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Destiny 2

Discuss all things Destiny 2.
10/12/2022 2:13:03 AM
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Something that can never be brought back to life

I have a clanmate who never played the first game, and today I streamed some Destiny 1 to him. Everyone talks about how Bungie is ruining this and ruining that, but, there is something more fundamental that has changed. This is not a well structured in-depth analysis, and is instead some thoughts written on a phone before going to bed. No need to fight about anything in the comments :- ) One of the first things I did was fly into the Dreadnaught to show him where the revamped King's Fall we did takes place. As soon as I load in, facing the beachead Cabal ship, the ghost starts talking to me, telling about the place, and rambling on about the universe. My friend was instantly hooked. I show him around, and the ghost speaks! It feels intimate, personal, and the environment like a real place. Next up, I do a tour of the old Tower. This part is possibly a result of rose tinted nostalgia glasses, but it feels just right. The music in this game goes so hard you not only feel spoonfed narrative, but imagine things. It's obviously smaller and more focused due to hardware restrictions at the time, but it is filled to the brim with character and affection. Eva is selling shaders and emblems for Glimmer, of Motes of Lights (that you have to earn!) for the top shelf goods. The speaker sells unique class items and some ghosts. Shaxx has a Crucible Quartermaster providing Guardians with gear, the hangar has a Vanguard Quartermaster selling equipment for new lights. The command room itself has the class representitives selling things for their class and guide your journey as a guardian! The bar, the courtyard, everything is just right. Next up, I made a private lobby and showed him SRL. I forgot it had custom HUD and all the unique touches. And the ghost! More personal banter, shaming me for playing about one round, and enjoying the sport another. Everywhere I'd load into, the ghost would be there, as your ghost, a companion. All the things I've done in my years, from the vanilla story, to Dark Below and House of Wolves, to Taken King (and the Phobos mission!), and even Rise of Iron, is all there. Of course the quality of the content varies, but everything the game is, I could show. There was less to do in some ways, but it was more meaningful. Playing story missions was always (well... mostly) fun, and the random dialogue and context added to it. You could experience it in all the right ways. Everything there was mattered, and fed into each other. Everything I would show, my friend would be confused about being missing in the sequel. Despite all the mess, screw ups, repeated bad decisions, I do love Destiny. It is something I cherish, truly, which is also why it is so painful to have gotten a reminder of what was lost. I've played consistently more or less since the open beta on a PS3, still have a tshirt I got at an event where I got to play some Crucible with strangers. I do it all, from Crucible to Trials to Gambit to Raids. I play alone, I play with friends, with clan, with my significant other. There is something fundamentally missing from the game now. The magic, which I guess in a way, objectively, can't last forever, but is still felt so strongly upon revisiting the first game. Part of that feels because this game is an empty husk of it's former self, as old important story, worldbuilding and character is gone, and the seasonal things are timegated dialogue that is designed to be easily removed from the game. It is designed for awful, soulless grind. I understand why it is this way, but it hurts. Do y'all remember how grind was about player choise, not a selling point and an expected activity? The character of this game is dead. The first game, while shallow in some aspects, was filled to the brim with character. We had the factions that let us express our Guardians (FWC FTW!) and added a passive layer of progression with motes of light, exotic class items etc. The ghost actually spoke to us, and if you're anything like me, you felt a kinship / bond / connection. Threats were real, global and felt. Taken King added reskinned bosses to strikes with new dialogue, Rise of Iron added reskinned strikes with new dialogue and sometimes a siva turret. The world felt endless even if it objectively was the same tiny part of cosmodrome we've been exploring for years. The characters in the game were written as characters, not a dialogue dispensers. Something I know we can never have back is meaning of looks. In the first game, if you wore something, you earned it. Alakhul's helmet, psion cape, bone armour, you name it. Same for shaders and emblems, as well as ghosts and ships. It is unfortunate that Atheon Bundle is a thing, raid shaders are sold etc. As a PvP-focused player, there is a lot I could say about balance, speed of the game, gunplay vs ability spam, but, the people that play this game are so varied that everybody will always be unhappy. Metas come and go, things break and shift. It is what it is, and it always will be. Besides, this post is less about that and more about having fun! As I write this, I've already forgotten what I've gone through and what I forgot to mention. If there's anything I wanted to say, it's that this game, with the far superior polish, feels like a lesser framework of a game. I don't have answers to any of these problems, but I know that there are so many misguided attempts at chasing that magic from both the developers and the players. I have accepted it years ago that Destiny no longer is what it used to be, and it never will be. As I was headed to bed, thinking about all this, I felt a sadness that I can't quite verbalise, but, if you have the opportunity, I'd recommend revisiting your old D1 Guardian. The game feels wonderful despite it's warts, clunkiness and the choppy framerate.
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