Destiny - 3 Months Later

Dec. 13, 2014

Destiny – 3 Months Later

It has been about three full months since Destiny was released to the world. Since then, I have invested about 148 hours into my main character, a Voidwalker Warlock. Yet, it was only after my first week that I wrote areviewfor Destiny here. Looking back through those long months of Destiny, Destiny has certainly changed a bit.

Please note, this is a reflection from my experience with Destiny so far and and a long-built post evaluation of the game after its review.

Destiny had a bumpy start since launch. Despite many problems and criticisms, Destiny still had a lot of potential. Throughout the three month period, Bungie has experimented differently with their game, based on the requests of fans and already ongoing problems. One problem that they did not address was the lack of content, a key request to many Guardians. Not actual extra content was added to the game itself. Yes, we had received the Iron Banner and The Queen’s Wrath. But those were only temporary. The Queen’s Wrath was especially disappointing, considering that it was already hinted within the main campaign and thought to be new content, but eventually became another bounty grind; it was actual worth it since you received Legendary loot, but it was patched so you wouldn’t receive ascendant materials after breaking them.

The game is still as repetitive as it was at launch. This was another element of the game that was never really addressed at all. This slightly changes once you reach around level 28, where you are able to compete in the Nightfall and level 28 Weekly Heroic Strikes. These two modes add a slight variety in terms of how to approach certain enemies, how to approach the Strike as a whole, and the difficulty. Yet, this is mostly feasible for those in groups and for those that can manage to such a level. The daily missions are also worth noting, especially if you attempt them at level 28. But once you realize that the slight increase and difficulty are only an addition to the same missions and Strikes, you realize that these are generally the same, repetitive, missions and Strikes.

The Raid has also had its fair share of problems as well over the months. Some critical portions of the Raid, especially the final battle with Atheon, have had many reports of bugs. Bungie have tried to fix them, but it still wouldn’t be surprising to see an error occur right in its final battle. One bug worth mentioning was how three players in the back room would teleport once Atheon made them teleport. To many at first, this was thought to be a part of the Raid and users have utilized this in their strategy against Atheon. But when it was announced that this was a bug all along, a patch was done to make players teleport randomly instead this basically ruined the Raid’s experience for many since it removed what was once an essential strategy.

Compared to the other modes, the Crucible did not have as much problems. But there were still problems. At times, the Crucible would still feel unbalanced, mostly because of the perks used. At times, it would even appear as if people have done some sort of exploits in order to gain an advantage. The layout for one map in particular, Blind Watch, changed the experience for numerous people as it was more hectic. The Iron Banner felt somewhat broken at times. Probably the biggest problem was the lack in the amount of maps, considering that some of the maps were not playable throughout the different modes.

As said, Destiny has had a lot of problems within the last few months. Bungie did their best, as it appeared, to fix these problems. Most still linger to this day. Yet, there is a dark to every light. These problems may have affected the game. But there is still much good that bring it back up.

Destiny was generally meant to play with friends. After playing story missions alone, this would later be realized. No matter how repetitive this is or how it lacks content, this game is always fun to play it how it was meant to be played, with friends. This was generally how I have played this for the majority of my time. It would have been better if more modes allowed a full six-player fire-team. But the three-player fire-team seemed to be enough for a majority of the game. Difficult missions and Strikes feel so much different when you have others to play with, to strategize with, or to simply show you something you might have missed.

Despite the problems with the Raid, the Raid is still one of the most difficult and unique multiplayer experiences I have ever played in. The way it implements stealth and platforming brings these elements that would have thought never existed. The boss fights required actual teamwork and communication with your fire-team. Actually gaining good gear brings a very satisfied feeling, if you are lucky.

Despite the few problems with the Crucible, it is still one of the most enjoyable competitive multiplayer experiences I’ve had with a FPS. The few random modes bring a nice variety every now and then. Yet, the actual gameplay and combat is fun. From teleporting across gaps to blasting away a team capturing a control point, it is still a very fun experience.

At the end of the day, not matter how good or bad, Destiny will always be a well built game in terms of presentation and its universe. The environments are still gorgeous as a whole. The audio is still enjoyable to hear during combat, no matter how many times you’ve heard a track. The story may not have much to it and requires you to read the grimoire, but the universe itself is still well built, with amazing lore about its enemies, worlds, and even about the exotic weapons; if only this was more implemented into the actual game.

Bungie may have tried and failed to fix some of the games problems. But some of the changes done have actually been beneficial. A beta for fire-team chat was added for Crucible and Strikes, which helps you chat with strangers during these modes. Materials from worlds can now be bought, instead of farming for hours. Extra bounty slots have been added, to help you do more bounties and level up. Changes to the exotics have helped many of them becomes stronger; but some are still weak though. The changes done to the recent Iron Banner made it an event worth waiting for, where there are less boundaries and higher level gear to earn. Even little changes made in the game, such as the Halloween based update and the message in the Loot Cave, have shown that there is life and Bungie intends to add more.

The Dark Below Expansion is here. It will bring numerous changes to the game overall, with a free update that may affect other players. New content includes new guns, increased level cap, three new story missions, a new Strike (two if you play on Playstation platforms), the New Raid, and more. From what is shown, it appears to have more story and more depth than the actual game, and appears to provide the same enjoyment.

Overall, my rating for Destiny still remains as an 8/10, a very good game overall. The core game has had problems at the start. But games can change later on and can generally get better. Did this game get better though? This is up to everyone’s individual opinion.

