By now most gamers can agree that while Destiny offers a satisfying experience mechanically, its story is far from fulfilling. In fact, some might go so far as to say the disjointed nature of the narrative makes it all but impenetrable. We can pick up bits and pieces, but the actual progression makes little to no sense.

While we may never know why exactly the Destiny story feels so hollow and disjointed, fans have begun coming up with their own theories. Some have been stronger than others, but one has stood out among the pack.

This theory, proposed by several Destiny fans prior to launch, claims that The Darkness in the game is actually a byproduct of The Traveler, the giant white orb that floats above Earth. However, players are not privy to The Darkness and Traveler's true nature because of The Speaker, who has altered the running narrative over time. The faceless NPC has convinced the player and the remaining citizens of Earth that The Traveler saved them, when in fact it is The Traveler that ravaged society.

Obviously, none of these story bits ever made it into Destiny's final story, but new info suggests that fans' suspicions were right and they were there at some point. One beta tester, for example, came forward (and broke their NDA) to say that the Destiny they played back in 2013 had some inklings of this twist.

According to this anonymous Reddit poster, the version of Destiny played included a character named Crow, a former Guardian who had turned away from The Traveler. It is while working for Crow that players uncover the true nature of The Speaker and The Traveler, before eventually learning the Hive are trying to revive the white orb to decimate humanity again. Check out a screenshot of the post (the actual post was removed by Reddit) below:

As Destiny players can attest, not a single element from this player's experience actually made it into the finished game. In fact, it seems like most of those prior twists and story beats were gutted from Destiny, and emptiness and Grimoire cards were left in their wake.

No matter whether players believe these claims, though, it seems pretty evident that something changed during Destiny's development. Some think it might have been the departure of lead writer Joe Staten that shifted gears for Destiny, while others assume it was simply a change of direction within the company. It's also possible that Bungie is still committed to the twist, but wasn't ready to unveil it just yet. Rather, they hope to make the grand reveals in a second or third game, or maybe even a DLC expansion.

Whatever the case may be, there's no denying the Destiny story is lackluster as it stands. The twist might not have been the most inventive thing, but it's better than a story that feels severely lacking.

Do you think Destiny's story originally offered a surprising twist? What do you think happened in development?

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Source: Forbes