It looks fun, and the beta was a blast... But I just don't have much hype for this thing. I'm trying to figure out why. The new live action trailer did nothing for me. The game doesn't seem to live up to Bungie's promises in terms of story or scope. It just seems like a fun weekend time-waster that I'll get bored with after a couple months.

Interesting you say it that way, as story and scope are the things we have seen the LEAST of. I'm hype level 11

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I'm excited, but not on the level that I have been with previous Bungie games. I chalk that up to the new IP. With Halo games or any other IP that is near and dear to my heart I get hyped (or as hyped as a father of 2 can get now-a-days). But since I don't have a preexisting relationship with this IP I don't feel it at a gut level yet.

Yet.

In Bungie we trust.

Bungie revealed too much, there's no mystery left. Blame DeeJ.

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I haven't been this excited since Halo CE, except that I didn't know when I'd get to play that. I didn't break down and buy an Xbox until a few weeks after launch.

If the proliferation of consoles in my house over the last year is any indication, I'm probably more excited now.

Heck, it's hard to judge. I was excited about Marathon based on a few screenshots in Macworld.

Unlike some, I'm excited because it's a new IP.

The only difference is I am excited about not being that excited.

I know, it's weird to say.

For Halo Reach, and Halo 4, I had expotential hype for each game. Nearing release, I would be a nervous wreck waiting for the game. Assuring myself it would be my everything.

Even though I ended up loving Reach, and enjoying some of Halo 4, the hype always betrayed me. Silently stabbing my enjoyment with missed expectations and disillusionment.

So I'm pretty happy, my hype is in check for Destiny. I could honestly wait another few weeks (maybe then my beta videos would get edited.)

Come what may. I'll be there to grab it when it comes, and I'll be ready with calmed nerves and serene execution.

I'm excited that there will be a whole new universe to explore. I'm really hoping the beta was intentionally shielding an enormous back-story from us. That was part of the joy of Halo CE- there was so much under the surface of the amazing gameplay. While the other Halos are great (and arguably better in many regards), they each started to break the "rules of the universe." This happens with almost every long-running IP over time and the story telling can either get constricted by the fear of breaking those rules or they will disappoint people who have legitimate concerns over the maintaining of a cohesive IP.

Starting fresh means we don't have that at the outset. I'm excited to explore and I hope Bungie has taken advantage of this clean slate to tell some amazing tales. Like others, I don't feel the anticipation quite as much as when I waited for Halo 2's release, I am anticipating the openness and possibilities the Destiny universe symbolizes.

My hype was more or less extinguished after getting to play it, months ago, in the Alpha. Then it was just 'sweet, it'll be good, definitely getting it.'

Less hype is good. Less disappointment that way.

I still remember how obscenely hyped I was for Halo 2 - 10 years ago - and how utterly disappointed and betrayed I felt by the ending and the small number of earth missions that looked NOTHING like the E3 2003 trailer.

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I was also trying to figure out why I'm not excited for this game. Here's what I've come up with so far:

The game doesn't seem to be anywhere close to what Bungie is promising. My biggest problem is that they seem to be saying that large spaces = lots of content. In reality, that just means more time on a sparrow.

Also, there are only four planets/moon at release. (As an aside: based on the $30-$35 price tag of the DLC, Bungie is conveying that they think the two planned expansions will add 50% more content to the game. This equates or two new locations but since we'll be paying for this DLC, the "price per location" still remains roughly the same as at release.)

I'm aware that the beta had some ares blocked out, but people glitched into places like King's Watch and BUNKR RAS 2. As far as I can tell, most/all of these closed areas were found during the beta. That worries me because Bungie has been advertising that we didn't get to see nearly all of Old Russia and that it's really much bigger. It seems to me, though, the parts we "didn't see" were not particularly large (in terms of content, not necessarily space). They seem to provide one mission each. The missions we did get didn't seem that long, so I'd expect the other ones to be of similarly short length.

We also got a decent tour of the moon and, again, people were able to glitch into a few of the locked locations. There were some places on the moon that I don't think were accessed but if they are anything like the areas people were able to glitch into, then they won't add much more, either.

