Random thoughts on Destiny 2
I know, I know; it’s a lazy title. Didn’t want to spend too much time thinking about it.
Anyway, yesterday I completed Destiny 2’s main campaign (the game was free for PS Plus subscribers a few months ago), and I feel the urge to write some words in regards to a game that could have been among my recent favorites, but is not.
For those of you who don’t know me, a specification: I am a Bungie fanboy. I loved their works since Halo:CE, and became a great fan of the whole franchise as long as they were in charge. Therefore, the first Destiny instantly got my attention; it felt like the Halo-est thing I could play on my PS4 (until Apex Legends), with a looter-shooter / MMO twist that encouraged me to buy a season pass for the first time. All things considered, I don’t regret that decision. However, since they announced a second iteration in the series, my hype has completely vanished.
It was too soon, for an MMO such as Destiny, to have a sequel; a game such as these can endure a longer lifespan, in the matter of years or even decades. Just look at World of Warcraft, League of Legends, DoTA 2, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Team Fortress, Overwatch, to name some. Their model seems way more sustainable and acceptable, especially by the players, than releasing a new game after a few years. However, this argument could have been quickly disregarded if Bungie released a completely new, enhanced, bigger game.
Problem is: Destiny and Destiny 2 are the same game.
Same mechanics, same gameplay, almost the same assets (textures, 3D models, UI, animations, sounds, etc.), and the lack of emotional stimulation/connection that emerges since the beginning of the game. So I find it infuriating, and frustrating, as a customer, that a company asks me to spend 60-120 euros in what basically is an expansion of their previous title. I reckon there’s a lot of work behind Destiny 2’s maps, and resources (Titan, for example, is beautiful), I just think it isn’t enough to justify that cost.
Let me be clearer:
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- buying the “vanilla” game costs around 60€ at launch, 40-20€ afterwards; this version looks like a big tutorial that brings the player up to a level cap (20) full of endgame activities;
- a few months pass, and here’s the first expansion, Curse of Osiris (17€), that raises the level cap to 30 and consequentially depopulates the previous endgame stuff;
- more time passes, another expansion: Warmind (20€), same logic as before;
- Forsaken expansion (40€) brings the level cap to 50, keeps destroying precedent endgame-situations.
In all this, it must be noted that the season pass (approx 40€) covers just the first two expansions, and gives no advantage at all to those who pre-paid to have (at the time of the transaction) access to unknown content. I’m not a genius at math, but it looks like the game costs 140€ – as I write, but expect the price to grow as new expansions are released – to be fully enjoyed.
Again, not a fan of this business model. Sorry, not sorry.
Aside this rant, let me have some random considerations.
Destiny 2 felt disturbingly empty. There was no reason, no motive behind the game, as if it had – pass me the expression here – no soul. Except for a few inspired missions, it looked like that every aspect of the game took a step back. If not technically, at least from a design perspective. Main, and side quests, are designed so that the player just wastes time shooting at endless hordes of enemies without the minimum reasoning. I mean, at least in the first Destiny there was a soft puzzle-solving set of tasks that relieved the player from all the redundant action. This second iteration of the franchise is easier, but feels way longer to complete, and plot-things happen just “because”. There are bad guys, and good guys. Like in the original Star Wars trilogy, which is a good inspiration, but was written more than 30 years ago. It’s all so shallow and naive that at some point it becomes senseless to play.
With regards to this, I also noticed some unsettling dynamics. For example, the player often runs into the Hive (some of the bad guys-monsters) soldiers while they are praying. Kneeling down, worshiping idols, and all of that. What better time to shoot them all dead in name of your light-beats-darkness holy crusade? How creepy is it, as a portrayal of religious war? How disturbing can it be? Isn’t it unethical? I understand that the argument could quickly shift to “Why should we simulate shooting, in the first place?” – but there are grades of acceptance, and this goes way deeper for me.
Speaking of religious representation, what about the elitist chaste that are the Guardians? Chosen by a not-better-specified “light god”, given the power to transmigrate their souls and body (i.e. – immortality) in order to protect (?), and guard (?) common – inferior – people. Almighty heroes that don’t really care about saving anyone, if it doesn’t involve massacring random enemies. That’s cool, but if you stop and think about it, it starts becoming full of disturbing implications. For example, while playing today I was wondering: what if the player is actually the Ghost? As if it hosts the mind and controls the body, which is an empty vessel, recreating it when it’s destroyed (hence, the respawn mechanic, which is justified by generic reasons in-game).
I don’t know, it just occurred to me that some games are deeper than you, or their developers, thought in the first place. And I wanted to share my thoughts, as usual.
zero/3 