Disclaimer: I have not completed the new raid, The Last Wish, as of writing this article.
Destiny 2: Forsaken has been interesting, for lack of a better term. It’s been out for a few weeks now, and I wanted to write this article after the dust settled (which in Destiny can take some time). I find myself in a very peculiar spot with the game and am kind of torn on it. There have been some really good improvements with Forsaken but there are still a few things that keep jabbing me in the side. I think good ole Bungo has taken a few steps forward but we may be walking in mud with each step.
Destiny 2 In A New Light
As I talked about in my early impressions of Destiny 2 Forsaken (which highlight some things I won’t go into detail again here), the story is fine. It does its job in setting up the overall tone of the expansion and gives way to us finally experiencing the Ahamkara in the game. We see Cayde-6 die, our guardian speak, and we meet a fantastic new NPC, called The Spider, along the way. The story flows well as we hunt down Uldrin’s barons on our way to exact our revenge for Cayde. Petra, Queen Mara Sov’s former Emissary, helps you along the way and serves as our lead deuteragonist for Forsaken. The Baron fights are fairly good, showcasing unique encounters for each boss. My favorite was tracking down the Trickster and getting fooled by an exotic engram (twice, to be honest; not my proudest moment). You actually get to use the engrams as little grenades to bust open doors and kill the Fallen. Overall the story was enjoyable.
The REALLY interesting stuff shows up after you beat the story and unlock the Dreaming City. An area riddled with secrets and tons of things to uncover. The overall aesthetic of this new area is by far the best that Destiny has shown us. It’s a brilliant example of crafting a unique setting and designing it properly to fit your game. I find myself just wandering around looking for hidden bits of lore and loot chests. Although it can be a bit of a bummer when I go back to older planets and their boring designs. It would’ve been great to find new bits of lore scattered throughout the whole system rather than just the new places. The coolest part about the Dreaming City is that you can drink a consumable called The Queens Tincture to find even more hidden goodies. It is a very impressive addition by Bungie to add a whole new area after the story is over. Which brings me to the meat of the discussion: the end game.
The end game of Forsaken is miles better than any iteration of Destiny 2 so far. There are so many activities to participate in and the best part is that just about all of them promise you better gear. Some offer more powerful gear than other activities, ending with you doing all sorts of stuff to level up your guardian. Want to play some Crucible? Powerful gear. Want to hit the Strike playlist? Powerful gear. Want to try out the new PvP/PvE mode Gambit? Powerful gear. Want to just run around and kill stuff? You even have a chance to pick up powerful gear by killing anything anywhere. Now, Crucible can still feel like a chore if you aren’t that into it. But overall the end game activities are good. One new activity, The Blind Well, is pretty much a horde mode found in the Dreaming City. It’s not a groundbreaking new addition but does add to the variety. And herein lies the problem.
The Darkness Never Really Goes Away
Destiny 2 Forsaken has been fun for me. With all the improvements and new additions, the game feels like it’s in a good spot. However, I still find myself not super excited to play it anymore. There is just not one specific thing that I can’t wait to do. Bungie has made some really nice additions such as putting lore in the game (although I still think letting us EXPERIENCE the lore in the game would be much cooler), changing up the weapon system and adding in some very unique exotics to hunt for. There are some really good things to chase but my motivation to chase them is running out. I still like logging in and doing some things here and there, but that’s it. I have tried to group up for the raid but it has not happened yet (and from what I hear the raid is pretty good). I feel, at the end of the day, it’s still Destiny. There has been the cycle, at least with me, where I’ll play the new expansion at the beginning, pretty religiously, then after a few weeks, just slow down to a complete stop. I really enjoy the Gambit mode (I even bought a Gambit shirt, but honestly it looks cool anyway). It is a great way to sort of blend PvE with PvP, but again, the burning desire to play all the time is dwindling.
The Forsaken expansion is fun. It brought Destiny 2 to a good place, but for me, it may be too late. I will follow its progress, new expansions and continue to play here and there. But Destiny has always been an enigma from the start. I can definitely recommend it for Destiny fans, but for new players, you may want to wait for it go on sale in a bundle. There are some really good games out, and Destiny 2: Forsaken is not some pushover expansion. But you can maybe spend your money and get more bang for your buck somewhere else.
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