Bungie has stated that the moon is the smallest of the four locations, which is fine. I'm not saying that by going to two out of four locations we got to see half of the release-day universe in the beta -- but it does feel like we got to see ~35%. Obviously, I will be glad if I'm wrong about this, but it is a contributing factor to my lack of excitement.

It's weird because, at release, I think there will be about two months worth of non-contiguous, "fresh" playtime in this game, which is more than a lot of games I do get excited for. The problem is that Bungie is giving us the impression that it will be way more than that. This makes me question how much they're exaggerating (or down-right lying about) everything they say.

I remember the promises and hype for Halo ODST and Reach; I was disappointed both times. Bungie's track record for its pre-release PR on its two most recent games makes me very suspicious of anything they say. I remember a time when Bungie was proud that they didn't say much at all about their games before release. This shows me that over time, there has been a deep, fundamental change in what defines and drives Bungie. I don't trust/believe the new Bungie nearly as much as the old Bungie.

And on an unrelated note, the fact that I'm not nearly as hyped as other people leads me to be even less hyped. This is sort of circular logic but I feel like I just don't "get" Destiny because I'm not as hyped about it as other people. Or maybe on the other hand, that other people don't "get" Destiny. Either way, this leads me to be even less excited for Destiny.

Needless to say, I will not be getting Destiny until well after release, if at all.

P.S. This post conveys my personal impressions/feelings. Because of this, I don't plan to do much defending of my position even though I realize a lot of people here will disagree with me (it's a fan site, after all).

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It looks fun, and the beta was a blast... But I just don't have much hype for this thing. I'm trying to figure out why. The new live action trailer did nothing for me. The game doesn't seem to live up to Bungie's promises in terms of story or scope. It just seems like a fun weekend time-waster that I'll get bored with after a couple months.

I'm excited. For a few reasons:

1. The beta was a blast. One of my small reservations about Destiny was the worry that it'd feel wrong. Aiming down the sight, faster movement. These strange vertical movement modes. I was a bit afraid it'd be Call of Warfare or something. But nope, it felt great. And I even liked the multiplayer after hating it for a day. So, the core gameplay and shooting and moving is as good as any Bungie game. Maybe even better. If you don't care about any of the rest, knowing that Destiny is fun moment to moment is a pretty good mark in its favor.

2. I think this really is the game Bungie has wanted to make for a long long time. Go back and watch Halo's original announcement on the stages of Macworld. Jason Jones is up there talking about how Halo will be this vast, connected, coop game that you'll play with your friends. Halo was great. I specifically bought two consoles for it. But it wasn't that original vision. Destiny is much closer. We all know they went independent again to make Destiny, but I think it's more than that. I think they went independent because they now had the tools and talent and technology to finally make the game they'd always wanted to make.

The closest we've seen to that from Bungie in the last decade is Halo 2. Halo 2 obviously had its problems, but it was also a wide ranging, story packed, graphically impressive space opera of a game that set the tone and direction of the Halo franchise from then on. If Destiny turns out to be another Halo 2, broken ending an all, I'd be super happy.

3. Despite the small amount of story we got in the beta, I think Destiny is going to be more story-y than Halo. Look at Halo 1. It had a simple but effective story, but what did we know at the end of it? Did we know the motivations of The Covenant as a whole or its individual races? No. Did we know ANYTHING about the UNSC or Humanity other than short intro in the manual telling how the Pillar of Autumn fled a military planet called Reach? No. Did we know anything about the Forerunner other than they built the Halos and killed both the Flood and themselves with them? No. It's almost shocking how little we knew at the end of the first game.

Now look at Destiny. Sticking with only in game sources I can tell you that:

- The Fallen are space pirates with a rigid and sometimes humiliating rank structure who scavenge technology and who worship strange spherical "machine gods" who sometimes feats or absorb or power up on their souls.
- The Hive are a combative race who have burrowed into our moon, who build temples to their heroes, and who have one hero in particular, Crota, who was said to have killed a thousand Guardians with his sword.
- Humanity was visited by an object called The Traveler, had a golden age of exploration and colonization, was never destroyed by something call The Darkness, and is now venturing back out seeking to explore and find the strength necessary to resist The Darkness a second time.

