[Megathread] Destiny

[Jtbrig7390]

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/de...source=twitter

Destiny 2's Version Of Mercury Is Underwhelming So Far

The first expansion for Destiny 2, Curse of Osiris, was revealed during Paris Games Week this year and is set to launch on PS4, Xbox One, and PC on December 5. We recently got a chance to play several hours of the game, including just over an hour of exploration in the new destination, Mercury, the new Public Event, and two new Strikes. While we didn't see everything Curse of Osiris has to offer, we left Mercury feeling skeptical about what's to come.

Mercury as a destination is actually a rather small, circular area on the planet called the Fields of Glass, which is connected to the Lighthouse that Bungie showed off last week. The most notable thing about the new map is the assortment of powerful, "high-value target" enemies you can fight--there seems to be more of them in the Fields of Glass than at other locations in Destiny 2. Other than that, it's an unremarkable donut map, and we couldn't even summon Sparrows there--seemingly to mask how small the area is.

While we were at Bungie's headquarters, the team behind Curse of Osiris stated that the theme of the expansion was "mystery." We spent an hour and a half roaming the Fields of Glass and the Lighthouse, and it's clear there are secrets we couldn't find. We looked for a good 15 minutes but didn't see any Lost Sectors, the hidden dungeon-like areas you can find everywhere else in Destiny 2, though we were explicitly told there was one and that would be marked on the map in a later build. We figured there's some sort of trick to all the powerful enemies, too, but we didn't have time to experiment properly.

Outside of the exploration on Mercury, the new Strikes added in Curse of Osiris are essentially retreads of two of the expansion's story missions. Repetition is to be expected in Destiny, and the Strikes themselves have interesting bosses, but there isn't much variety in the level design between their story and Strike versions.

The coolest aspect of the expansion that we saw was the Infinite Forest, a Vex creation designed to simulate an infinite number of realities. The concept is promising--it seems procedurally generated, at least in part, and you can encounter all sorts of enemies inside--but the connection to exploration on Mercury isn't clear, since our access to it was limited to the story.

In addition to the Infinite Forest (or what we hope it will be), the new Public Event, Vex Crossroads, is one thing we're still curious about and excited to explore further. It involves killing a series of Vex in stages and alternating between two towers that are only accessible during the event. We weren't able to trigger the Heroic version, but we did identify some potential leads, so we're eager to try it again and see what secrets it holds.

While we haven't seen everything from Curse of Osiris yet--Bungie has more reveals planned for November 29--what we have played doesn't feel substantial enough to bring any lapsed Destiny players back. The main Mercury map is just a circle that's not terribly interesting to explore, and the new Strikes are uninspired. The mysterious Infinite Forest could hold the key to making Mercury and Curse of Osiris in general a good addition to what's already in Destiny 2, but we'll have to wait to find out.

[dope_danny]

Sounds like the dark below meets the underground from the division.

[Nutri]

Sounds like the dark below meets the underground from the division.

Underground was pretty alright, at first. Quite the challenge during 1.3.
Eventually loot distribution pretty much killed it for me as it became unrewarding. 1.8 should adjust that, but I've lost faith in Massive/Ubisoft fixing the Division a long long time ago.

[Bugg]

What was different in D1 PvP?
I remember it being fun.
In D2 it's somehow different, I can't put my finger on it... I mean the graphics/physics/movement/environment feel fine. It's just the shooting players that's somehow different.
Hm...

In regards to the raid, I enjoyed it, it's not much shooting, but it feels like a team effort. Granted, Vault of glass was a masterpiece, and Crota's raid was also great (IMO) but this is not bad.
Ahh... VoG... Nostalgia

[Jtbrig7390]

What was different in D1 PvP?
I remember it being fun.
In D2 it's somehow different, I can't put my finger on it... I mean the graphics/physics/movement/environment feel fine. It's just the shooting players that's somehow different.
Hm...

In regards to the raid, I enjoyed it, it's not much shooting, but it feels like a team effort. Granted, Vault of glass was a masterpiece, and Crota's raid was also great (IMO) but this is not bad.
Ahh... VoG... Nostalgia

The group size in D2 PVP is smaller and the weapon layout's are different. Now in D2 it isn't a sniper/shutgun spam fest like D1 was.

D2 you work with your team mates more (as in staying in a group) compared to D1 lone wolfing it.

[dope_danny]

What was different in D1 PvP?
I remember it being fun.
In D2 it's somehow different, I can't put my finger on it... I mean the graphics/physics/movement/environment feel fine. It's just the shooting players that's somehow different.
Hm...

