Destiny 2 will probably be upon us this year, assuming there are no delays like most AAA game these days. Bungie recently released the first teaser trailer alongside a rather naff logo. Seriously, the new logo looks like it was thrown together in Photoshop by a bored cat. I even managed to cook up some alternate designs while thinking about this opinion piece. The “2” just seems totally out of place. It could be more flush, using Roman numerals to match the Destiny font, or behind it, using a destroyed font to convey that war is coming, or is here already.
The trailer reveals very little about the game itself, beyond the fact that the Guardian Tower has fallen. It’s a clever story device, similar to Shepherd being resurrected at the start of Mass Effect 2, and it allows the game to shirk off aspects of the original, starting afresh with new adventures not constrained by the previous generation.
One issue Destiny fans never had to deal with was its graphics, as it is one of the prettiest first person shooters to grace the a console. The game’s problems lay in what was promised, or what fans hoped for, versus what was actually delivered. Even with The Taken King expansion, which is where I was introduced to the series, the game failed to truly dig into its own mythology, worlds, and threats, and became more of a slog, forcing players to revisit locations for the hundredth time all in the name of loot.
Yet, I don’t want to rant about failed promises of the original game. There is already an excellent post on Bungie’s Community Forums by “TrueMadnessNinja” that delves into the unfulfilled promises of the first entry. This is more of a wish list of things I wish had been in the first game, and I hope Bungie takes a look and can change my mind about picking up the sequel.
Story
Destiny seemed to go through a lot of last minute chops and changes when it came to content and story. The additional years of DLC certainly helped expand on it, but the foundation was pretty flimsy, and no additional chapters are going to rewrite the entire book. It was surprising that a game from Bungie, fabled developers of the original, and best, Halo trilogy, had such a poor story.
According to many, the Grimoire Cards help expand and do a better job of telling the story than the game, but I don’t want to have to go read hours of cards to find out what should be in the actual game. Although Destiny caters to a vast multi-player universe, the stories, myths, and legends of its world are what intrigue and inspire. With the second entry, here is hoping Bungie has returned to its storytelling roots.
Characters
This is more of an offshoot of story, but Destiny was at it’s best when you were interacting with the NPCs like the Queen of the Reef, Commander Zavala, and Cayde-6 (played by Nathan Fillion, who is always a fan favourite). When the Queen dies in the House of Wolves opening cutscene, I was like, “Really, I have literally just met her.” These characters seem wasted in the original game, and it’s worth noting that Bungie upped Cayde-6’s role a lot in the later DLC. More of these characters, voiced by versatile actors, will only help to make the world seem more lived in, more alive, and not some repetitive loot grind.
Multiple Locations on the Same Planet
With games like Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild offering an expansive world to explore, Bungie has little excuse to only allow exploration of a tiny segment of each planet. Here is hoping that Earth is opened up so that we can visit different continents, as well as the other planets, and hopefully new ones. Seriously, I want to see how Scotland turned out in this apocalypse.
It Is Your Destiny…
With BioWare dropping the ball with Mass Effect: Andromeda, Bungie now has the chance to make the best sci-fi shooter / RPG and fully realise its original mission statement, to create wide-open worlds filled with secrets, missions, and cinematic stories.
I’ve got the popcorn ready, Bungie.
