This game is incredibly confusing (Destiny)

by kapowaz, Friday, July 25, 2014, 01:56 (3774 days ago) @ Jordan117

I agree with a lot of this; it's possible to parlay knowledge of MMOs into the game, but I have to imagine for somebody who's never played any of that type of game it could be overwhelming. And I have a lot of the same questions about story things, as they feel very opaque right now.

Then there's Grimoire -- some sort of trading card game (?) It says go to Bungie.net for more info, but the multi-layered Tarot deck there only makes things even more baffling.

Maybe it'll become more clear in the full release (since so many cards seem to have placeholder content) but the interface and purpose of this thing seems utterly baffling. If the intention was to provide more flavour/backstory in dribs and drabs as you gradually accumulate more kills of a certain kind, then the implementation was botched.

I keep saying it, but this stuff should not be external to the game; if there's no good reason why it needs to be outside the game, then putting it on the website or mobile app exclusively just puts up needless barriers to access. If it's a single paragraph of text talking about the Fallen, I'm unlikely to stop what I'm doing to go read it on my phone. It's also unlikely to be satisfying enough that I'll go seek it out later, particularly with that unfathomable cards interface.

Bungie has done such a good job of storytelling in previous games, it's quite shocking that it's so poor in this one. Of the two alternative ways the Grimoire content could be shared with the player that immediately come to mind, one is from a Bungie game! Both Halo 3: ODST and Diablo 3 used audio-transcripts that can be played back whilst you continue fighting, giving you a sort of narration of story. Something like this that keeps you in the game would be so much more engaging and interesting, and I suspect will aid with all players getting to experience the story in entirety, instead of just those patient enough to work out the Grimoire system.