The Monthly Destiny Report
So now for my thoughts on my first month with Bungie’s new franchise:
Destiny has been out a little over a month. I don’t think it was the critical success Bungie & Activision were hoping, with it garnering a metacritic rating in the mid-70s. But the game certainly has a wide fanbase, claiming 3.2 million using logging several hours daily. And Bungie is certainly hard at work adding content like new events and patches constantly. I should note that I can certainly be called a casual player of Destiny at this point. I’ve very much enjoyed what I’ve played, but I’ve only gotten one character, my Titan to level 20 (I also have a Warlock that I started, but haven’t really done anything beyond getting him to level 4). I’ve barely touched the end game product at this point. I don’t know that I’ll ever get to even play the fabled Vault of Glass simply because I’m not sure I’m organized enough to get 5 other people together for up to several hours to finish that raid. I have also read lots of articles on Destiny and listened to probably a couple dozen hours of various podcasts about it, being open to all the varying opinions of the finished product.
But this also leads to what I think Destiny‘s real biggest problem is. Beyond the lack of a real matchmaking system, beyond it’s screwy post 20-leveling mechanic or lack of PVP maps. It’s how empty Destiny as a universe feels and how restricted it is
My take on Destiny as it stands now is what it really has going for it is an incredible core. The essential action, even if it can be repetitive grinding, is always immensely satisfying. I don’t really latch onto shooters very often, the last one I played a significant amount of was probably Halo 3. But Destiny has it hooks well into me. I might choose to play say Shadow of Mordor over a session with Destiny on occasion, but it’s always pulling, tempting me to get back into it’s beautiful world and superb gunplay.
But this also leads to what I think Destiny‘s real biggest problem is. Beyond the lack of a real matchmaking system, beyond it’s screwy post 20-leveling mechanic or lack of PVP maps. It’s how empty Destiny as a universe feels and how restricted it is. Look at the first time you get to the moon. There is literally this vast expanse right behind you, but oh no, you can’t go that way, go that way for a few seconds and you just arbitrarily die. Destiny should be wanting players to explore every nook and cranny and reward them for doing so. Instead, even when we find some new tunnel or cave, there’s often jack squat there. It in fact pretty much de-emphasizes real exploration, pointing out where exactly it wants you to go, and pretty much punishing you with death if you stray too far off the established path. If that real sense of exploration and discovery was present, I don’t think other games would even be a consideration, I would crave going into each planet multiple times until I found every secret. That is something Destiny should have had from the start and something they really need to implement ASAP.
The good news is that this and many of Destiny’s other valid complaints are very fixable, and under these problems is one hell of a solid core game. And it’s a core I love and keep wanting to go back to, just not as badly as I should given the scope of the game. I believe that as much time, money and manpower has been invested in Destiny, Bungie & Activision are seriously committed to making it the best possible experience. Admittedly with the holiday avalanche officially underway, it’ll be interesting to see if it can keep players invested with the onslaught of titles, but I certainly plan to keep getting in the occasional session, maybe see if I can at least do a Heroic strike or two in the next few weeks so I can actually start trying to get some legendary gear.
That’s pretty much it for this months Destiny report. Want to share your thoughts and experiences about Destiny? Respond in the comments below and be sure to check out next month’s column as well right here along with all the latest news and analysis the the happenings in gaming on GameSided!
The views expressed in this article explicitly belong to the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of, nor should be attributed to, GameSided as an organization.
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