I’ve known about Destiny 2 for quite some time, but was kinda avoiding it. I think with my experiences playing World of Warcraft, the whole term of MMO had been tainted. Luckily for me one of my best friends finally convinced me to play, using the always powerful phrase “Free to Play.” Which, now that I think about it, was how I got into WOW….
Well February marked my first year playing Destiny 2 and something that started off pretty casual has now turned into a nightly event, I even went so far as to purchase all the Lore Books (Grimore).
Suffice to say, I was more than a little excited about the announcement of the Witch Queen expansion. Like Ralphie from Christmas Story, I began my campaign to get Witch Queen Deluxe Edition as a Christmas Present. Long story short, I was victorious and have been playing since release. Having put about two weeks into the game I finally finished the campaign. (On LEGENDARY.) Figured it was time to talk about Bungie’s latest opus in the Destiny franchise.
So how’s it hold up and does it meet my lofty expectations?
Gameplay:
For those who haven’t played Destiny 2, it’s a first-person shooter MMO. Like Halo before it, Bungie certainly has a way with shooters.
What was entirely unexpected was the refinement of the gampeplay / gunplay. It has always been more than exceptional – everything very tight and fast pace. It’s difficult to list out what has changed but the Guardian has never felt better. The shooting just feels more refined, with the game running smoother than ever.
My favorite stuff has been the real minor fixes. Seasonal Challenges can now be tracked, also decrypting Umbral Engrams can now be done in the tower. Banshee has a new Rank system, which was needed and really helps the game feel uniform.
The only area of the game I feel needs some work is the current version of Gambit. When I first started playing Destiny 2 and started chasing the Triumphs and Seasonal Challenges you could ask if I liked Crucible – and without missing a beat I would say that I preferred Gambit. Well, a lot has changed, and while the intentions were good – the execution needs a little work.
Rant about Gambit:
A little background for those that haven’t played much Gambit: it’s essentially a combination of both PVE and PVP.
This is what makes Gambit so wonderful. The draw to Destiny 2 for me was specifically the PVE – but I also wanted to compete without totally being stomped. Gambit also worked as a stepping stone into Crucible (PVP)
That being said there was always one issue with Gambit and that was with the PVP part of the game. As the game progresses you have to summon and kill a Primeval (Big space monster). As your team is trying to take it out, you can be invaded by the opposing team. If the invader from the opposing team kills anyone on your team, the Primeval heals. The only plus to this was that after this happens it always felt like the Primeval was a little squished than usual, which made it a little easier to catch back up.
Now with the update, two major things have changed. When the Primeval is summoned it’s shielded. You have to go take out its guards to drop the shields. While they used to spawn next to the Primeval they are now spawning in random areas of the map. The troublesome part that makes it feel like a drag? You have to do this three times. It feels very similar to a Raid Boss, which I can understand where Bungie was coming from. For me, Gambit was always that game mode that you played when you couldn’t play for very long. Now it feels like a chore, and often drags at the end.
What truly makes this tough is now when the invader shows up, you are generally grouped. Worse again, if you are killed the Primeval health is restored. Prior to the update, the health restoration would be minimal, but now it’s like a full 25% of its health.
With Gambit, I feel that a more light-hearted approach should be taken with it. Think like a Mario Kart, and the Invader is like a Blue Shell. You can’t constantly be spamming a Blue Shell. Also, there are hardly any Horns to block said Blue Shell. My immediate fix would be almost making more of a cost to invade the other side. Especially if you are winning by a lot. Perhaps make it a “Gambit” on going to invade. If the team manages to kill your invader, the opposing team’s Primeval is shielded for a time period. The point is Gambit needs to be a bit more fun, currently it feels like a drag to play. I used to play Gambit after getting my butt handed to me in Crucible.
Campaign:
I really appreciated how the campaign was structured. Don’t get me wrong, like anything Destiny 2 it takes some time to figure everything out. But in this campaign the central story was easy enough to get to – but it still offered plenty of side missions to help pad things a bit. It also melded well with this Season’s story.
As for the missions themselves what really stood out for these was Legendary Mode. In previous campaigns/seasons you couldn’t really replay the missions. While in Witch Queen you have a couple of different ways to replay. Initially, you are offered a Classic or Legendary difficulty. I opted for Legendary and I was glad I did.
What makes Legendary mode stand out is that the level adjusts to the number of players in your team. The rewards were also really nice, offering chests at each of the main checkpoints. I actually completed the entire Campaign on Legendary and most of the time it felt like it was the perfect balance of challenge without it being too overwhelming. The only two missions I came across I felt were super hard, were Ghosts and Ritual. I ended up finishing the Campaign soloing the final battle, then coming back and teaming up with my friend.
The story though is what truly sells this. Not only did it do an excellent job of wrapping up the whole Savathun stuff, but there are also many elements to look forward to in the upcoming seasons and overall story.
Where to Start: So you want to start playing Destiny 2.
For any new players (New lights) if you can afford it, I would recommend buying the Deluxe Edition of Witch Queen, as it comes with all the seasons for this year. I sadly didn’t know that when I first picked up Destiny 2; I purchased the Legacy Edition, which I thought would have everything. Sadly only 1 season, which meant I missed out on a whole bunch of story.
The great thing is the game has raised everyone’s power level, so it should be easy enough to start. What makes Destiny 2 so fun is the ways that you can enjoy it. I started off playing Solo for a good portion of the game until I found a group to play with.
My recommendation is to find what you like about the game and start there. Also, take your time and enjoy it. The story is what initially hooked me, it felt very much like a combination of Mass Effect and Halo, just with that extra special Bungie charm.
Overall
I’m shocked that Bungie was able to truly knock this out of the park. I wasn’t sure how things would pan out – especially with the last mission of Season of the Lost being just a little bit of a letdown. There is so much still left to do with this Expansion, with the Campaign now finished I’m just starting to focus on the Season of the Risen content. I’m very much looking forward to seeing where the story goes and hopefully getting a raid or two done this year.
Also a quick congrats to everyone that took on the Vow of Disciple this weekend. Certainly made for some great streaming. Can’t wait to take it on with my fireteams!!
This was an area I didn’t think needed refining until I started the game. There were a lot of subtle tweaks that really made the game feel much more responsive and smooth.