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Hello there.
I know I left a lot of things undone or a lot of things unattended on this website, but what I'm about to say here must be said.
I have seldom been playing Destiny 2 lately. And there are many reasons why. First and foremost, it simply isn't healthy to be fascinated in one game for months upon months. The only time I ever drop by that game is if my friends want to play, that's it. Second of all, like every other ranter would say about this game, it has disappointed me. Beyond Light was fun for the first few weeks before it simply got boring and repetitive. But that isn't what I'm going to senselessly write about here. Instead, I'm going to write about what needs to change down the road and what path the future expansions should NOT take.
But before that, I will first talk about what Shadowkeep and Beyond Light excelled at before I will first talk about how they failed where Forsaken succeeded. Where they succeeded is in the story, lore, awe factors, the roles they play, or potentially play, down the road and the new modifications made to endgame content. That's all. No more, no less. I legitimately enjoyed the thought of discovering the Darkness for what it is, as well as the character that is Eramis, both casting shadows of doubt on the Traveler and the Light it provides, both saying it is weak and cowardly, as it can't save the people it blesses, neither can it save itself. I loved seeing the back and side stories that made the characters in the story, as well as what has and is happening on the sidelines. I loved patrolling a new Moon and Europa, thoroughly enjoying the secrets and perusing the worlds as I cross through golden age ruins and hostile strongholds. I loved how I see each and every domino fall towards our battle with the Darkness and how it all leads down the path towards Savathûn and the other champions of humanities' enemies. And, finally, I loved the new Champion enemy archetype and the powers of Stasis and the versatility it provides. However, that's where my enthusiasm in these past two expansions ends, and where my doubts for the road ahead begins to mount.
Everything else, the campaigns, the worlds, endgame content, just sucked. Seriously. I DESPISED the fact that the two campaigns followed basically the same exact premise. Oh no! A new enemy has arisen! Do some boring fetch quests and take out their champions in the same activities you'll be facing them in again (Nightmare and Empire Hunts). OH, what's this, there's a new barrier in the quest to take them down, do some strike you'll enjoy this one time and discover what secrets lie within. Now that we know what's at stake and have the power we need, it's time to take them down. Oh, and, by the way, your antagonists have only been talked about, only shown in the final encounter. I HATE it! Hell, here, I'll humor the Red War campaign and talk about why I enjoyed the campaign there. It was individual missions that oriented us to the world around us, it gave us more than one act, surviving the Red Legion, bringing together the Vanguard and finally taking down the threat of the Cabal in the System. Sure, some of the characters were blah, but where it truly shines is where it SHOWS the character of Ghaul. Granted, we saw some of Eramis's character in Beyond Light, but not nearly on the level of Ghaul, regardless of how unimpressive he was. I loved the different things you had to do there, I loved the escape from the Arcology on Titan, MOST of Nessus, the Taken plot on Io, the showdown against the Red Legion on Earth (Drake and Thumos) and the Almighty. Forsaken, too, had multiple acts to it, despite the partial fetch quest aspect to it, which is hunt the Scorn, kill the Scorn, discover the Dark truth, pursue true revenge and, finally, discover the dominoes set by Savathûn. Unlike the very boring one act stories we got from Shadowkeep and Beyond Light: just kill them. No, kill champions, discover their plans and finally face off against them does not count.
What also made both Forsaken and Red War great was the uniqueness of the worlds and the different parts of them. Sure, both Shadowkeep and Beyond Light did have their own unique environments, but when you see them EVERY TIME you have to do any activity in the game, the experience gets pretty stale. It also hurts these expansions when you have encountered environments like the ones they presented before, especially the Moon. As for Beyond Light, I've seen a Vex stronghold before, I've seen a ruined cityscape before and I've seen an environment like an Arcology Rig before, but never a clean, pristine Clovis Bray facility, which I'll give it. On the other hand, we get a ruined town, expansive forests and a bustling Red Legion base in the EDZ. A crashed ship, extensive Vex structures and a replicated, unnatural forest on Nessus. A Vex corrupted landscape, a Light flowing surface and an abandoned Cabal mining operation on Io. The uniqueness of the environments kills Beyond Light's when we've already seen the Pyramidion and Freehold on Mars (the ice and snow are cool though, if the storm system didn't F***ING PUSH AGAINST MY SPARROW).