Your Destiny continues at the FextraLifeDestiny wiki

ossiecastro5

game play is sound, but there is literally almost zero characters / character development. the grimiore cards while adding bits and pieces of lore are not accessible in the game and thus don’t add to it. tower is static.

in a normal RPG, the NPCs have voices and tell stories that go along with the missions they send you on. these are things that help with immersion in the game world.

the structure of the game is there, ie killing enemies, etc. but the game itself is hollow. and it can’t be fixed with DLC. They need to rethink how they are going to deliver the story. and rethink how to deliver a living world.

Destiny 2 has the potential to be what Destiny 1 should have been. However to do it right, they may need to focus solely on the current gen and leave PS3/XB360 behind (sadly, as I will be forced to upgrade)

Hopefully they will make enough money on this one to really get the next one right. the other option is to cheap out and do another bare bones game and make as much money as possible, while screwing the gaming community once again.

From how I see it, Destiny is more like an introduction than a large-scale beta. It has the meat and concepts for a full game. But explores the universe as a whole rather than focusing on single aspects and stories, basically the ‘meat’. Just from reading the lore, there is literally so much that can be done with Destiny as a franchise and so much that can be done in Destiny 2. Destiny basically gave us a taste of this.

With millions of active players, large negative feedback, and more content on the way, there is a lot that can be learned from this game. I do not know if Activision is holding Bungie back or not, but Bungie has potential in Destiny as a franchise. If it cannot grow into a full bloom now, there is still potential for that 95/100 game that people want.

Still loving it, we got a nice group together on the wiki, and we pretty much spend the start of the week doing nf’s\weeklies\raids etc and the rest of the week helping others and randoms from the chat.

I honestly think destiny 2 will have a lot of potential. Destiny I seems to me like a large scale beta. they are constantly tinkering with ideas to see what works and what doesn’t. It has never felt like a finished game. while fun, and mechanically sound, there is no ‘meat’ to it.

I’m hoping they will learn a lot from this game, (and make a lot of money, so they can hire a writer) and basically make destiny 2 what destiny 1 could have been.

The content for certain modes are few, I agree. But this may only apply if you make this your primary focus. Mix in the Crucible, daily bounties, daily missions, patrols and random public events, challenging weekly Heroic and Nightfall strikes, and etc. The content does appear recycled through what I just said. But the overall experience is different. For example. I did the new Earth Strike multiple times this week. It seemed pretty easy on its standard level. But it is much more different and challenging in its Heroic and Nightfall forms. Bounties also change how you play as well, especially when you try the Crucible.

Bungie created the game. But Activision is the publisher and has its part in handling the game itself. Free content, actual new content, would be nice. But it would give them an excuse to establish a monthly fee, as what people thought before Destiny was released. I agree, the current expansion may not be very expansive. But the amount of hours people can invest in this new content may say otherwise.The first two parts of the new Raid alone, for example, had my fireteam busy for hours, as we tried to go in without using any guides.

The actual gameplay of Destiny is a blast. I love the flow of combat, it has just the perfect oomph.

There is not enough. Period. The current amount of content (sans-DLC) lasted six hours or so. After that, it was off to strikes and raids. There are so few strikes that the game once randomly selected Nexus four times in a row. There’s only so many times you can fight the same boss, even with friends.

More content sounds great. I’m shocked they’re charging for it. Well, not shocked, it is Activision… but it’s an idiotic move. If they continue charging for (let’s be honest here) map packs with a game so small, they will never escape from the niche. Release free DLC until the game is twice as large,thenthey can start charging. But only for proper expansions; not map packs with a couple new weapons.

I don’t know if this was Bungie’s decision or Activision’s. How can either expect this to be sustainable for ten freaking years?

It depends on the person for how the game is played. Some people may like doing the same patrols over and over just to enjoy the combat more. It literally has different factors that impact how an individual would enjoy the game. I personally don’t that many patrols, mostly because there are other things in the game. This new DLC so far adds a bit more to that.

Agreed, the expansion does feel as if all was done for nothing. But in a different view, it is not entirely so. It is almost like playing a sequel to certain games, like Pokemon for instance. You do so much and so well in the first game. But in the second game, you have to start over and face the new experience from scratch. This generally applies similarly to Destiny, if you see it. It seems like all was for nothing. But now you have a stronger, more threatening goal ahead. You will need to work harder for the new gear and weapons, but at least the ones you currently have can give you and edge to reach that next level. Once you reach that level, it will be as satisfying as reaching the former maximum level.

The hype certainly did damage to the overall game. But I never followed the hype. In fact, I actually never cared for Destiny until a friend gave me a code to test Destiny during its beta. After playing it in its beta, I enjoyed Destiny without the hype and looked forward to it regardless. Hype certainly damaged a good amount of games this year. But if you aim your expectations too high, you might be disappointed even if the game is still good overall. Hopefully people will learn this lesson this year and be more prepared for next year.

I’m still in shock over how little content the game contains, even after the Dark Below DLC. I wanted to love Destiny, but in the end, even playing with friends couldn’t save it for me. I see people doing the same patrols for the hundredth time, and just shake my head at what must drive them to continue this grind. I’m okay with games that compel me to traverse the same areas multiple times, as the Souls’ franchise does. But in these cases, the base content is much more generous and varied. Destiny makes me feel like I’m on a hamster wheel now.

As the writer says, it’s a fundamentally sound game, with great visuals and gameplay mechanics. But when I play, a feeling sets in now where I wonder if there is any point. Grind for a hundred hours to get certain pieces of gear or weapons, only to have Bungie move the goalpost and set you on the same, circuitous route. The experience has left enough of a bad taste in my mouth that I can’t see me ever trying a sequel, or any more DLC.

Destiny will have a solid niche following, since there are no shortage of people who love playing it. But this is not going to be the juggernaut that Activision anticipated.