Ok, so, I will try to condense what I have to say (which is a LOT), but TLDR: Bungie is sinfully lazy and/or unskilled at storytelling. THE SUMMARY - The Hive returned too early - The Taken returned at all - The Fallen saturate a vanilla version not even about them at all - The majority of these strikes are boring, unimaginative, or outright stupid - The story campaign was WAY too short - Ghaul was a phenomenal villain that got shafted and ruined, and that cheapened the story horrendously - Bungie missed out on a badass new faction: the forces and installations of a rogue warmind (will explain in length) THE LONG VERSION [b]The Hive returned too early[/b] Let me start by adding an important disclaimer: the Hive is my favorite faction. They are the most interesting/awesome faction to me by far. That being said, I believe that bringing them back in D2 was a grave disservice to them. In D1, we got a ton of Hive content. It was great! But we defeated Oryx for good, and dealt the Hive a massive, demoralizing, and humiliating defeat. They should have fled the system altogether, regrouping with their other gods for another chance to snuff out the Traveler. In my opinion, the Hive should not have returned until D3! [b]The Taken returned at all[/b] What a disgustingly lazy and unimaginative route to take! The Taken should have perished with their god king. End of discussion. [b]The Fallen saturate a vanilla version not even about them at all[/b] I have no issues with the Fallen as a faction, BUT, they did get the second largest content amount in D1. Why are they on THREE planets in this game? They should have been on Earth and Titan, and that is it. [b]The majority of these strikes are boring, unimaginative, or outright stupid[/b] 1: The Arms Dealer - Verdict: Alright - This strike was neither great or terrible, it was pretty middle of the road. 2: The Lake of Shadows - Verdict: Stupid - The strike itself is alright, but the Taken ruin it utterly and completely, as they do anything they touch after D1. 3: The Song of Savanuthu - Verdict: Stupid - A) It was a Hive strike. B) The boss was a shrieker turret (seriously?! LOL how desperate does a storytelling team have to be to make a effing shrieker turret a boss???) 4: The Inverted Spire - Verdict: Excellent - An all around fun and interesting strike. 5: Exodus Down - Verdict: Unimaginative/Boring - This strike is so droll and lame, there isn't even much to say about it. It's quite boring and the boss is corny as hell (not to mention a Fallen). 6: The Pyramidion - Verdict: Excellent - Probably the best strike in the game. Quite well done in every aspect (minus the effing Taken). [b]The story campaign was WAY too short[/b] The story should have twice as long as it is. It started so, so well, got boring/rushed as soon as we left earth, then ended with the epitome of an anticlimax. Which leads to the next point. [b]Ghaul was a phenomenal villain that got shafted and ruined, and that cheapened the story horrendously [/b] When Ghaul first came on the scene, I was like, "Damn, what a badass and awesome villain! He is so intense!" Then, he died in like 30 seconds once you finally reached him?! Ghaul should have been a raid boss! And the Consul should have been a strike boss. How hard is it to effectively incorporate story into a raid or strike? The answer is NOT THAT HARD AT ALL. The fact that the emperor came out of effing nowhere for no good reason whatsoever but to have an excuse to make a raid is laughable garbage. [b]Bungie missed out on a badass new faction: the forces and installations of a rogue warmind[/b] Here comes the long part. Let me start on Titan. The enemies on Titan should have been the Fallen initially, then in a story mission into the arcology, you awaken a rogue warmind that turns the entire arcololgy's defenses against you. You later find out the warmind controlling the arcology is not even on Titan but elsewhere (IO), and you have to sever its connection to the arcology in a strike. Fast forward to IO, where the warmind itself actually is (and ACTUALLY IS in the game currently). The Cabal are on the planet trying to harvest the residual light of the Traveler, but they are meeting stiff resistance from the warmind. The vex and the pyramidion should not be on IO. All that being said, this is what the enemy faction/planet/strike setup should have looked like! EARTH - Fallen vs Cabal - Strikes: The Arms Dealer & Lake of Shadows (called something different because it would be another Fallen vs Cabal strike) TITAN - Fallen vs Warmind - Strikes: Utopia (the current name of the final story mission on Tiitan, but now a Fallen vs Warmind strike) Nessus - Vex vs Cabal - Strikes: The Inverted Spire and The Pyramidion (now with the Cabal trying to breach the Pyramidion) - NOTE: Failsafe is by far the WORST npc I've had the displeasure of working with, her and the Exodus should have never been in the game. IO - Cabal vs Warmind - Strikes: Some strike that is Cabal vs Warmind, like the Cabal are trying to break into a golden age archive with extensive and revealing information about the Traveler that would prove disastrous in Ghaul's hands, but when you go in to stop them, the Warmind intervenes with the installation's defenses and defense drones/robots. *takes deep breath* That is essentially it. I am overall very disappointed in this game, a game I had such hope and excitement for.