time!
Destiny has been back for months but this has finally bought a full range of depth and rewards back.
My only beef with Forsaken so far is that it is a revenge story. Which goes completely counter to the point of the guardians. It was nice that there was not a universe ending epic story for once, just wish the focus was on helping the Awoken, and making more of a point of why we are killing the Barons, while avenging Cayde along the way. That would be a far more interesting story. Because I am not convinced Cayde would have wanted to turn us into a murderer simply for revenge.
Revenge isn’t a good thing. It isn’t a noble act, (without giving spoilers) I just thought how much more powerful it would have been if there was actually a choice to be made.
That sad I had so much fun in the Baron fights!
While I agree I have a feeling that the darker turn taken in the revenge story could lead to some really interesting character development. I wont say any more as it may spoil for others but I hope you get the drift