There were some 3v3 modes like Trials of Osiris. With Destiny 2, we’ve met somewhere in the middle. Every game mode is 4v4 now instead of 3v3 or 6v6. We’ve created a scenario where every single player in the Crucible plays an important role on their team. We’ve placed an emphasis on strategy, teamwork, and communication. You’re going to think a lot about how you back each other up, how you play together.
The other side of the loot pool is the now titled “Illuminated Engrams” (previously Bright Engrams) which drop all sorts of cosmetic goodies and sometimes an exotic ship, sparrow or Ghost. Bungie is sticking to their guns with how these engrams function — aside from the debacle of XP gain — a minor complaint comes against it. With so many new cosmetics, mainly shaders, why can’t these items be locked like armor or weapons? Why can’t they be deleted in mass? Having to systemically break-down shaders one by one is tedious and a waste of time. No one wants to sit around and delete 65 bland shaders, “wooo, look how much fun I’m having.”
Having faction leaders like Devrim is a step forward for Destiny’s open areas. He’s a strong personality, and it is good to listen to other characters that aren’t Nolan North’s-voiced Ghost. The inclusion of NPCs, however, still don’t provide players with everything they need, as you’ll still need to travel back to social spaces to decrypt engrams and access your vault. A more seamless experience that incorporated social spaces into the open area would have been much preferred.
The action continues after a short cutscene (yes, there are cutscenes in missions now). We’ve boarded the Cabal capital ship and need to take down the shields. The level ended in the shield generator room where we were introduced to Destiny 2’s main antagonist, Ghaul. Large and menacing, Bungie claims that he’s a more complex villain than, say, Oryx, but he didn’t come across that way in the demo. Hopefully, we’ll see another side of him in the main game.
From there, we got to try one of Destiny 2’s new strikes, The Inverted Spire. This mission took us to Nessus (one of the new worlds) to break into a Red Legion dig site and figure out what they’re up to. For the strike, Bungie unlocked a variety of different weapons for us to try out and there have been quite a few changes. Weapon classifications have been revamped to give players more options. The main slot now houses Kinetic Weapons, which include Auto Rifles, Pulse Rifles, Hand Cannons and Scout Rifles. The second slot now houses Energy Weapons. These are the Fusion Rifles, Handguns and, new to Destiny, Submachine Guns. Finally, in the third slot, we have Power Weapons,which are your Machine Guns, Rocket Launchers, Sniper Rifles and Grenade Launchers (also new to Destiny).
There is one final note to touch on. Destiny 2 has made the same mistake as its predecessor. Introducing a new expansion has now locked out many Guardians from participating in some of the easier end-game content, and if those Guardians don’t pay up, too bad. It perfectly sums up the open arms of the Destiny franchise, while only having room to hold so many. Much like the Infinite Forest, Destiny 2 looks to be in a constant state of flux and can’t quite figure out the right simulation.
Bungie unloaded a full clip of Destiny to the face and the feels are real . Remember when I said to pay attention to Zavala? Destiny 2 immediately proves it has more heart than the first game, even with all the expansions. Using the opening of the showcasing of Destiny 2 as a platform — having Zavala introduce the player base to a more serious tone which immediately sets the stakes higher — is a strong move. Zavala’s more serious demeanor isn’t all brooding, but a calculus of everything going around him. Which is why the story to Destiny 2 is already immensely important. While there are a number of things in Destiny 2, the PvE aspect of things makes for the skeletal structure that holds up the Destiny universe. In other words, lore matters.
We think that a lot of players are going to be pretty surprised about how 4v4 changes the landscape. In terms of being on a big team in Destiny, that’s the Raid. The pinnacle activity in our game is all about being in a Fireteam of six and solving the biggest mysteries in the game together.
The first piece of DLC for Destiny 2 dropped this week and Guardians have taken to The Curse of Osiris like Mercury takes to…OK, I don’t have a good example. What can be said for The Curse of Osiris is that it isn’t making waves and isn’t what Destiny 2 News 2 was missing to bring it back from the woes that it has been going through. Then again, isn’t Destiny always going through woes? If anything, Curse of Osiris is proving to be more of the same , while coming across as a bit watered down. I asked for three cubes bartender, not a glass full of ice with my whiskey. Caydee-6 would not be pleased, although he might not care either. For those Guardians that do care, though, it’s proving frustrating, and for anyone who might want to jump back in, Curse of Osiris doesn’t sell itself well.