And that's before the game is even out. Halo is a great series, but try telling someone who hasn't played it that they need to read at least The Fall of Reach and Contact Harvest to have a real understanding of the good guys and bad guys and see what happens.

4. Not only is Destiny the game Bungie wanted to make, it's also whatever it wants to be. The merger of scifi and fantasy that Destiny is doing provides for a huge range of storytelling and gameplay opportunities. Space pirates, seemingly undead zombies, an unstoppable expansionist military force, time traveling robots, a returning ancient enemy, and possibly dragons are day one for Destiny, but there's no way it ends there. The possibilities are wide open.

A game that plays very well, will be supported for a long time, and seems to have huge story potential beneath the surface? By my favorite game developer who has not made a bad game in over a decade? How can I not be excited?

...when a beloved author announces a new book, but not as excited when he announces act two or three of a series I'm really digging. I like the author and I've read chapter one, but at this stage it isn't about hype - it's about learning something new, exploring a new universe. It's not until AFTER you've dug yourself into it that you'll find if you love it or not. The title "Destiny" will grow to mean something more then. And if it's positive, that's when seeing "Destiny 2" will excite the blood!

That said, I'm still much more excited for Destiny than I was for Halo CE. Since y'know... I didn't know till later that I'd be playing Halo for years. :)

Actually... excited might be the wrong word at the moment. I've mostly just been frustrated since the Beta that I can't just pop it in and play it whenever I want to.

I'm in a perfectly happy place. I don't feel like I'm absolutely super excited, but I'm also not in any way not looking forward to this. My anticipation is growing, and I can't wait for the 9th. I've been critical of things I saw in the Beta, and I have a bad feeling about a lot of things in the final game, but that hasn't changed my overall outlook.

PS4 exclusives, all that random nonsense, whack DLC decisions; none of that has been enough to decide my console purchasing decision. I guess what I'm saying is, I've been liking what Bungie's been showing me. I like that they've been willing to show actual gameplay of their game even more than a year outside of launch, even if there hasn't been much. I enjoyed the Beta a lot, even with its many problems. I'm buying this game, period.

What it boils down to is that Bungie and Destiny actually have zero influence on my console purchase decision strictly because I know I'm getting this game no matter what. I may not be at a "new Halo (non-343)" level of excited, but I'm ready to pick this thing up and get going. Hell, I took off work for Destiny's launch.

It's a new experience, and good or bad, the one thing I was able to confirm solidly from the Beta is that it's fun. There's laughter. There are things to do. My friends and I can turn on the serious mode and play for keeps at any time, or turn it off and explore and chill. The Beta got stale because Old Russia is stale. The Moon was neat. I really want to play on Venus and Mars. I also can't wait to see what options are available to clans.

If in the end the game is a disappointment or boring or doesn't hold my attention, I'm hoping their expansions will keep it fresh. Or that they're quick to implement fixes to things that aren't working. I have high hopes, but I'm guarded. I was critical enough of a lot of things in the Beta to know what I'm getting into, and I'm okay with what I'm getting into. I'm thinking this will all be a fun and good time.

I would have completely agreed with you until last weel where I got to see some really awesome gameplay that grabbed me way more than the ads and the beta did.

I think the newest 'become legend' add better captures what I'm looking forward to but is still not quite representing what I see in this game. The ad campaign has really failed to grab me

I'm not that excited either, albeit in different ways.
Fun can make me excited. A good story can make me excited. Halo 3 and ODST and Reach, more Reach than the others, showed me that features can make me excited.
The fun is there. It's not head-and-shoulders above other games I like, or even clearly above any game that I like that much, but the fun factor is in play, and I think as I adjust to Destiny I'll have more fun with it. It's not fun enough to make me excited though (but then I'm not sure what I would consider to be so fun the prospect of it would make me excited). I feel like I still know very little about the story, overall, so I don't want to really even form an opinion on what I've seen and heard, and nothing about what I don't know makes me excited. The feature set is, well, not that good, so that doesn't excite me.
If I was buying it myself instead of getting it as a gift, I would purposefully not pre-order it or buy it on launch day (it would probably be one to three days later), because I think Bungie made some missteps, but I'm still looking forward to the game and the exploration and the story.