Destiny 2’s Phoenix Revival
I will be the first to say that I had given up on Destiny 2, the anticipated juggernaut of the gaming world following its titan predecessor, Destiny. I felt extreme disappointment in my gut when buying the Season Pass for Destiny 2, and my gut is rarely wrong. “Curse of Osiris” wasn’t BAD...but it wasn’t great either (lore depth aside) and “Warmind” was a nice step in good and right direction. But oh….”The Forsaken”...is one of the best game series revivals I have seen in a while. Let me explain.
Destiny 2’s Vanilla Campaign, “The Red War”, set the tone for the direction of the sequel title. At that time, the “Curse of Osiris” had high expectations to met after the defeat of Ghaul and The Red Legion. Meeting Osiris was expected to be more than it was, along with the anticipated “Infinite Forest” (also a lore story for another day). However, it seems not many people knew about the hidden lore of Saint-14 within the content because of the serious letdown that people felt, along with the expanded bonding with Ikora, Head of the Warlock Branch of the Vanguard. “Warmind” brought with it Ana Bray, the REAL Rasputin (by real for D1 heads, I mean the Rasputin we knew in D1 was a remnant of his program from the Collapse that was left in the Russia Databases) and closes the mystery of the Exo Stranger’s Identity.
From a game content standpoint, a lot of the new features in Destiny 2 were quite unwanted and not tolerated lightly. No “Random Roll” weapons led to boring weapon acquisition, Exotic Engrams galore made them...well….NOT exotic (in addition to them not being helpful from a character strategy standpoint), Crucible being 4 vs 4 across the board, and the nail in the coffin….Eververse and the Silver Paywall. Weapons and Armor Mods were a good addition, just not quite reasonable enough. A lot of things cause people to stray away to other games and stop playing. On most (if not all) of Destiny Social Media content, people just moaned and complained about how let down they were, about how horrible the game had become. There were a lot of folks who still held true to the franchise, causing “civil wars” in the community. It seems like Bungie realized all this...and I’m not sure when...but they began to show they were listening.
Towards the middle point of the “Warmind” DLC, Bungie release a “Road Map” that would promise to deliver what was communicated on said roadmap for content. A lot of us were skeptical but...they were very serious...and after awhile people began to return. Game play features and interviews that told us what was coming. This all led up to the push of “The Forsaken” DLC...Destiny 2’s perceived “Taken King” equivalent. Uldron Sov’s Betrayal, Cayde-6’s Death, alluded status of the Queen is the Reef, Mara Sov. The new campaign, two new areas to patrol, the return of 6v6 crucible, and the new PVE/PVP mix game mode “Gambit.
A month (and D2 year 1 ending “Solstice of Heroes”) later, “The Forsaken” DLC drooped with little to no log in errors and away D2 veterans and newcomers went. This has been the most engaging campaign to date. It’s good points definitely go to the newest villains of the series, The Barons and the new enemy type called “The Scorn”, along with revisiting a lot of Lore Enthusiast content answering many questions to its expansive story. From where The Awoken Queen has been to the further involvement of one of the Taken King Oryx’s sister Savathun to hints of the “Shadows of Yor” coming into the playable universe. This all leading up to the newest raid (FINALLY NOT INVOLVING EMPEROR CALUS!) that challenge Guardians and keep the lore going. These things that have gone so well may lead to more people purchasing the coming DLCs “Black Armory”, “Joker’s Wild” and “Penumbra”.
Let me close this piece by again saying YES, yes I was sceptical of this new expansion and the future of the franchise. Am I still weary? Yes...I still have one eye open. However, I am glad to see the game going back to its older more engaging routes with some new spins, rolling in the right direction. Keep the content and communication coming and who knows...maybe I’ll buy the DLC much sooner rather than later. Destiny 2 is available on PS4, XBOX ONE and PC right now. Be sure to check your internet speed for quality of your gaming experience.
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