Gone are the days of shooting endless rounds and rockets into a cave for hours and hours on end hoping for riches. The loot cave, as it was called, was a relic of its time. When Bungie patched it and reduced it to nothing more than a cave and a clever easter egg, they urgently stated that it wasn’t the Destiny they had envisioned for players. How ironic then that the infamous loot cave was in fact, precisely what many of us loved about Destiny in the first place. I engaged in many conversations during the Loot Cave days, some mindless, some enlightening. I met some great friends and shared all sorts of stories and memories. This social “event” was more social than any other official event Bungie has ever cooked up and it was mostly just a bunch of guardians shooting stuff and hanging out until we were too tired to keep going. The Loot Cave was obviously a bug and Bungie was just doing their job when they patched it but maybe they should’ve taken some cues from it. I believe they can and it’s why I’m not yet jumping ship on Destiny.
One aspect of Destiny that continues to be its biggest strength is the incredibly tight gunplay. It is nimbly responsive and provides hefty feedback and it’s one of the reasons why I keep coming back. The intense punch of a Thorn or the regenerating Icebreaker are just a few examples of how Bungie managed to craft a bevy of diverse, unique weapons that were as cool to use as they were to look at. Who can forget firing their very first Gallahorn? With the advent of The Taken King, many would argue that the weapons haven’t been as imaginative as they were before but the feel of just shooting something continues to tower over many other games of the same ilk. When Battlefront released, I felt it was a very competent shooter with gorgeous visuals but I couldn’t play for more than 2 hours without feeling the itch to fly back to Destiny and fire up some crucible. Same thing happened with Halo 5, an incredibly solid multiplayer experience but I couldn’t shake the urge to go back to my guardian and start stormtrancing. The gunplay for Destiny is so unmistakably strong that it might just keep Destiny afloat for continuous years even if the majority of its player base desert it and never come back. It’s that good.
Destiny’s PVE content is floundering at the moment. It is as barren as the dilapidated earth as depicted in the game. Ever since The Taken King released, players have been left hanging as far as PVE content goes and most of the attention from Bungie has gone to PVP. Save for the recently released April Update, Destiny’s biggest post-offering since The Taken King, things have been rather quiet on the Destiny front. The light level has been raised to 335 and Hard mode for the Kings Fall raid now reward higher light gear to reflect the change. Court of Oryx and Prisoners of Elders have been tweaked and Guardians will find some interesting rewards after completing them but it still doesn’t feel substantial enough. The April update is a marginally satisfying extension of the game but it’s fairly obvious this is more of a stopgap for something bigger, at least I hope it is.
It’s a real shame since most of the available PVE content is quite excellent but you can only do them so many times before it feels like you’re not getting much out of it. King’s Fall, Destiny’s latest raid, was fun but issues concerning drops plagued it and discouraged many, including myself, from playing it every week. Much worse is the fact that there’s virtually no reason to go back and play the older raids because Bungie hasn’t added another difficulty mode to them. As of now, the only reason why you might want to venture into the Vault of Glass raid or Crota’s End would be for nostalgia; you’ll likely breeze through everything anyway and you won’t get anything worthwhile out of it. I believe the Vault of Glass raid is the 2nd best raid followed by Crota’s End with King’s Fall taking the top spot. If Bungie ever decides to remix the older raids by adding Taken or offering exotics, it would ultimately revitalize Destiny and you’d be getting both a shot of nostalgia and new loot to uncover.
There’s been lots of discussion surrounding Ubisoft’s ambitious RPG shooter, The Division, and how it may pull in disenfranchised Destiny players but I don’t see how they can’t coexist. Sure, The Division boasts impressive visuals and it seems to do a lot of things Destiny outright doesn’t do or doesn’t do quite as well but they both share the idea of potential. Both shooters have all the potential in the world to be truly great games but we’re just waiting for that moment to happen. Ubisoft has already outlined their plans for year 1 of The Division, detailing all sorts of events and activities for the year in a much clearer fashion than Destiny did when it first launched. Roadmaps for games like these are so crucial because it’s what keeps us logging in everyday, knowing that there’s more to come soon. Judging from my extensive time with the Beta and a lengthy session with the retail version, The Division seems to be hitting all the right notes but the shooting pales in comparison to Destiny. As far as I know, there aren’t any swords or magic skills in The Division so it’s shooting has to be on point and even though it’s not terrible, I still prefer the fluidity and tight controls of Destiny.
Destiny has great lore which at times feels endless and that’s attributed to the fine work Bungie has done with world-building. There’s so much still to learn and discover in Destiny, it’s truly an intriguing universe but Bungie treated it like a sideshow. It’s hard to imagine Destiny 2 not having the grimoire system built into the UI. Players shouldn’t have to open a web browser to read more about the lore which turned many players off; which is a shame because Destiny is filled to the brim with fascinating stories and ideas just waiting to be realized.
Destiny is weird game for me, personally. It was the closest thing to an MMO I ever played back when it first launched in 2014 and it was fresh and addictive. To this day, Destiny holds the most hours I’ve ever logged into a game and it’s not even one of my favorite games. Even Dark Souls and Fallout, games I’ve put ungodly hours into over the years still don’t come close to matching the amount of hours I put into Destiny and those are my favorites. Destiny doesn’t even crack my top 5, so why have I invested so much time into it?
Honestly, I couldn’t tell you because I have no idea. Maybe I couldn’t get enough of the Cryptarch trolling me every single time or the punishing nightfall strikes that were so nail bitingly entertaining back in Year 1. Or maybe I just loved walking around the Tower and dancing on rooftops amidst the staggeringly large traveler in the distance. Whatever the reason may be, there’s something magical about Destiny that has me coming back for more and I’m sticking with it to very end. Am I alone in feeling this way? Sound off below.