As for the big issue, the endgame content, as little as it truly is. Both suffer an issue where we've already played the endgame content, as I explained with both types of Hunts. The pretty unique, yet repetitive Lost Sectors (and the power-gated Legend and Master Lost Sectors of Beyond Light). The exotic armor pieces you'll use only once (except for Necrotic Grip and Mask of Bakris). And finally, the RAID LAIRS!!! The SAME mechanics ALL throughout, have a final boss that KILLS the Raid and LASTS FOUR ENCOUNTERS!!! Now, back to the other two expansions, hell, I'll also mention Scourge, which DSC tore aspects from. Sure, the Leviathan also lasted four encounters and was pretty easy, but what I loved about the Raid was how little similarity the encounters shared with each other (despite the Councilors) and how truly unique they were. Last Wish really takes the cake here in terms of versatility, with the only recurring thing being Taken Strength, only appearing twice out of the six encounters. And that's what I truly loved about it, the versatility. Kalli is just stand on a plate and don't die then shoot, but Shuro Chi allows you to give chase and prevent her song from killing you. At Morgeth, you stop the abomination from summoning enough strength to kill everyone and prevent it from reclaiming it from out hands. Vault is where we decipher the code and enter the Queen's personal collection. And Riven, well, I wish I knew Riven instead of cheesing her. And Queenswalk, despite the returning Taken Strength, simply is awesome. As for Scourge, despite how easy it was, there was a modicum of uniqueness that comes into play here, with seeking the right Berserkers and disposing of the charges in the correct locations, gathering radiances and destroying a shield and arsenal on the boss. Unlike the simplistic Tether and Motes system of Garden and the Augments and Nukes of DSC. And last only 4 encounters, like a Raid Lair. But enough about Raids, there are other endgame activities that I need to address. Wrathborn Hunts, who continue to perpetuate the repetitive, egregious fetch quest mantra that Destiny currently follows. Harbinger, a fun activity on paper turning out to be a tedious power-gated activity that makes solo Heroic Zero Hour look easy and fun. The Hunt activities, things we've already done before promising a SLIGHT (actually infinitesimal) chance at things we desperately need. Strikes that now have grown stale ever since Day 1. Crucible that continues to run with issues such as overpowered builds, sweats and tryhards and, most of all, STASIS. And Gambit continuing to be even more of a joke now that it has usurped Gambit Prime.
Yes, I will say the generic and unoriginal phrase, Bungie needs change, only because it's true. But I have hopes. Now that Season of the Chosen is dropping with new content, at the least, I have a reason to return to the game on my own accord. After all, the Cabal are my favorite faction, so I might stick around for a while. But what I truly hope for from this new season is a much needed new breath of fresh air and at the least a step towards another direction in terms of gameplay and activities. If not, I truly hope Bungie begins doing so before Witch Queen drops. I hope Bungie doesn't shaft Savathûn and the arc surrounding her the way they did to Eramis and the House of Salvation and the Darkness in Shadowkeep, especially for the Darkness in Lightfall. Both deserve a story, a campaign, a backstory (AND RAID) like, or, perhaps, if possible, better than Oryx. Not just for the players' sake, but for Bungie too.
At least those are my problems with Destiny right now. If you have anything else to share about it, go ahead, there's a talk page or my message board. And yes, I have, in fact, stepped away from Destiny for now. I'm currently thoroughly enjoying Skyrim right now and have been watching everything Star Wars at the moment. But, that hasn't stopped me from cooking up some potential pages down the line, especially for Anarchy's Children, the Neon Wraiths and Castris's Criminal Empire and other members of the Underground. But as for the main pages, the screenshots will continue to flow in due time... once I rekindle my fire for the game as a whole. Anyways, thank you for dropping by and reading my own problems. Hopefully see you starside, Guardians.
-Unscathed Legionary
• As long as there's an empty page, there is more yet to come! Just you wait. 13:05, February 3, 2021 (EDT)