Something’s Missing: The XP To Get To Level 15 (Criticism)

by Kermit , Raleigh, NC, Tuesday, February 27, 2018, 09:13 (2495 days ago) @ Ragashingo

In researching the soon to be posted article on the Warminds of Io, I found I needed to go back and play through the opening Io missions in the correct order. The only way to do that was to delete a character and start over. I happily deleted my Warlock (after Vaulting almost all of her important gear) and spent the weekend playing back through Destiny 2.

I had a lot of fun. As we all prettty much agree, the story is a bit lacking in deeper character moments, but the flow was nice and the missions were excellent. I wasn’t exactly doing a speed run because I knew there was that little hump at Level 15 right before the tank mission. So this time I played the missions but stuck around on each planet to also do the available adventures. And it worked... terribly.

Clyde-6, Zavala, Ikora Rey, and Suraya Hawthorne all have their little ban meeting with Zavala concluding that Cayde-6 taught him about the importance of a grand entrance... and then I go to the next mission marker and get told that no, I can’t follow up that bold statement with an awesome mission. Instead, I needed to grind out three more levels before continuing with the story.

I wouldn’t mind it if the flow of the story included breaks for extended Patrol segments. If anything, Destiny is almost made for a story structure of exciting, impactful story missions followed by time in the open world tying up loose ends or securing secondary objectives. Breaks from the main story could feel so natural with just a little bit of effort.

Instead, we begin with this strong story beat of Zavala, having seen the error of his ways is now relying on Clyde-6’s strategies to show the Cabal who is boss. This is gonna be awesome. What wackiness are these two going to help me cause. Oh... nothing. No action. No wackiness. Not for a good hour or more. I felt this pause in the story each of the 4-ish times I’ve completed Destiny 2’s campaign, but it was especially noticeable this time.

I’m all for forcing the player to experience the open worlds Destiny 2 has to offer. I think each of them is actually pretty great in its own way. Even Mercury. But Bungie needs to work just a bit harder to avoid leaving player hanging. Especially during what should be the last bit of rising action!

I'll try to remember to pay attention to this when the next DLC drops. I'll be starting a new character then.