Just some thoughts, good and bad, about current Destiny. (Destiny)

by CruelLEGACEY , Toronto, Friday, March 15, 2019, 15:20 (1868 days ago) @ cheapLEY

I’m with you. I’d prefer more cutscenes and dialogue in the game, but I think The Allegiance quest is undoubtedly a story (or the beginning of one) more than it is just lore. Yes, the lore is important context, but big things happen in that quest. We don’t see him on screen, but we now know that Shin Malphur is active, and close. We know that the Praxic order is hunting Dredgens, and specifically the Drifter. Those are active, current, important things happening, not nebulous fairytales from the distant past.

If we could see a version of Destiny that keeps this up, gets one of these mission chains a month or even two, Destiny would be in a really great spot, I think.

I genuinely think that this current season is one of the better examples of Destiny feeling like a real place with important actions taking place. This all seems somehow more real, and more important, than just about anything we’ve seen so far. And it’s much more interesting than just another big bad showing up.

The key thing that is still missing at this point, for me, is any level of investment in the characters. As far as the in-game experience goes, Destiny barely has “characters”. Our Guardians, the vanguard, Ghost, the vendors... they’re more “memes” than they are characters. Even when they’re entertaining as heck (shax <3), they very rarely take on any level of personhood that might elevate them above the level of caricature. And without that human, emotional thread thing all the current events and lore and backstory together, I find it tough to care about any of it. It’s cool, and it can be fun to talk about where things are currently going, but the only reason I really CARE about this whole drifter/vanguard situation (to the extent that I care) is because I want to see how it affects me, the PLAYER. How will it alter my play experience? I don’t give a crap about what it means for my Guardian or the vanguard or the drifter.

There is the beginning of something resembling character development happening with Mara, Petra, and the whole situation surrounding the Dreaming City. I think that’s the first Tim Bungie has really begun to tap into the true narrative potential of Destiny. I think they need to go much further along those lines for any of Destiny’s lore or story to rise above “cool/interesting” and become “meaningful”.