Destiny 2 has a solid player base, over a million active users, and is arguably one of the market's most popular looter shooter games. Launched in 2017, Destiny 2 has successfully built upon the story and lore that started with the original game and continues through the future with even more story content planned. The recent reveal of the Lightfall trailer has whetted the appetites of many players eager for more.

As more content is added to the game, Bungie has spent time reorganizing aspects of the game to be more inviting for new players. In the past, Destiny 2 has received criticism for being hard for new members to get acclimated to the game's story, lore, mechanics, and activities. That isn't to say that the game is unplayable or too confusing; it had some organizational issues that made the game's complexity apparent.

RELATED: Destiny 2: All Iron Banner Weapons, Ranked

New Light in Destiny 2

destiny 2 king's fall weapons god rolls guide smite of merain doom of chelchis zaouli's bane defiance of yasmin

In 2019, the release of Shadowkeep saw an overhaul of the game's mechanics and starting quests. This new version of Destiny 2 became a free-to-play re-release game, with an introductory exploration called New Light to ease new players into the world and gameplay of Destiny 2. With this new intro, elements from the first game's quest in the Cosmodrome were retooled to serve as the new opening.

Initially, this New Light release saw players obtain a jump ship before reaching the Tower and beginning The Red War campaign, along with Curse of Osiris and Warmind. The release of Beyond Light as the fifth story expansion saw New Light reworked again, now featuring the player Guardian battling through the Fallen and Hive in coordination with Shaw Han, another Guardian stationed at the Cosmodrome.

From here, players are introduced to the game's looter shooter mechanics, the story thus far that's been established between the Light and the Darkness, the Fallen and the Hive, and other races threatening humanity. Once players access the Tower, New Light expands its quests for players to embark upon Vanguard, Crucible, and Gambit matches. All this content is free for players and can provide many hours of tasks and gameplay.

Story Expansions in Destiny 2

destiny 2 arc 3.0 hunter build season of plunder aspects fragments abilities exotics mods endgame

Destiny 2 released the game with The Red War campaign, which saw a system-wide conflict between the Guardians and the Cabal, who served the Darkness. The Curse of Osiris and Warmind was released as other expansion packs for the game to comprise Year One. Year Two saw the release of Forsaken with gameplay changes, followed by Shadowkeep and Beyond Light.

The release of Beyond Light triggered the vaulting of previous story content that Destiny 2 offered from release through Year Two, with everything from The Red War through Warmind entering the content vault. While this was done to provide more space for future expansions and the newer technology they ran on, the previous content was no longer available to new players, which remains to the present. The Witch Queen expansion saw the vaulting of the Forsaken story expansion, though its content pack of weapons, armor, and gear remains obtainable for new players to purchase.

These are all paid story expansions, as they are not part of the free-to-play package of Destiny 2, which includes the free New Light quests. While these stories are not necessary to enjoy the gaming aspects of Destiny 2, such as Gambits, Crucibles, or Vanguard Strikes, if new players are entrenched with the game's lore, they are worth checking out.

RELATED: Destiny 2 Weekly Reset: New Nightfall, Challenges, and Rewards In addition to the paid story expansions, Destiny 2 features additional Seasonal content that allows players to earn more loot, XP, and other rewards to diversify and build their Guardian characters. This Seasonal content usually comes with quests and story features on their own to enhance the main story expansion pack that launches that Year of Destiny and its future Seasons. While some aspects of Seasonal content are free to players to earn their rewards, there's a Premium package of Seasonal activities and rewards that require a paid purchase of the Season Pass or the current story expansion's Deluxe Edition. With the Deluxe Edition, players can play the current Season and all past and future Seasons that make up the current Year of Destiny 2.

What to Play First in Destiny 2

Custom-Destiny-2-Skyrim-Armor-Sets-Papa-Freedom

With so much content available, while others were vaulted, it's easy to see why new players were confused in the past on exactly how to embark on their Destiny 2 journey. While having the entire package available seems enticing to hit the ground running with all available story content and expansion features, it may be wiser to download the free-to-play version of Destiny 2 and begin New Light.

Despite some retooling, the New Light quest has proven to be a grounded way to introduce players to the game's story, lore, history, and mechanics while setting the stage for future activities and conflicts such as through Vanguard Strikes, Gambit Matches, and Crucible events. With so many hours of the game free to delve into, it will be a sure way for new players to discover if they like the content and style of the game before committing to paid expansions.

If players have gone through enough content for free and want to explore more of the game's lore, getting the story expansions makes the most sense. While some expansions are not always as exciting or long as others, to get the best experience lore-wise, it's advised to progress through Shadowkeep first, followed by Beyond Light, and finally, The Witch Queen. These expansions will provide many hours of activities in preparation for the release of Lightfall in 2023.

Destiny 2 provides plenty of content for players old and new alike to sink their teeth into. In the past, the game has had some difficulty bringing new players in seamlessly, and so has reworked specific game mechanics and settings to provide a more streamlined avenue to learn the ins and outs of the game. Creating a free-to-play format with the New Light quest line while offering optional paid story expansions and Seasonal content through Destiny 2 Deluxe Editions allows players to learn the ropes and choose which content they want to embark upon.

Destiny 2 is now available for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

MORE: Destiny 2: How to Get Repute, Map Fragments, and Treasure Coordinates