TL;DR: Some positives but I feel like it's lost a bit of its identity / positive gameplay aspects via unnecessarily changing things that separated Destiny from the herd. I know it's a beta and plenty of things will be changing but I just wanted to weigh-in and give my initial impressions on the beta experience so far on the off chance that it catches somebody's eye. For reference on my perspective, while I could hold my own in most D1 PVP matches, I was roughly 80% PVE / 18% PVP / 2% Dancing in the tower. With that said, I was really excited by the story telling aspects and the visuals; seeing the NPCs actually move and and physically interact with the world / player was a giant stride in the right direction. You've also presumably retained the gist of the social PVE experience that had set Destiny apart in that regard. I do have some critiques though - and I'm not trying to offend anybody or anything - just airing my opinions. I feel like some of the gameplay was lost with the new weapon scheme. In D1, everything was fast-paced and, when I was playing well, it felt action scene-esque as I'd transition between my primary, to secondary, run-slide-melee, to heavy, to a super to mop up. A lot of that has been lost a bit with the new weapon scheme. Shotguns/snipers were a fun little part of the dance. Reading the threads, the general consensus seems to be that the move was made for PVP - which I don't know about... I honestly have always played shooters that had snipers hat could one-hit you from far away and shotguns that could from up close and I've never given it a second thought... its part of the rock-paper-scissors dynamic of shooting games where different builds work better in different situations... so for me, it's really weird (and bland) to have a PVP that's devoid of either because everybody is grabbing rocket launchers or fusion rifles (in my experience) and, in countdown, there's no point in wasting heavy on a sniper when usually 2 or 3 are dead by the time a sniper spawns. Perhaps partially due to that, I was honestly surprised by how slow everything felt in PVE - even the movement. Maybe the levels just have more wide-open spaces so the feeling is relative to the environment though, to be fair. Also, I haven't read anything about this, so it's probably just me, but I had to max out even my controller sensitivity setting to 10... and it still feels a little sluggish. PVP was a total bust for me. The articles all talk about "focusing on teamwork"... which sounds great, but I think reducing numbers really only increases the premium on individual skill. If both teams are doing what they're supposed to, then it's just a quick succession of one-on-one fights with damaged victors battling it out until it's done. And besides the team damage modifier, it's easier to compensate for a weak (or AFK) member of a team while they learn the ropes - these maps and and lobbies are so small that a weak team member will likely get roughed up quite a bit. Plus, the 4-on-4 means anybody AFK / dropping out of your team (which, in my experience, has been happening more often than not for one team or the other) makes winning a pretty much impossible task if the other team stays even remotely together. I know some have suggested allowing join-ins, but that team still is probably getting tossed for two rounds or a minute or so while that player would fly-in. What baffles me though is that Destiny 1 had trials which was pretty much this exact same for the same purpose. Folks that were good and / or enjoyed it went there - but there's something to be said for the countless that didn't because it wasn't their cup of tea. Also, that's going to be a harsh welcoming party for any players new to Destiny to try and get invested in. Bleh, anyway... just baffling. Honestly, the saddest part for me was that I played a few rounds and just was kind of done with it. It wasn't fun or gripping like I expected. This is coming from somebody that's done about 200 too many Omnigul runs throughout the days. I don't know, I was really excited about the game but it doesn't feel like Destiny anymore and I don't think I'll be doing the pre-order anymore unless some more of the secrecy starts to be unveiled soon. Good luck though and I'll keep my eyes on it to see if it becomes more of a game that fills that niche that Destiny 1 did. :) (To those that loved the beta and/or disagree with any of the aforementioned ramblings, I definitely mean no offense or think I know it all or anything like that and definitely respect other viewpoints. I get that it's difficult to make a game that'll appease everybody)