CW: Nevin doesn't lick Bungie's boots. (Destiny)

by Cody Miller , Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Wednesday, November 11, 2020, 15:30 (1416 days ago) @ Korny

It definitely feels like a formula that Bungie is getting a bit too comfortable with. I'm not surprised, as Luke Smith himself said that we will never have another Forsaken/TTK-sized expansion again. So yeah, the Bungie that would innovate and blow their previous innovations out of the water every few years is gone for good. Now we're stuck with Guardian Games, seasonal horde modes, and a "fight these mini bosses then the end the main boss threat, then wait for the Big Bad to be teased for a whole year" routine.

This is unfortunate to hear. I have always said that there is a 'critical mass' you have to hit for something to really be worthwhile. Not just in terms of length, but integration. Even short games can have this quality, if everything is essential and builds upon everything else. Especially with sunsetting, we've seen that Bungie seems to be building the game on the exact opposite principles.

When you make a car engine, every piece has a purpose. Remove a piece, and the car doesn't work. But you also can't really ADD much either; because it's already working as an engine. All the critical pieces are there interacting with each other. Anything else is superfluous. Great games are that finely made engine. This integration applies to everything: story, game design, level progression, everything. A perfect machine.

When you piecemeal your game like Bungie is doing, you don't get the chance create that perfect engine. Each of the pieces on their own might do a thing, but they don't ALL work together the way they would if the game was a large content dump. And what's worse, the pieces even conflict with one another.