A friend of mine told me that Destiny was the worst game he had ever played. Silence overcame the party chat. I took a quick glance at his Guardian profile: Titan, Level 20.
Level 20, I thought. That’s quite a lot of time to put into a game you think is the worst.
I pierced the deafening silence, “Whys that?”
His words struck a familiar chord, “I can’t level up anymore.”
The writing was on the wall for a while now but my friend solidified it. Destiny is misunderstood and whether or not its Bungie’s fault for not making things clear, it’s fairly obvious that people aren’t putting in the time to figure it out. A lot of people don’t know that after reaching Level 20, you must acquire and equip armor with “Light” in order to further level up. It’s a system that encourages loot-hunting and farming in order to either purchase the gear or find it.
Destiny doesn’t make this very clear but I can respect them for trying something else that many console gamers aren’t necessarily used to. I can say that my dear friend rediscovered his Guardian’s purpose when he pulled up a YouTube video explaining the post-level 20 stuff and he has been playing consistently ever since. He’s level 26 now.
It’s a misunderstood game for many reasons. Is it an MMO? Is it an RPG? Is it just a shooter with MMO and RPG aspects? There was murky explanation before the title released and the murkiness continues even after launch. What exactly is this game? I personally like to view the game as a solid shooter first and foremost. The shooting mechanics and combat are some of the best I’ve played and I see the MMO-esque flavor as just a bonus to add more depth to the shooter. I think if seen this way and quite possibly if Bungie expressed the game in this way from the very beginning, people might have viewed it in a different light.
It’s repetitive. That is certainly true.
But isn’t that point? The whole nature of grinding and replaying levels to gain XP and obtaining loot is a repetitive one. Many of my favorite games are repetitive in nature and I never saw it as a detriment to the game but as a challenge to get what I want. Persona 4 Golden is my favorite JRPG of all time and going through those maze-like dungeons were every bit as repetitive as Destiny. In no way is Destiny a favorite of mine, nor is it on par with Persona 4 but this is a case in which repetitiveness doesn’t hurt either game. It extends the game.
We can even throw Dark Souls into this mix. How many of you grinded hard to collect Souvenirs of Reprisals for the Darkmoon Covenant? Or how many Lloyd’s Talismans did you have to burn through in order to make that mimic chest fall sleep? It’s a part of the game.
The Loot system is also vastly misunderstood. It’s funny when I hear gamers complain that they aren’t getting Exotic or Legendary drops. You can’t expect weapons or armor of that magnitude to just drop out of the blue; you have to work for them. Legendary engrams are another can of worms but in terms of obtaining Exotic or Legendary Gear, you have to put in the work so that in the end, you have some sense of ownership and achievement.
If every enemy in Destiny dropped Exotics and Legendary gear, what would be the point of playing anymore? I feel that a big part of Destiny is the hunt, like most grindy RPGs, it’s about the hunt for better stuff. Plus, Exotic gear looks damn cool and it just makes it all the better knowing that you to fight hard for it.
There are a lot of problems with Destiny, mostly fixable, but some issues loom larger than others. The story was a jumbled mess; the voice acting was bland and inconsistent, NPCs are pretty lifeless and lack any real personality (except for Cryptarch, he’s a douche), and the whole sense of an epic story is never really felt or fully realized. Narratively, Destiny deserves to be panned by the majority because it was a lackluster effort. But as for the real meat of the game, the shared-world shooter itself, it’s pretty remarkable at how fun it can be with a group of friends endlessly shooting at things. I know that when I boot up Destiny every night, I know I’m in for a good time.
If Destiny is wrong, I don’t want to game right.
