After working on the critically and commercially successful FPS that changed the genre, Halo, Bungie set their sights on something bigger and better. That came in the shape of the online looter-shooter Destiny. Although the first game had a rocky start, it progressively got better, but it wasn't enough.
The first game had issues, lack of content, and was off-balanced which was causing the player base to dry up quickly. Bungie has been working hard to fix these issues with expansions that added more content like events. All things to keep the players engaged. However, Bungie has moved away from the first one and learned their lesson with Destiny 2. But, like the first one, it has gone through changes. Here are five good and five bad things that have happened in Destiny 2 over the years.
5 Going Free To Play (Best)
After splitting from Activision back in early 2019, Bungie kept the rights allowing the developer to do whatever they want with it. The big thing about the split is that Bungie made it free. It has all the launch year content plus most of the added on items that Bungie released.
This was a welcoming surprise and helped reignite the excitement. However, the complaint that is going around is that it's slightly off-balanced for new players to the series. Players who bought the first game can transfer their character over and build on that. But, for new players, there's a skill barrier that requires a lot of time spent playing. While Destiny 2 is night and day compared to the first one, Destiny 2 did away with a few mechanics and features which fans enjoyed.
4 Trials Of Osiris (Worst)
In the first game, this was an end game activity. Every weekend players compete in a three-versus-three PvP deathmatch. That gave players high-level gear, for every third, fifth, and seventh win. The rewards are usually gear that has something with the themes of the Trials. If players win 9 flawless rounds, they earn access to a special area called The Lighthouse.
The reason why it's a big deal is that players get special Trails gear that they can only get in The Lighthouse. Now, in the sequel, the Trails are different in the sense that players don't need to try particularly hard to earn them. If there is a weapon or a piece of armor that players wanted, they could easily get it. Many players farm for guns that they can easily get at that three-win mark.
3 Shadowkeep Expansion (Best)
The big campaign DLC that dropped late last year, helped bring new life into the game. Players who played the first game were happy to go back to the moon. Although not the biggest or innovative DLC, it has its own surprises, like the six-man raid and the evolving end game that's turning Density 2 into even more of a live service. Even the end game of Shadowkeep keeps players enticed because there's so much to do.
Shadowkeep is a great addition, many can argue that this expansion shows off what the game is all about. Yet, Shadowkeep switched up the storytelling formula. Instead of having one story, Shadowkeep allows for multiple narratives. Shadowkeep also removes the need for grinding by keeping players at the same light level.
2 Content Drought (Worst)
For each expansion, there's so much that comes with it. New games, new weapons, new gear, more raids, just more things to do in general. This is great because it keeps players engaged. Plus, the seasonal events that happen in between the expansion, in theory, should maintain the base. The issue in Destiny 2 was the frequency. There would be a ton of content drops happen all at once, and then there would be nothing, and the drought would loom over the game for some time.
This is something that is brought over to the sequel, although come September seasonal events will be a year-round event. But, as for now, players have been facing very little, Bungie hopes that these spaced out drops would hold players over till the next expansion... but it doesn't. The complaint is that these drops are too far and few between and that it simply wasn't replayable enough.
1 Expanding The Story (Worst)
The main gripe about both games is that the story isn't properly told, many players even now have no idea what's going on. Bungie has created a deep and thought-out world, and a proper story should accompany it to help ground and make the world more comprehensive.
However, Bungie is telling the story through Grimore cards which can be taxing and can take players out of the game. Along with that, understanding the narrative has been hard, as players still don't get it. Although an outline of what's happening can be found through certain cut scenes and what characters are saying, it doesn't add much depth to it. So, something to think about in the future is that moving away from those cards and make the world speak for itself.