Wow, it took me long enough. You guys still remember who I am, right? Somebody? Anybody?

...Right, anyway. I finally got to play Destiny. Surgery kept me from doing the beta, then life decided to have its way with me, my family, and my neighbors. I couldn't even pick up my preoder because I'd been out of state when it came out. Stupid life. To be fair, the only reason why I even have it now is because my neighbors banded together and bought it for me. (I can only imagine the look on the Gamestop employee's face when the 98-year-old woman asked for help finding Destiny, then had to exchange it when they found out they'd bought it for the wrong system. OOPS!)

Upon community insistence that I take time off to enjoy life a little, Saturday I plugged in and booted it up. That was about 3 PM. Sunday, at 6 PM, I decided to take a nap before work. When I got home Monday, I figured I'd play a bit more before hitting the sack -- I got one mission done before exhaustion hit me. I passed out in my work uniform, controller in hand! But after waking up and shoveling 18 driveways, I was right back at it. In the wee pre-sun hours, when most people in America were blearily slapping the snooze button, I beat the main campaign, feeling a wave of satisfaction.

So, let's jump right in, shall we?

The story... Well, it's pretty basic. I like the Grimiore, oddly enough. It makes me more happy than I have any right to be. But I would have liked it if some things had been presented in the game instead of having to hop on my computer to learn about it. Small quibble, but nothing major. (I am not a fan of All There In The Manual.)

The few cutscenes that we got were delightful. The Ghost is a wonderful companion; while some comparisons could be drawn to Cortana, meh. I think he's a wonderful, independent character in his own right who deserves his own attention without them. And he had one line that made me howl with laughter -- I'm a sucker for little bits of humor like that, when they're completely in-character.

Still, the cutscene right after that left me... disappointed. It was set up as dangerous, and turned out to be nothing. Noting at all. I got the feeling that the characters were nervous, but I never personally felt any of that. It felt hollow. Not as bad as a lot of games that I play, and it thankfully wasn't neutered by unnecessary grimdark of darkgrimness, nor hollowed further by unnecessary comedy. They hit the major points, but left out the gravity. Perhaps had I known more going into it, I would have felt it better, but I still don't feel like I know enough for that.

All in all, the story was adequate. That's... about it, sadly. Adequate. It gave (sometimes confusing) context to everything that I was doing, and did a passable job of keeping me going. I'm hoping that when I finally feel comfortable enough to dive into the expansion, they'll have beefed up the story a smidge.

Now, the setting. I cut myself off early, so I missed a lot about the setting. That's actually fine. I loved learning about it in-game. I loved the religious/mystical connotations. It made sense to me. Sufficiently complex technology and all that jazz. As it stands, I'm fine with the fantastic elements. Even if it turns out to actually be pure sci-fi, I'll be satisfied. Why? Because they put the touches and enough of an explanation in there that it makes sense to me.

The atmosphere is wonderful. From Earth to the Moon to the other planets, each locale feels different, individual, unique... and sensible. Sure, the fact that entropy hasn't destroyed every computer when our music devices can't even last a decade is a little out there, but meh, I'm willing to ignore it for the sake of fun. Plus, it gets addressed by the Ghost as making things difficult at the very freaking beginning of the game. Awesome.

The tower itself oozes atmosphere. I love hearing the casual dialog. At one point, I parked myself in the tree by Banshee for probably an hour while doing other things, just listening to his atmosphere dialog. He is now my favorite character in the game. Hands down. Just... fascinating, and my heart goes out to him. I actually learned a few things about telling a story from a few snippets of dialog. Let's see if I can put it into practice.

But when I wasn't in the mood for that, I could go just a little bit over and hear complaints about bad packages. Good touch, there.

But I bet none of you want to hear me ramble forever about story. Let's get to gameplay.

The leveling system is fairly stripped down and basic, and there isn't actually anything wrong with that. Really. I'd like more crunch, but what we have works for me. It's simple, but elegant.

Gunplay is solid, and the wide variety of guns is something that I like. I still need to play around and see what I like best -- so far, I'm enjoying pulse rifles the best. Even then, there's a lot of variations. Each one performs slightly differently. For a long time after I beat the main story, I was using the same crappy pulse rifle I'd beaten it with. Why? Because the Stranger's Rifle didn't behave in a way that I liked.

This is a compliment to the game and the system as a whole. Hunting for a weapon that's distinctively you is a good thing for this game, as your playstyle may not mesh with the gun that has the best stats. Which, in turn, pushes you to seek out more weapons to try and level. I somehow nabbed The Devil You Don't, and while I love its power, especially while patrolling, its style isn't right for me when it comes to strikes.

The drop system is interesting, too. I like that you can have things you missed delivered to you. That's a huge relief. The drops themselves are rewarding, and the mechanic of getting a drop that you don't know what it is until you visit the tower encourages breaks from the action and adaptation. I likey.

It also hits my loot button far better than Borderlands did. Borderlands almost had too much loot; this is a better balance. I feel accomplishment when I get something, like I deserve this for having killed X enemies or surviving Y and Z. At the same time, I don't go too long without getting anything. Good balance.

The heavy grind is something I have mixed feelings about, but I understand the necessity. I honestly can't complain -- it's something that I can live with, an eye on a goal.

I chose the Titan class to start out with mostly for survivability, and its playstyle works well with me. I'm the cautious sort, who isn't good at landing grenades exactly where I want them. And yet, the Pulse and Lightning grenades still serve as a great way to make choke points even if they don't deal damage. The fact that grenades regenerate is a huge bonus -- I use them more now than I do in other games.

The punch... I notice I get less drops of either gear or ammo when my enemies disintegrate, so no, I don't like it. Fist of Havoc, though, is a great ability that works great with my playstyle. I may not use it as much as I could, but when I use it, it's because I need it. I like that.

I'm so not playing my class right, and I know it. And I don't care, because it works for me.

I had a bunch more to say, but I think I sum it up like this: It's a simple system, firmly rooted in two different genres and stripping out the bulk of one of them. However, within that simplicity is a subtle complexity that you can easily overlook due to the ease at which you can slide into a role, almost without thinking about it.

I'm glad that folks are currently encouraging me to take time out for myself so that I can play. I have the feeling that this is going to be a go-to game for me for quite some time, and I'm anxiously awaiting when I get the gear for one more light level, so I feel more comfortable easing into my first foray into the expansion.