Throwback Thursday – Destiny

I have to admit, Destiny 2 has been my latest addiction. Destiny 2 is actually what made me procrastinate writing this article. But where did it all start? Was the original game this good? Let’s go on a journey to the past and recollect on the adventure that was Destiny 1. Disclaimer though, I pretty much took a break from Destiny during Year 2 and came back just before Rise of Iron came out, I also didn’t raid because I didn’t have enough friends on PS4.

Known for the (good) Halo games, Bungie has created what might have been the most hyped new game of its time, Destiny. Hyped up enough to even get a special edition PS4 released for the game. I even bought into all the hype and got that arctic white PS4. E3 and all the pre-release information led us on to believe it was a vast, narrative-driven world with a few deep customization options with both character and weapons.

Then Destiny came out and was it as good as we thought? Not really. The story didn’t really hold up to what we expected and some characters that were previously teased played a very minor role in the base game. The same story-telling experience we knew from the Halo games and even Halo 3 ODST just wasn’t there and, while interesting, was not all that engaging. Most the story came from voice lines that played at specific moments during missions and sometimes could be easily missed if you weren’t paying close enough attention.

Despite the shortcomings of the story, the gameplay was engaging. Each weapon type had a specific feel to it that differentiated them and opened up to different playstyles. Missions were easily digestible and the daily and weekly activities were fun enough to not get tired of too quickly (to me at least). The main reason I took my break from the game was the gear system being a little too rough at the start and really only getting better when The Taken King came out.

Speaking of The Taken King, all the best quality of life updates to make the game enjoyable came with that expansion. The gearing system got an overhaul and was significantly easier to understand. The story felt more like a story and there was a lot more content for me to enjoy. I still was on break when it came out but I heard nothing but good things when that expansion launched. The Taken King introduced new subclasses for the 3 classes. One of which, Nightstalker for hunters, quickly became my favorite and still is well into Destiny 2.

I didn’t regain interest until Rise of Iron, the last expansion before Destiny 2, was announced. It was pretty clear Rise of Iron was the last bit of new content before the next major game. That’s not to say it was bad, it had a great story and an amazing new area. I do wish I had more friends playing it on PS4 though. Seeing videos of the Taken King’s raid and Rise of Iron’s raid made me want to tackle that content. Now that Destiny 2 is out on PC, I’ll finally have enough friends playing to raid with.

Destiny 1 had a rather rocky start, but that didn’t stop people from playing. It was an enjoyable experience but it still had the handful of people complaining about the game even if it was just the littlest of things. Destiny 2 is out now and their formula is more or less the same, just more refined and I’m looking forward to what Bungie has in store for us in the future of Destiny.