D2 Reaction. (Thx Bingle) *SP* (Destiny)

by Malagate , Sea of Tranquility, Monday, September 11, 2017, 12:12 (2713 days ago)

Well, it's been about a week and I figured I should put my thoughts down somewhere, so here goes:

It was like Bungie gave me every specific thing I asked for and then some: I asked for submachine guns and grenade launchers; and I got them. I wanted Void Titans to be more in-your-face than they were, and I got that; too. Vehicle combat, coherent storyline; all the things on the wish list.

Holy crap, the environments: A week on, having completed the campaign and tooled around to my heart's content for a few nights; and I have to say that I'm still awestruck and I don't see that stopping any time soon. Every area became my new favorite locale as I explored; and every time I revisit someplace, I wonder why I ever left. I definitely experience some lonely moments of exploration, which I'd hoped for. There is a certain serenity that I feel when out of combat and just taking in the sights. One thought that keeps recurring to me, though; is that the atmospheric lighting and effects in some places really ought to be used extensively in Crucible maps. Specifically the heavy rain in the first mission, and some of the shadow work done in the underground sections of Nessus, for example.

Story? Story: The narrative was solid. The stakes never quite got to where I hoped, but major kudos to Bungie for making me feel things. And with the exception of the curmudgeonly Awoken guy, all the new characters are welcome additions. Also I'm happy that star-killing superweapons are back in play.

I was pleasantly surprised at the nuance in Ghaul's character, but it seemed like there needed to be more time to develop him, or at least more of an explanation of how he simply "took" the Light; when the nature of the Light has been so much of a central mystery. I felt like either Hawthorne or Amanda should have died. Or Ikora, as others have said. The points about sacrifice made by the Speaker and Ikora didn't hit home like I expected them to. I feel if we had some ingame moment, even something as small as the encounter with Zavala during the first mission, but where the Speaker (or anyone else, for that matter) takes action that means their ultimate sacrifice; the lack of that character afterwards would have made the point more effectively. Not having a face on the Speaker in the end, or any relationship-building moments with him and the audience, really impacted my ability to feel anything at his death. Not hearing anything further from the Stranger or the Queen feels a bit off, as well. But I'm expecting those things will be resolved as DLC continues the story.

Patrol is where I want to live now: Really. Except for the actual Patrol missions themselves. Those are still the most boring part, still not chaining into something with more of a payoff. It seems like those efforts got turned into Adventures and Heroic Public Events, which I'm not complaining about in the slightest. There is always something to do, and always something to spend your time on while you're waiting for your near-term goals (like being present for a Public Event).

Other musings:

• 97% Of weapons are fun. Rarely do they feel like barely-differentiated copies of another weapon. Each weapon type feels useful in a couple specific instances, and fair-to-middling in most others. I especially like how different (and useful!) most hand cannons feel now.
  
• Combined Arms? We've got tanks now! Anyone? Bueller?
  
• It would be neat if something like Mythic Public Events existed, where 6+ Guardians are required for the takedown/completion of a Raid-difficulty task. Maybe something for Clans to tackle...
  

Anyways, that's all for now. Much love to Bungie for knocking it out of the park again. Destiny was a lot of fun, for a skeleton; but I'm really satisfied to see (and taste!) all the meat they've put on the bones with D2. See you all out there.

~m