In Destiny, players would drop into the world and be the sole occupants in the world, asides from the infinitely respawning enemies. Destiny 2 changes this by adding NPCs to the open areas. In the EDZ that character is Devrim Kay, a suave sniper who resides in an abandoned church.
Starting with Record Books seems like the appropriate place. Destiny 2 Guide took the idea of achievements or milestones, whatever they might be called, and put them in the form of Record Books. A way for Guardians to keep track of all their glorious achievement plus receive gifts for leveling up through the Record Book that can be shown off when around other Guardians. Nothing like a sweet skin, right? Much like its Age of Triumph title comes the ultimate Record Book. Not only is this Record Book the largest seen so far, but it also is tough as nails to get through. It is sure to keep any Guardian busy, especially those that might be returning. What’s nice about the Age of Triumph Book is even if it seems like a slog (nothing new for Destiny), the records are easy to achieve, especially before September. Nothing bombastic or hardcore. Just a challenging but fair checklist. Things players will find worth doing, hell maybe even starting up that class you’ve always wanted to play but never got around too. September is a long way away after all and that Age of Triumph book wont fill itself out.
Once upon a time, Bungie justified microtransactions by saying that all future, non-major expansions would be free. They held that promise throughout the lifespan of The Taken King and Rise of Iron, but have since broken it. Not only do we have to pay for expansions again, but most of the loot that could previously be earned during Destiny’s lifecycle is also all locked behind microtransactions. Every ship, sparrow, cool shader, ornament, and emote can’t be obtained by completing challenges in-game, but only by opening Loot Boxes. Considering that Bungie was just caught handicapping XP gains to encourage real-money purchases, this move feels entirely wrong.
Convinced yet, Guardian? Ready to come back to the fold instead of drinking your woes away locked in a dark dingy Tower bar? Sure, you might see Cayde-6 roll on through, but does he really have anything interesting to say yet? He’s just waiting for the action he has no idea is on the way. The Cabal have been a long time coming and what better way to kick off Destiny 2 then an all-out assault on the place Guardians call home? Get it while it’s hot Guardian, the Tower won’t be around for much longer and all that hard work you’ve put in over the years (or ignored), well either keep at it or kiss it good bye. See you in space, Guardian.
Loot boxes make money. This is still the unfortunately reality of things despite the absolutely massive backlash that hit the likes of EA and Activision six months ago. Despite everything; despite the massive outcry and governmental investigations into this slimey practice, gamers are still buying loot boxes frequently enough to make them worth all the trouble they cause. They’re still in Overwatch, PlayerUnkown’s Battlegrounds is still developing theirs and now Bungie has unveiled yet another type of loot box to Destiny 2 as their response to the massive outcry against their baffling insistence on walling-off much of the game’s gear behind RNG loot boxes. The developer has even gone on-record to acknowledge fans’ dislike of the loot boxes and promised to explore ways to improve Eververse for players. Yet here they are with another loot box; they either don’t have any idea what the issue is or they think they’re going to make a lot of money from it. With Destiny 2 in such a sorry state, they’ll need to make that money fast.
Destiny 2 did a 180 degree turn with how the loot pool dolled out those sweet, sweet items. Where in Destiny it could feel like pulling teeth just to find an exotic, Destiny 2 was happy to shower Guardians in them with its new reward structure. Like everything else in Destiny 2 though, it couldn’t help but have a slight fault, those exotics every Guardian wants just aren’t… exotic. Exotic items in Destiny had a feel about them because they behaved in a way that was reminiscent of some of the quirkier items to come out of video games ( the Cerebral Bore ). They weren’t supposed to be godly, but some of the perks had just enough of a twist to make them feel unique. Only one exotic comes to mind in Destiny 2 that shines in this regard, a new grenade launcher titled “The Colony” that was part of the expansion. The other exotics with Curse of Osiris do look to be pushing in the right direction, but like everything else in Destiny 2, only time will tell with how people feel about these new armaments when preforming.
