Destiny 2’s annual spooky loot event is back and it’s a mess. Festival of the Lost went live yesterday riddled with issues from a bug that blocked quest progress to players being saddled with old, obsolete loot. It was not good, especially for an event that is mostly unchanged from the year prior, despite now sporting its own $US10 ($AU16) mini-battle pass.
For the uninitiated, Festival of the Lost tasks players with donning Halloween masks, grinding old content for candy and spectral pages, and then spending the latter on special lost sector runs where they shoot giant alien pumpkin heads for time-limited loot. Depending on who you ask, it’s either a festive distraction or a soul crushing chore, but there were a number of reasons to look forward to it this year, including a new set of mech-inspired Gunadam-arse armour.
We have identified the issue causing some players to be unable to convert Spectral Pages into Manifest Pages. We are working on implementing a fix soon. Check back here for further updates. https://t.co/9FfQs57j0h
— Bungie Help (@BungieHelp) October 19, 2022
Any enthusiasm players had was immediately thwarted by a major bug that was gating progress and eating spectral pages. Unable to move forward in the questline, some players kept grinding hopelessly with nothing to show for it, while others waited patiently for a fix. Bungie finally did get the problem solved late last night. Unfortunately, the event’s opening day had already been sabotaged.
Things might have moved on from there, but this bug was far from the only frustrating thing about the event. Festival of the Lost still has an issue where if you kill the mini-bosses too quickly, the mission will grind to a halt leaving players to wait another couple of minutes before the final boss spawns. Players complained a lot about this issue in last year’s Festival of the Lost, so it’s unfortunate to see it back again.
Me waiting a minute for the haunted lost sector to progress after slaying 10 headless ones pic.twitter.com/loaDdI2XQZ
— 👻🎃UndeaDTM🎃👻 (@destiny_thememe) October 18, 2022
Then there’s the bugged loot. Festival of the Lost gear, including the new Mechabre sniper rifle, is supposed to drop with new perk options and an origin trait that gives players’ aiming speed bonuses when playing solo. Only, some players are reporting getting old versions of weapons with old perks and no origin trait, i.e. junk. For an event modelled after Halloween, it’s essentially the equivalent of getting rocks in your trick-or-treat bag.
One thing that is working, however, is the new event pass, a $US10 ($AU16) add-on Bungie introduced specifically for seasonal activities with summer’s Solstice of Heroes update. Players can unlock a few rewards on the free track, or pay to unlock more with the premium version. Not many more, however, leaving some scratching their heads at why players should spend the same amount as an entire season costs on a handful of cosmetics.
New Majestic Whinny Sparrow | #Destiny2 pic.twitter.com/YTFsVW5gv8
— Destiny Bulletin (@DestinyBulletn) October 18, 2022
“I wouldn’t mind shelling out for it if the eververse in general didn’t exist,” wrote one player on the subreddit. “It feels pretty crappy to have expansions, seasons, and dungeons all priced out and still having such a huge focus on the eververse.” As Forbes’ Paul Tassi points out, it’s especially tough to swallow when the event itself launches with so many underlying problems. Festival of the Lost is unchanged from last year in many ways, even as it’s become monetized with the additional battle pass.
It’s a shame, really, because there are plenty of things to be excited about otherwise. The Gundam armour kicks arse, and the new Mechabre sniper rifle sounds just like the one from the actual Gundam anime. Plus there’s the spectral horse sparrow. Everyone’s favourite quest giver from Bungie’s 30th Anniversary update has been turned into a wickedly awesome space broomstick and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
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