Hi all,
First time on the forum. I have a question. It can be summed up as "Is Destiny 2 Still Worth Getting Into?", but more detail is below.
So, some backstory. I got the free version of D2 on PS4 the other day, and have been enjoying myself. However, I have been made aware that much of the F2P content was vaulted last year or so, and I have noticed more and more paywalls for missions and such (forcing me to buy the expansions to play
various campaigns).
I don't have PS PLUS (equivalent to Xbox Gold) as most of my friends play PC and I just end up playing free cross-platform games like SplitGate or Apex. I will eventually get D2 on PC as I am getting a new one in about six months or so (removing the need for a subscription), but none of my friends play D2 anyways. I understand that with the app you can easily join fireteams to do strikes and such, so the first part to my question: is playing with random people fun, or does a lot of the enjoyment come from playing with your buds?
Second, obviously, Bungie dropped the ball when it comes to removing loads of content. The DLCs are still quite expensive ($100 CAD), but is there enough content (and fun enough content) to justify the high price? And on the flip side, is there a lot of content still in the F2P campaigns (I think the only F2P left is the cosmodrome and (maybe I think) Nessus?)? Or is it super small, forcing you to get DLC to actually progress/play anything?
Third, reading the (albeit a small amount) of the takes from players, people seem pretty down in the dumps about D2 in general at the moment. Ignoring the fact that it was better before, is the game still fun now? Or does it feel like a husk of a game once great?
Therefore, my overarching question is this: is this game still enjoyable, and worth the $100 DLC price? Or does it feel lifeless now, compounded by the fact that I won't be playing with friends?
(Yes I get everything is subjective; I'm just looking for opinions lol)
Thanks
-
5 Repliestl;dr: No, it’s not worth getting into if you’re new or a veteran. The problem with Destiny 2 right now is that it’s trying to be a game it neither can be nor can live up to: an MMORPG. When Bungie announced that Destiny 2 is an MMORPG, MMO fans laughed their asses off, because they knew it wasn’t nor could be a proper MMO. People were like, “Does Bungie [i]actually[/i] think Destiny 2 is worthy of having the MMORPG designation?” To their credit, they’re right. When you look at a traditional MMORPG (World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XIV, Elder Scrolls Online, EVE Online, Black Desert Online, etc), there are certain pillars and standards that MMOs live by: [b][u]-Feeling massive[/u][/b] (not in terms of environments, though that does help). When you load in to a level, there’s the possibility that there will be dozens, if not hundreds or thousands of players in the same area as you. It makes the world feel alive. In Destiny 2, the most that can be on a screen is… 18. Wooo. [b][u]-Fostering community through engaging content.[/u][/b] Without content, a community cannot thrive. Without a community, a game cannot thrive. If the content is not compelling, unique or interesting enough, or if new content is not being made, people will not be willing to stick around. The problem with Destiny 2’s content is that the end-game hasn’t changed at all since vanilla Destiny 2 - nearly 4 years ago! Sure it had some minor tweaks over the years (the introduction of Pinnacle rewards, expansion-related content, Grandmaster Nightfalls, etc.), but in terms of what you’re [i]actually[/i] doing, it hasn’t changed all that much: do strikes, do the Nightfall, do Crucible/Iron Banner/Trials, and do the raid (I’m not counting Gambit, since nobody plays Gambit. I’m also excluding seasonal content for reasons I’ll elaborate on in a little bit). It doesn’t help that the vast majority of what you do in Destiny 2 is primarily tied to progression - to being more powerful. There’s barely any content that is purely auxiliary. For example, in Final Fantasy XIV, you had your end-game content like raids, sure, but you also have: Crafting, gathering, hunts, treasure maps, the Gold Saucer (basically an in-game casino/arcade), transmog, Beast Tribe quests (basically reputation quests), the Firmament, Doman Restoration, Palace of the Dead/Heaven-On-High, and many, [b]MANY[/b] other pieces of content that I probably forgot to include. And what do these have in common? They’re all unrelated to the end-game; they’re all auxiliary progression. What does Destiny 2 have in the form of auxiliary progression? Let’s see, there’s… Transmog! And, uh… Uhhhh… Earning titles? Woooo. Yeah, Destiny 2 doesn’t have anything auxiliary or interesting. [b][u]-Commitment to expanding the game.[/u][/b] This is arguably the most important pillar in any MMO out there: ensuring that players have enough content to keep them engaged with the game. Anything in a game (classes, expansion packs, story, dungeons, raids, primary or optional objectives/goals, balance updates, even community) is considered content. Since an MMO - or anything with the “games-as-a-service” label - can only exist when content is continually and regularly created and updated. When a game stops developing content, it’s the telltale sign that an MMO (or a “games-as-a-service” game) is dead or the developers are moving on to a different project. As it was discussed above, when people run out of content to do, there’s no point in staying any longer, since a player has already done everything they can do. Now Destiny 2 does this just fine, but the problem with Destiny 2 is that it’s at a point where they need to delete content - oh, I’m sorry. I meant to say, “put content in the Destiny Content Vault”! - in order to make developing new content shorter and easier. This sets a bad precedent for future expansions, as anything that’s in the game right now won’t matter or isn’t permanent, since it will simply be removed - oh, right, “put content in the Destiny Content Vault”! How could I possibly forget such a blatantly absurd euphemism for “We’re deleting content because we’re too lazy to develop new content in existing areas for our game because we have a skeleton crew working on the game while the overwhelming majority of the developers here are working on a top-secret project that apparently demands more attention!” How foolish of me! - once something is no longer worth updating or developing with. Especially since all content from these seasons will be removed from the game anyway, making the grind pointless. Every MMO in existence has never (or rarely) removed content from the game. In short, Destiny 2 is a game that tries to be something it can’t. It’s not a game for fans of MMORPGs - or anyone who has casually dabbled in an MMORPG - because it’s so painfully average and lackluster in every way. There’s barely any content in the game that justifies investing your time in it, and a good portion will be removed anyway, and any new content from an expansion or season will barely scratch that itch that an MMORPG fan needs (expansions in Destiny 2 are just glorified content updates that you’d find in any MMO, with these seasons being more like minor content releases). It wouldn’t surprise me if their reasoning for announcing Beyond Light along with the next two expansions - The Witch Queen and Lightfall - is because they know that Destiny 2 is in a downward death spiral that they can’t recover from and that Lightfall will serve as the closing final chapter of this mediocre and underwhelming franchise.