As an on-going live game, Destiny 2 continues to evolve as time goes on. In 2019, Destiny 2 saw numerous changes take place in many aspects, ranging from its sandbox, its structure, and even where and how players engage with the game.
This year saw a huge change in the industry side of things. In a surprise that no one saw coming, Bungie split from its publishing partnership with Activision early in the year, announcing it would take full control of the Destiny franchise and the developer would self-publish the game itself, without the help of mega-publisher Activision. With that, Bungie also forfeited the development help of some of Activision's studios that had been pulled in over the years to help in developing content for the game.
Bungie has said emphatically that Activision was not prohibitive in allowing Bungie to make its own creative decisions with the game, but longtime fans have often felt, whether true or not, that the partnership led to decisions that fans were less than happy about. Some of the following big changes that happened over 2019 could be traced back to that split, but others have been an ongoing evolution of Destiny 2 well before. These are the best changes to come to Destiny 2 in 2019.
Cross Save
Cross Save was a huge player-friendly change that came to Destiny 2 this year. Announced as part of the content coming in Year 3 alongside the Shadowkeep expansion and actually going live a little sooner than the (delayed) release of Shadowkeep, it finally opened the doors to allow players to move freely between platforms. Many hardcore players had been playing the game on PS4 but then moved to PC for its higher frame rates and resolution and mouse and keyboard support.
The downside of that move was that players on PC had to give up PS4-exclusive content including exotics, strikes, and PvP maps, not to mention certain legacy cosmetic items that transferred from Destiny 1 but only transferred platform-to-platform and did not carry over to PC. But with the addition of Cross Save, console exclusives ended and players' entire accounts became transferrable. And the feature works like a dream. Moving between platforms is simple and easy with a truly pick-up-and-play experience. While it isn't Cross Play, this is one step closer to that potential reality that Bungie has said it is considering.
New Light
Alongside the Shadowkeep expansion, Destiny 2: New Light was released, a free-to-play version of the game. This opened up an entirely new entry point for people to jump into Destiny 2 for free. With New Light, players can jump into the game starting with the first mission from Destiny 1 where players are awoken by their Ghost and run through the Cosmodrome before being transported into the Tower and let loose on a significant amount of content.
While many new players have complained about New Light not having enough direction to let them know what content to tackle first and causing somewhat of a tough learning curve, New Light unlocks major portions of the game at no cost. New Light players can access the entirety of Year 1's content, portions of Forsaken and Year 2's Annual Pass content, as well as the ability to patrol on any new destination that the game adds in Year 3 including the moon and Mercury.
Steam
Another big change was the PC client for Destiny 2. With the split with Activision, Destiny 2 left the Battle.net launcher owned by Activision Blizzard and found a new home on Steam. With the larger playerbase of Steam as well as the addition of Cross Save and New Light, Destiny 2 has found a strong place on Steam, landing a place in the top spot of both the paid and free game category the month of October, the launch month for Shadowkeep, and it has remained in the top five most played games of the service since then.
Quest-based exotics
Another great change was an increase in quest-based exotics in the game rather than the reliance on RNG for exotics. Going into Year 3 especially, each season brings a collection of exotics that have been tied to exotic quests. Not only does this give players a deterministic path to get a piece of the game's top gear, but it also provides Destiny 2 an opportunity to give players a unique experience to earn the exotic, with some exotics such as Outbreak Perfected giving players an entirely new mission to get through with secrets of its own. This has also been an opportunity through the quest to deliver more lore and narrative through the pursuit of an exotic rather than just have it drop randomly from completing an activity.
Armor 2.0
Shadowkeep also introduced the Armor 2.0 system, which has been a big change in Destiny 2. This armor comes with a random stat roll that includes the return of Destiny 1's Intellect/Strength/Discipline stats but void of perks. Players can choose which perks they want in a piece of armor using an energy and upgrade system that constrains players to making choices about what perks they want. The addition of universal ornaments being able to be applied to all Armor 2.0 opens up more cosmetic options for players to tinker with as well.
While it's not a perfect system, with the most common complaints being focused on Armor 2.0's elemental affinity and the massive RNG that it introduces as well as the lack of predictable sources for high stat rolls, it is a great change for Destiny 2 that hopefully continues to evolve and improve.
Rare loot dropping at Power level
Another player-friendly change in Shadowkeep was the change to Rare (blue) loot drops. In the past, Rare loot was also capped at dropping 10 levels below a player's current highest possible Power level. This made Rare loot completely filler drops, good only for dismantling. But now, Rare loot can drop at 0 below players' current Power level allowing Rare loot to be used as infusion fuel. It also allows players to slot in a Rare piece of gear temporarily to help boost their Power level for an activity. It has led to a much more enjoyable and smoother level grind than ever.
Player-influenced Loot Drops
Over the course of the year, Destiny 2 has introduced ways for players to determine what loot they get, which started with Black Armory's forge weapon frames, the Reckoning's Synthesizer, maybe best perfected so far in the Menagerie's Chalice, and has continued into Year 3 with the Lectern of Enchantment, Vex Offensive weapon frames, and Season of Dawn's obelisks.
While none of these completely took away the RNG element of the game, they have given players more control than ever to decide what gear drops they want and a more direct way to farm for the perfect roll. Getting a perfect roll can still take a lot of time, but at least players no longer have to contend with a random roll from a wide loot pool before they even start rolling the dice on the perks of what they are actually after.
Freelance Survival Playlist
The Freelance Survival playlist is one of the best changes to the Crucible since the launch of Destiny 2. First off, Survival completely replaced the 4v4 Competitive playlist, which returns to some of the more competitive modes of the original game with its 3v3 format. Survival introduces a slight feeling of Elimination (the Trials of Osiris game mode), especially when lives get low at the end of a round. But it keeps it more casual and friendly to solo players. That is further enhanced by the addition of the Freelance playlist, which only matchmakes solo players and does not allow preformed teams.
This, along with some new skill ranking and boosting systems added, has made competing in the Glory-based Survival playlist is much easier grind than ever before, especially when it comes to earning pinnacle and ritual weapons from the past and present. This became obvious last season when it was clear that earning pinnacle weapons of the past was (and is) easier than ever.
Return to Main Storyline and Darker Tone
Shadowkeep also marked a significant change to the narrative of Destiny 2, returning to the main storyline of the Darkness and the pyramid ships. The narrative also took an overall darker tone with Shadowkeep, which was naturally helped by the presence of main vendor character Eris Morn. While there were times in Destiny 2's past where the story went in a more campy direction, the evolution of the story since Forsaken last fall has continued to go down a darker road. With Bungie promising that more of the narrative started in Shadowkeep continuing through Year 3, the emphasis put on the main storyline of the franchise is definitely welcome.
Nerfing One-Eyed Mask
Ever since One-Eyed Mask released last fall in Forsaken, it has been the best Titan exotic to use in the game and despite some nerfs, it has continued to rule PvP. In the latest game update with Season of Dawn, One-Eyed Mask got a significant nerf taking away its Overshield that it grants. While some players would say the Overshield was never the issue and the true problem is the helm's tracking ability, the jury is still out on whether the nerf was dramatic enough. Nevertheless, it was one exotic that was long overdue for a nerf and a change that finally came in 2019.
Destiny 2: Shadowkeep is available now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.