Criticisms 2: Arc Boogaloo [4/5] (Destiny)

by Harmanimus , Wednesday, January 03, 2018, 16:18 (2357 days ago) @ Harmanimus

Use of Play Spaces
[4.1a] So, reuse of level geometry is often a hot point of contention in games, period. It always has been. And I think most folks who hate on it are wrong. Lots of reasons. But here the context I feel is more important given the perception that Des2ny lacks content. This is an issue throughout much of the game (Xur location, Cayde Staches, distribution of landing Zones, preferential Public Events, liminal spaces between/at the edge of zones) but for this context I will focus on Mercury.

[4.1b] I would identify there as being eight spaces which were created for Mercury with CoO: The Donut (Patrol Zone), Infinite Forest, Past Tree, Future Grave, The Maze, Gardener's Spire, Atlas Grove and Infinity's Crown. Six of those are abysmally under used. Infinity's Crown is fine simply as where you confront Panoptes. And The Donut is obviously utilized. GS and AG are both only used for the two Strike/Story missions, and I feel that there are areas within each which would benefit from being publicly engaged. The IF has been discussed to death how it is a disappointment that it only exists when an activity requires it. PT, FG, and TM (Simulant Past, Future, Present respectively) are all used within the Adventures, but nothing else.

[4.1c] Bungie (and presumably supporting studios) built enough play space that it could rival Nessus in size, but only put in enough activities to fill up Titan and boarded entry to the rest. There is no reason Osiris or Sagira couldn't simulate Patrol Beacons, and why wouldn't the vex be attempting to simulate Public Events of the Fallen, Hive, and Cabal? I understand there are memory limitations. Maybe there's only one type of PE per area. And I could probably even accept the Infinite Forest not getting the Public Space treatment, though I would be disappointed.

[5.1a] Going forward I really hope that Bungie better utilizes the content they put forward. Both from a moment-to-moment experience basis (Synergistic Weapon Perks, Armor Perks and Builds) and from a broadness of activities (In both play spaces and motivators - Mayhem being part of a weekly reward path has got me playing more Crucible than prior to The Dawning) perspective. I will continue to have a generally positive outlook for the future of the game, as D1 didn't let me down in its overall growth, even if I had disagreements with some of the directions things went. I just would like to see its systems live up to the potential they suggest.