I came across Destiny rather late, I bought the Legendary edition in the PlayStation store about a year ago, and to be honest I went into it a little on the blind side. First person shooters are not typically my kind of thing, the rebooted Doom was one of the biggest surprises of 2016, I generally had a blast on it. So it might have been a factor in why I decided to jump into Destiny at the time.
And I was pleasantly surprised once again, I loved Destiny, the core gameplay is sublime, the visuals immersive, and the looting and grinding insatiably addictive. I was lucky that I went into the game when most of the expansions were released, and an added bonus of a reduced price.
It's only on further playthroughs and closer reflection that Destiny's flaws become more pertinent, such as its bad and short story, cumbersome AI, repetitive missions, the list goes on.
But I was still excited to get my hands on the sequel, and having completed the main campaign and spent between 40-50 hours on the game, I have a good understanding of what I liked and what I didn't like, and where it could have been different.
Unlike most new games I write about, this is not an all out review because it's content is not complete in its entirety, so I decided to structure my thoughts a bit differently.
What's to like?
Shooting is a lot of fun
Like its predecessor, Destiny 2 is a joy to play, the gunplay is precise and agile, the aiming is completely on point. Blasting your way through hordes of enemies is a bundle of fun, unlike other first person shooters it doesn't feel like you're just watching a gun floating in the middle of the screen.
Eye candy
It's visually stunning and in a scale that is far bigger than the first Destiny, the actual arenas and levels can be a bit bland, but there is far more activity within the worlds you explore. And the skybox for each of the worlds are gorgeous, at certain points you simply have to gape in awe at the visual designs.
Looting and customisation
Progress is based on random loot drops you can pick up by completing various kinds of missions, as well as searching for secret treasures on the various maps. It is a bit of a gamble as to which gear you'll pick up, the good thing about this is that you're never sure what you'll get, and it gives the game plenty of added replay value.
The loot you pick up allows you to build a character that fits your play style, you can also toy around with the way your character looks with the gear you pick up. With the use of shaders you can also change your gear colour, its not too big a deal, but it compensates a little for the rather poor character customisation at the start of the game.
A narrative that focuses on something
Destiny 1 and 2 do not have great stories, there's interesting lore hidden beneath the story, but it's not particularly explored much in either games. However, Destiny 2's story does have a more coherent narrative to follow, there is an overarching villain this time, by the name of Gaul, who plays a key role.
Overall there's more at stake, and the world within the game is better for it. It also gives the player character more of a purpose.
For the players
Playing in a fire team with your friends is amazing and quite intense, especially in the tough Strike missions that become available. The PvP is limited but still fun nevertheless, there can be balancing issues with matchmaking people of the same skill level, but it's not an overwhelming problem because a lot of your success will depend on skill as much as luck.
What's not to like?
It's the same game, more or less
Sequels don't necessarily need to evolve the gameplay formula, especially the first sequel, but they do still need to mix things up a bit. Destiny 2 doesn't really do this, it refines some of the technical and visual elements but the core gameplay is exactly the same. Missions are either fetch quests or horde modes, you'll have to go from point A to B, blasting your way through an avalanche of bullet sponge enemies, with a few platform sections in-between. There's nothing wrong with this, it's just the same old stuff really.
Lack of new ideas
The enemies are the same, from the little minions that litter the worlds to some of the boss battle designs. It doesn't detract from the experience, but it would have been better with a bit more innovation.
The new worlds leave me with mixed feelings, while they have a lot more going on they're not that distinctive from one another, and they're less exotic compared with the first Destiny.
And remember those fantastic ships that you could look at in the loading screens, they return but offer nothing else. Maybe it was asking for a bit too much, but it really does feel like a waste to include them in the game for the sole purpose of decorative eye candy.
Forced feeling of customisation
While there's a great hook to grinding out more loot, and not knowing what that loot is until you pick it up, it is still glorified gambling. You can grind for long periods of time and end up with poor rewards, it's a forced way of getting you to replay the game.
The customisation also gets to the point of no return, there will come a time where powering up just feels like you're going through the motions. While you can certainly create your character in a certain play style, the actual weapons of the same type have minuscule difference from one another, they are just more powerful.
On a side note, the character customisation at the beginning of the game has not changed whatsoever from the first game, which is such a shame because it was pretty basic in the first place. I know you spend all of the the missions wearing a mask but it would have been an added bonus if they had made a little bit more of an effort.
Should you buy it?
If you liked the Destiny you'll love this, it's a more refined experience that has more day one content, just don't expect anything new or out of this world.
Is there anyone else who should play this? Gamers who like first person shooters, the game is a joy to handle and there's an abundance of content until you rinse it to death.
And perhaps those of you who are simply looking for a fun online game to play with your friends.
For anyone else, not really, Destiny 2 is a fun but shallow experience, it's never quite the sum of its parts, which is a shame.
So what's my score?
This is really tough and I'm going to be a bit of a spoilsport, I really could not decide between 7.5 or an 8, so I'm going with....... 7.7
But this is not a definite score, it's just my feelings at the moment, and this could change for the worse or the better by the time the game is a complete experience.
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