Or will it just be Destiny on new planets with grenade launchers?

I suspect it will be this, with a few surprises. Expecting sweeping changes is naive at this point. Is that even what anyone wants? If they were going to change too many things, they might as well not call it Destiny and make a different game. Look at the way people reacted when Bungie said you can't bring any gear forward (again, something I was genuinely surprised that people were surprised by).

Everybody says that Des2ny plays and feels like Destiny. A look at the subclasses confirms that a large number of abilities are in fact the exact same as in Destiny.

I am concerned Bungie is not changing enough.

I think just as many are going to be concerned that too much is changing.

Weapons have been completely rearranged. All "primaries" are now kinetic, which means that for all activities with a burn, or with a match game modifier, at least one of your guns will be at a disadvantage. It won't actually be that "elemental primaries" don't exist anymore, because there will be weapons of those type that do elemental damage. But what that phrase really meant in D1 was "a third weapon doing elemental damage" and that appears to be gone.

Snipers and rocket launchers are now both in the heavy (power) slot, meaning you can't run both. Ditto for shotguns and fusions, swords and now grenade launchers. Again, I see what they are doing here, but I can't help but think that people are naturally going to feel like they are severely underpowered in D2 compared to D1 given that you can only have one weapon from that pool equipped instead of two, and the "extra" weapon you get in its place does kinetic damage only.

You can now play with two ARs, pistols, or scout rifles-- as if anyone ever asked for that.

The cardinal six character attributes, which used to be split between things on armor (int, dis, str) and things in subclass config (armor, recovery, agility) are now changed. The first three appear to just be gone, and the latter three moved from subclass to armor.

Subclass perks are now grouped into blocks of four that can't be changed. I think I see what Bungie is doing here-- they want to force tradeoffs and prevent the community from selecting one set of perks per subclass as being "the best" and having people just leave them there.

Every class now gets an extra ability sort of like shadestep.

ALL crucible activities 4x4.

There may not be any one single massive fundamental change, but so many little things are being tweaked, I think they're going to add up.

Everybody says that Des2ny plays and feels like Destiny. A look at the subclasses confirms that a large number of abilities are in fact the exact same as in Destiny.

I am concerned Bungie is not changing enough.

When I look at Destiny's releases after launch, the one that changed things up the most - The Taken King, was also the best. It was cool having to figure things out again, and be put in a place where you have to work out the game systems and what's possible since a huge amount changed.

Many people have commented that Wrath of the Machine was disappointing because we already knew the game. We knew the language of the raids. Even though it was a cool experience, it wasn't really different enough to really stick with you.

Did you shit yourself when Kane's chest exploded in Alien? If you did, did you feel the same way when the same thing happened to Oram in Alien Covenant? Why not? Because it was expected.

It looks like the feel and general mechanics are carrying over as well as the light system. How much is there going to be to relearn and master? If I am an expert at Destiny, will Des2ny just be a small period of adjustment? Will I have to explore and learn the game?

Will Des2ny push the scenarios and existing mechanics into unusual territory? If not, will the story and atmosphere be enough to make up for it? Or will it just be Destiny on new planets with grenade launchers?

You use the Alien example, I'll use John Carpenter's THE THING example;

That is one of my favorite movies, but it will never, ever be as good as the first time I saw it because now I know who the THING is. That doesn't take away from it being good to watch again by any means, just that it's unrealistic to expect that to happen again watching it again and again.

Same with the Flood in Halo. Or exiting the life pod. It's still amazing to do, but it won't ever be like the first time again.

There is a balance you have to walk with sticking with what works, if it ain't broke kinda thing while trying to find ways to innovate and surprise.

Bungie should be working on innovating with the Cabal right now if they are going to be the premier enemies for D2 because I gotta say: Rev not impressed by that trailer. They look just as boring to fight as they were before. I realize they didn't get a lot of attention in D1 compared to the Hive and Fallen, but, dang.

Even the Brutes in Halo 2 improved dramatically for Halo 3. They need to use that as an example. They've bloody done it once.... do it again!