This isn’t a “Muh D1 better” post, I hate those. This is just a post reflecting on what once was to understand just how much we’ve sorta missed out since thing. No, I’m not talking about the DCV, as that’s all people want to talk about today. What I’m talking about is the soul of the game. What made Destiny Destiny and what made us fans continue to play even in its worst droughts. I really think it comes down to just a few factors. 1.) Power Creep While it’s PvE, we’ve had a super notable huge power bump lately. 3.0 Subclasses (mostly Titan, from a Titan main) have just gotten out of hand and have hurt this game. It was a red flag when we heard of ‘monochromatic builds’ because the second it was announced our builds were about to be constructed to 1 elemental type to be an engine for our abilities. Why this is relevant I think ties to why people have loved Destiny for so long, and that goes to the Gunplay. We’re long past the point of slow firing autorifles and fun hand cannons in PvE, as realistically you’re using an smg with some kind of perk that fuels your subclass. This isn’t a call for a nerf to smg’s whatsoever, just an observation. It just confuses me how Bungie had a blueprint on how to design the 3.0 classes without stripping them of their identity in Destiny 1. I didn’t want an identical system or even identical classes. But I didn’t expect Titans to get access to Devour and Invis, then become a grenade spamming class. 2.) Game Difficulty, and what makes this game ‘Difficult’ I think this is a universal issue that comes as a result of several underlying issues. The first major one being power creep. We’re so strong bungie has designed living roadblocks in the form of champions to halt us and make sure we’re switching things up. They didn’t want to nerf players and let us feel strong, which is understandable. Doing that however creates a problem, in which most content becomes trivial. If there’s no champions, it’s rather easy. People like to say Day 1’s are hard, sure, dealing with pesky slightly harder ads is tough but in reality they would be a breeze if you weren’t discovering mechanics for the first time. Maybe failing a damage check or two cause Jimmy is using chaperone for dps. It genuinely feels like we’ve gotten swept up in a storm of Bungie trying to please everyone that we’ve landed in 2 spots. Gameplay is extremely easy where your gunplay is nonexistent and you’re spamming abilities. Or you’re spamming your abilities with an occasional roadblock. 3.) The soul of Bungie just doesn’t quite feel there. I love Bungie. From their older Halo games to the new stuff they make seasonally in Destiny. But because I love a company, I’ll criticize it. The company seems to be a shell of its former self. The drive to innovate and be their own person feels like it’s trickled down to a PR stunt. Otherwise, we’ve completely missed who Bungie used to be. Sci-Fi Creators with a passion for the touch of fantasy that made 2 beloved universes. Left with a shell of monetization, lack of communication with the community down to their own marketing being limited. We still don’t know what we would be paying for next season. For some of us who bought the Deluxe we don’t have to see trailers as we’ll have to get what we get. But for those who base their money on what they see it’s clear Bungie’s noticed and will no longer show us much until the day of to convince you to compulsively buy. This game no longer feels like it’s a passion project and instead has turned into a money generator for Sony and Bungie to thrive off of while they dedicate teams to new projects and leave this one to die. This game no longer has a soul.