Everything You Need to Know About Destiny 2 Before Launch
[JH]: So, that’s kind of outside the scope of where we have our involvement. We’re super dedicated to story, and the high-level development decisions based on classes or specializations happen amongst other teams. We try our best to have a good narrative wrapper around that decision-making. Our involvement in the PvP is to develop a strong character in Lord Shaxx.
[Matthew Ward]: We had the opportunity to spend time building him up in that he’s not just a bad guy. In his world, Void Hunter Melee Rework he’s the good guy with a purpose. There’s something that’s deeper to him. We wanted to make sure our antagonist wasn’t just a cliché.
Not yet, but I promise that I will talk to you all about when it will happen as soon as we nail that down. It will happen this summer, obviously, and then on September 8 Destiny 2 will be available on PS4 and Xbox One. We’ll solidify and announce the PC ship date when we have it ready.
It’s been nearly three years since Bungie and Activision first brought us into the world of Destiny . The 2014 first-person loot shooter with MMO-lite mechanics strived to be the next big thing, but was ultimately disappointing. A lack of content, a thrown together campaign and repetitive missions marred what was supposed to be the next big Activision IP. Though Bungie got their act together and released the stellar Taken King and OK Rise of Iron expansions, neither felt like the proper leap forward the franchise needed. Well, now we have Destiny 2, a new chance for Bungie to hit the reset button.
Well that didn’t take long. It’s only been about a month since Destiny 2 released and it’s already struggling to hold its players’ attention. Many are focusing on loot or the sheer lack of content as the cause, but the game’s real issues run a bit deeper. Having loot to grind for is all well and good, but it doesn’t amount to much when there’s not a whole lot one can actually do with it. The game’s economy has also undergone a very player-unfriendly change, one that encourages microtransactions and hoarding over fun and engagement. Even the moment-to-moment gameplay has suffered. What was once relatively fluid and fast-paced combat has become slow and laborious. As it stands, Destiny 2 meets the basic requirements necessary to be called a full and proper sequel rather than a glorified expansion, but falls into the category of unsatisfying sequel that «fixed» all of the wrong things.
[MW]: We’re just aware of it as you are. It’s harder for us to tell a story, but it has it’s moments. There’s one part in the story where you’re told to speak and Ghost cuts you off. So, we have fun with that.
Upon release, one of the main criticisms hounding Destiny 2 was its conversion of shaders from permanent unlocks to single-use consumable items . In response, many were quick to point out that shaders in general were easy to come by and that players wouldn’t actually be hurting for them all that much. In general, this is true. Shaders as an item are indeed relatively easy to come by. However, most of the best shaders are only gained through opening «Bright Engrams», items which are loot boxes in all but name. They’re obtainable through in-game means but only at a snail’s pace unless one decides to fork over some real cash. Players also have absolutely zero control over what they get out of them. So while those cool shaders are technically obtainable, there’s no guarantee that a player will ever get the one they want, much less more of it. So instead of encouraging players to enjoy Destiny 2’s new system that allows every piece of gear to be individually customized, the game instead pushes players to do the opposite and hoard what shaders they do get until they manage to obtain a piece of endgame gear that won’t be immediately scrapped. Armor and weapon mods suffer from a similar drawback too, though they can at least be bought with in-game currency. This problem isn’t just limited to consumables either. Thanks to Destiny 2’s deplorable token system, there’s been wholesale reduction of player control over the gear they earn. The system is probably meant to promote grind, but instead it does the opposite. Why should the game’s players bother with the grind loop if they can’t grind for the things they actually want?
Over the course of its lifespan, most players agreed that Destiny’s most persistent problem was a general lack of content. There just wasn’t enough to do between DLC expansions. The thing is, those expansions never actually helped all that much. It would only take a week or two for the hardcore crowd to start complaining about a lack of content again. Some would blame those players for spending too much time with the game and burning through that content too quickly, but it’s only natural that players would quickly burn through expansions when they often didn’t include many new features. I was cautiously optimistic that Destiny 2 would address the real issue at the heart of its forebear’s content woes, but this sadly hasn’t been the case. It’s added a few minor features in the form of the new director, a map, small activities in its explorable spaces, milestones and flashpoints, but that that’s it. Oh wait, scratch that. Milestones and flashpoints are just re-branded bounties, so they’re actually not new at all. So not only does it offer less content than Destiny’s final form, but it still hasn’t addressed the first game’s core problem.