Just a year after the huge showcase where Bungie revealed to the world Destiny 2's The Witch Queen expansion, the company came out with a trailer dedicated to the upcoming Lightfall DLC, which will release in February of next year. This is a highly anticipated new chapter in Destiny 2's Light and Darkness saga that Bungie has been building up to for many years now, and it all comes down to a showdown pitting The Witness and Calus' forces against the Guardians and Neomuna's Cloud Striders. The conflict ensues because The Witness is looking for a powerful artifact located in Neptune's hidden city, which is a kaleidoscope of neon lights and '80s-inspired locations.
Cloud Striders as a new race change everything because they show that life without the Traveler's blessing is not only possible, but it hinges on a different breed of Lightless human protectors who have given up years of their lifespan to gain bionic enhancements. And yet, one of the most striking aspects of Lightfall as a whole is that Neomuna's many colors and neon signs are a nostalgic reminder of what vanilla Destiny 2 had with Titan's Archology, which is now lost to the Destiny Content Vault and may never return.
Why Destiny 2's Lightfall Can Hit Nostalgia Just Right
Although entirely subjective, Titan was arguably one of the most iconic locations in vanilla Destiny 2 thanks to the beautiful time-lost Archology, which was a testament to the Golden Age of humanity in the game's universe. Players got to experience a bit of the Hive-infested Archology through quests and the Savathun's Song Strike, which was also removed from the game with Beyond Light. Mixed with Titan's rainy surface, the grotesque yet cozy underground pre-Collapse world made it a beautiful place to explore, and also quite unique in terms of aesthetics.
In fact, that same colorful set of neon lights was never recreated in Destiny 2 if not for the short-lived Season of the Splicer, which had a similar and yet entirely different vibe thanks to the '80s synth-wave aesthetics of the Override activity and the Vex network. This same visual pattern extended to the weapons for Season of the Splicer, which are luckily still available, albeit only from Xur's inventory. As for the Season and its content, everything was vaulted with The Witch Queen, as seasonal activities, items, and vendors disappear with new expansions when they launch.
Bungie confirmed during the August showcase that Destiny 2's content won't be vaulted again in the future outside of seasonal additions, and while that is great to hear, the return of either Season of the Splicer's vibes or the Titan's Archology is extremely improbable. However, Lightfall will stay in the core game forever if Bungie intends to never sunset expansions, which means that it will be a constant source of nostalgia for those players who loved vanilla Destiny 2 and the more recent Season of the Splicer. On top of that, it's also a good way to partly experience something that is now gone for those players who weren't there when these locations and activities came out.
Destiny 2's Strand is a great addition to all that because its light green hues and traversal skills are something that no other ability in the game can emulate, especially if this new power is intended to be used as a tool to explore Neomuna. Much like every expansion before it, Lightfall is also likely to come with plenty of secrets and mysteries, and while Neomuna is not exactly comparable to The Witch Queen's Throne World, it will have its fair share of things to uncover.
Destiny 2 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.