We’re not bringing back any of the old weapons and armor because all that stuff is turned to ash and dust by the Cabal. That’s one of the great things about Destiny 2. It enables us to create a brand-new tale with a fresh start for every single player. Whether you’re someone who looked at Destiny from afar, feeling like you couldn’t jump into the world or feeling like you’ve been left behind, or whether you’re a veteran player with 100% completion in your record book, you are all joining this new adventure on equal footing. You will be attacked in the same moment. You will all lose the things that your Guardian holds dear. You will all need to go out into the wild and rebuild from the ground up.
At this point, you visit The Queen who is less than hospitable upon your arrival. She and her brother have no interest to give you the information for free so they task you with bringing them the head of a Vex Gate Lord. You then travel back to Venus and take the giant down and present it to the Queen. The Brother has little interest in helping you, but the Queen decides to point you in the right direction: Mars. It’s off to the red planet to find the Vex Gate.
Having gotten fed up with trying to find an appropriate group to run with from Destinylfg.net, it was time to turn to the new feature that seemed like it would deliver better results: the new Guided Games. Guided Games makes players jump through some hoops with good reason trying to create the most toxic free environment for play that it can, it sort-of works. First, Guardians will spend a token to get into GG, then players agree to the Guardian Oath stating they will be friendly, helpful and dedicate the time. Then if you’re a seeker, which I was, it gives an extra-long waiting time to make sure that the player is in it to win it. My first group I ended up waiting over an hour for. After some general party chat confusion and actually doing the banner part without talking in the fireteam I had grouped with, we finally figured it out and we could talk. This did not help either.
The third piece of DLC starts off with the Taken King, and Hive God, Oryx, travelling the stars in his colossal dreadnaught ship to kick off the Taken War. Apparently he wasn’t too thrilled with the Guardians killing his baby boy. The Awoken rally a pre-emptive strike, but it ends up being a massive failure, with their armada destroyed, and their Queen presumed dead. After this, Oryx begins enslaving members of other races, ala the Taken, so it’s up to the Guardians to put a stop to this. The Guardians obtain a new set of powers and are able to land relatively safely on the Dreadnaught where the Cabal are also waging war.
The Strike is a good place to start. It reveals a little more of the world players can expect, showcasing great improvements to Destiny. The most notable thing about the Strike is just how open it felt. Instead of running casually down one big hallway that twist and turns, the Strike makes use of all the space available. The number of paths available was astounding and never has it been so easy to get separated from the group, meaning communication (or keeping an eye out) is key. Party members can’t just run ahead to go off and do their own thing; the Strike actually requires some teamwork and that’s a good thing. More than a few times, imminent danger is awaiting any careless Guardian who might think “I’ve got this.” The mechanics of it all also helped with this feeling, giving the Strike enough complexity, but not so much that it felt bogged down. It’s hard to get an exact read, though, because this is only one Strike and without leveling of any sort, it might just seem tough. This is how every Destiny expansion has played out. Things feel like they were getting more challenging, but level up enough gear and light, and those Strikes become cake-walks. I even encountered some of this already, by just breezing past the giant drill without stopping. What looked like a challenging set piece became just a set piece. No interaction required.
The first thing to strike (no pun) in the Destiny 2 Beta was how well-worn it felt. Like wrapping up in a comfy blanket that is always waiting when returning to the family home…while it crumbles and burns to ash. The one thing that’s been on the brain is how Destiny would need to pull a Halo maneuver if it hoped to pull itself up from the original launch, and so far, so good. Destiny 2’s beta does exactly what Bungie’s previous title Halo did before it, taking everything it learned from the first game and improving on that at every turn. The gun play is tighter, the environments more stunning (not just visually) and the state of Destiny 2 armor overhaul in a better place than when it started. It’s a shame then that the beta doesn’t offer more, because the sparseness of it all itches at the back of the mind. Why only show the opening mission, a strike, and two crucible maps/modes?
While thinking about all of this, one other raid consistently keeps popping into my head, Vault of Glass. Ask any veteran Destiny player and they will probably say Vault of Glass is one of the best, if not best raid Destiny has ever had. It was a perfect blend of platforming, puzzles and bosses that created a ridiculously fun raid that could be played with ease over and over again. Even when taking new people in, it was understood that the longest it would take was minimum six hours. Leviathan was a false sale. Guardians struggle with it even when knowing the strategies for each room, the rewards are the most lackluster yet with no armor or weapons dropping to even give the slightest sense of accomplishment, and new players will probably not want to touch it because it requires a level of communication and coordination that only close friends, professional streamers or elite gamers really have.