On weapons (Destiny)

by unoudid , Somewhere over the rainbow, Wednesday, November 29, 2017, 02:42 (2631 days ago) @ unoudid

Part of the reason I find the weapons in D2 anti-fun is that there are nearly zero weapons that are just fun to use and make me feel like the powerful guardian I'm supposed to be.

D1 had The Last Word which in the right hands could be deadly. It was a high risk, high reward weapon that forced you to play near enemies and looked awesome.

Fatebringer was another weapon that was inherently just fun to use. It was a solid gun to use in general but the perk synergy is what made the weapon awesome. I think they had it finally right in Y3 when they took away the elemental damage but left the perks intact. That weapon was just fun.

Gjallarhorn was Fun. Overpowered for sure, but it FUN.

No Land Beyond is another weapon that was just fun to use. Sure, it was infuriating to play against people who were awesome with it. But using the weapon could be an amazingly fun experience. It forced you to get better or to die trying.

In D2 there's only one weapon that I can think of that I would consider to be a fun weapon. That's the Tractor Cannon. It's a weapon that just pretty well sucks as a powerful weapon, but it makes for a fun experience to use in PvP. Again, it's a high risk, high reward weapon.

One of the issues I have with D2 weapons is that everything is just given away easily. There's no excitement when you get something because there's nothing to really chase after. I bet most people can tell you when they got their first Gjallarhorn or the Mythoclast. In D2 there's no real grind for anything. To me grinding doesn't necessarily equal bad design choices. What holding back those weapons does is to make for some higher highs and lower lows in the gameplay experience. Once you had whatever weapon you were chasing drop then there was a real reason to be excited. I just don't get that experience with D2. The only raid weapon I'm missing right now is the sniper and I don't really care because snipers as a whole are worthless in D2. If I wait long enough I'll probably just get the weapon from an engram thanks to other clan mates playing the game for me.

In D2 there's no chase, no standout weapons, and nothing that makes you feel powerful.