Summary
I’m hearing it said everywhere, constantly:Destiny 2is so back. After a very messy year that I’ve observed mostly through my colleague Eric Switzer’s coverage, with Bungie delaying its final expansion, a wave of layoffs in October 2023, and a lot of rumoured unhappiness among staff,Bungiehas given players a free Into the Light update that they’re actually happy with.
I’ll admit, the recent hype around Destiny 2 has piqued my interest yet again. I’ve never been into shooters or live service games, butHelldivers 2has been a sort of gateway into the genre for me. I’m more open to exploring live service games than I used to be, but I suspect thatthe franchise’s extractive monetisation,the concerningly aggressive fanbase, and the unrelenting grind might put me off this particular game in the long run.
Helldivers 2’s lead dev, Johan Pilestedt, hasexpressed interestin a Destiny 2 crossover, which I find interesting and concerning in equal measure.
But I already know that it’s too late for me to fall in love with the game – far too late.I actually did try jumping into Destiny 2 last year, when it had just added the Guardian Ranks system. Our resident Destiny fan Eric thought it would be a good idea for a complete newbie to try out the system and see if it made getting into the game easier than before, and while the New Light campaign was pretty successful at laying out the basics and the Guardian Ranks system gave me some direction, a lot of the lore is locked away in the Destiny Content Vault.
There’s No In-Game Context For Destiny 2
Longtime fans are invested in the story, which has developed in expansions and regular seasons over the last ten years. While you may still buy a lot of the expansions – and on sale, no less – the original base campaign and the first few expansions have been removed and never re-implemented, with no indication that they might return.
You can’t access any of the original lore that endeared this game to players in the first place, and jumping into whatever season or expansion is going on right now will only lead to confusion if you aren’t motivated enough to learn about the story yourself. There’s no way to play it all through from the beginning, and it’s extremely confusing. New players also don’t have access to the seasonal storylines that connect expansions to each other. Long story short, Bungie makes it very hard to get into Destiny 2 if you weren’t there from the start.
A Fresh Start
But just like I was when I tried it for the first time last year, I’m still interested. Destiny 2 sounds great in theory, it’s just not feasible for me to start now. Butthere are rumours that Destiny 3 is in development– a leaker who had previously correctly predicted the Prismatic subclass, the first person to report it anywhere, also said that Destiny 3 may have been or currently be in development, and that classes would no longer exist. There’s no way to really know if this is true or not, but the source has proven to be reliable so far.
If this is true, then Destiny 3 might finally be my way into the series, a way to finally get in on the ground without Bungie getting in my way at every turn. I’m happy to shell out for expansions and tune in regularly for seasonal developments, if I actually understand what’s going on. But then again, considering Destiny 2 fans seem to be angry all the time, it might be better for me to stay away.
Destiny 2
WHERE TO PLAY
Played by millions worldwide across several platforms, Destiny 2 is a free-to-play first-person shooter that brings something new to the MMO space. Here you’ll find the latest news, guides, and features on Bungie’s constantly expanding sequel.
