My turn to roll a grenade into the room, lol (Destiny)

by CruelLEGACEY , Toronto, Thursday, March 03, 2022, 16:30 (999 days ago) @ cheapLEY

Part of me wonders if they’ve just lowered the bar so far that this feels like a triumph in comparison. I’ve seen tons of posts ok reddit praising how great it is that our Guardian has so many lines, and it left me completely flabbergasted. Our Guardian had like ten lines and not a single one was of any significance whatsoever. But somehow the bar was so low that even that was praiseworthy.

I think this is a big part of it. I’m sure there are plenty of exceptions, but I get the impression when I read comments on Reddit that a lot of the people who post there are only ever comparing Destiny to itself. It’s as if they don’t ever play anything else. The praise for the storytelling is probably the best example of that. Some people talk about D2’s recent storytelling as if it’s some kind of brilliant, genre-defining narrative experience. I think it’s fair to say that it has improved significantly, but I also think it’s important to remember Destiny had some of the absolute worst storytelling in the history of AAA gaming. So while the improvement is good to see and deserves congratulating, I find it hyperbolic and a little bit crazy when people start tripping over themselves to praise the storytelling in Witch Queen like it’s on par with Dostoyevsky. I lost track of how many times characters in the campaign suddenly “realized” or “figured out” some crucial insight which they had no realistic way of knowing, other than the fact that the plot required them to figure it out in order for things to progress. They’ve even starting covering their asses in the lore, describing Ikora’s insight and intellectual prowess as bordering on supernatural, so that when we see her jump to conclusions in game we can say “oh, well she’s just crazy smart like that!”. It’s like the way the writers of the newer Star Wars movies use force powers to get themselves out of whatever plot dead-ends they write themselves into. “How will Character X solve this problem? Oh, we’ll just invent a new force power for them to spontaneously manifest and get themselves out of it!” Lol