In regards to the raid, I enjoyed it, it's not much shooting, but it feels like a team effort. Granted, Vault of glass was a masterpiece, and Crota's raid was also great (IMO) but this is not bad.
Ahh... VoG... Nostalgia

less players per team, less corridor based maps, lone wolfing was encouraged over current 'roaming murderball vs roaming murderball' pack mentality and supers happened more than once per match. D2 pvp is a esports wannabe so its designed for far less random elements and far more 'everyone grabs a high impact scout rifle and picks each other off in a war of attrition.
The days of the handcannon or shotgun metas in D1 were also pretty bland variety wise but each players was a more autonomous, roaming unit and so threats could come from any direction and being flanked was a real, constant threat.

In D2 you see one enemy the rest are right around the corner following them. Snore....

[Justpassing]

We need a Destiny subforum so we can have a Failsafe appreciation thread :3

[RuneDK]

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/de...source=twitter

The worst part of this whole thing...It seems they are continuously making the same mistakes but worse in D2 as far as content goes. I do not understand how you can make the same mistake twice.

[Endus]

Sounds like the dark below meets the underground from the division.

Honestly, as much as I loved to hate The Division, its two expansions were really solid concepts. The Underground added some necessary dungeon-lite content that was procedural, so it didn't get TOO samey (though it was all similar enough it ended up that way). The survival expansion, though, really sold me. I don't think that form could extend to Destiny 2, though; the strength of Survival Mode was recapturing the leveling experience in The Division, and in Destiny 2, that's mostly done in story missions, not the running around, and what we're already doing is running around the maps, so there's no need to bring that feeling back.

But if they can expand the gameplay model in a similar manner, I feel Destiny 2's had a much more solid start, for what warts it has, over The Division. Which I really wanted to love.

[Aliven]

The worst part of this whole thing...It seems they are continuously making the same mistakes but worse in D2 as far as content goes. I do not understand how you can make the same mistake twice.

Actually... there is plenty of content to go around. Problem is, the rewards for most content is meaningless after 265 power.

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Honestly, as much as I loved to hate The Division, its two expansions were really solid concepts. The Underground added some necessary dungeon-lite content that was procedural, so it didn't get TOO samey (though it was all similar enough it ended up that way). The survival expansion, though, really sold me. I don't think that form could extend to Destiny 2, though; the strength of Survival Mode was recapturing the leveling experience in The Division, and in Destiny 2, that's mostly done in story missions, not the running around, and what we're already doing is running around the maps, so there's no need to bring that feeling back.

But if they can expand the gameplay model in a similar manner, I feel Destiny 2's had a much more solid start, for what warts it has, over The Division. Which I really wanted to love.

I actually really like Division. Playing it right now, well for the first time, not including free weekend.

World is much more immersive than in Destiny, and there are load and loads of stats to go around.

I agree that Destiny 2 has solid foundations - but, as i said above, whats the point of most activities when only your milestones offer some sort of progress for your character. Started leveling Titan because my lock is done for this week.

Lets hope they rebalance the reward system.

[Jtbrig7390]

The worst part of this whole thing...It seems they are continuously making the same mistakes but worse in D2 as far as content goes. I do not understand how you can make the same mistake twice.

Yep Bungie didn't learn from history so they are repeating it. The fact we are going to be in leviathan for the first year of Destiny 2 endgame says all I needed to know to be honest.

[Elim Garak]

Not to mention the lootboxes

[Endus]

Actually... there is plenty of content to go around. Problem is, the rewards for most content is meaningless after 265 power.

Part of the root issue might be that they've made gear so customizeable. You get a drop, and it's yours, forever. You never need it again. Level it up with Infusion. Modify the perks directly. Change the mod. A second drop won't give you anything that the first didn't already have (other than maybe a Light Level increase).

I've got over 100 weapons in my vault, just in case major changes make something the new go-to weapon. In a game like The Division, you could always get a weapon with better rolls/perks to drop, so there was some reason to keep repeating content. I thought they took that too far, but a line could be drawn somewhere between the two.

Say, keep the set base stats for weapons, add an additional randomized perk to legendaries from the existing lists, keep infusion as-is. Any Legendary drop now has the potential to have "better perks" than your existing one. A lot of the "trash" weapons stop being trash if they roll the perk they were missing, that the BIS weapon in that class has. But you're also not making it completely RNG, since if you want an scout rifle with Explosive Payload, Nameless Midnight will always work. But so would, say, a Frontier Justice that rolled that perk. Doesn't really create any scaling up in power, but adds more variety to loot drops, at least.

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Yep Bungie didn't learn from history so they are repeating it. The fact we are going to be in leviathan for the first year of Destiny 2 endgame says all I needed to know to be honest.

You realize that the Leviathan is huge, right? And the new sections aren't just going to be extra doors off the same courtyard, right?

Does it really matter that it's the Leviathan, if the layout and environment and such is all-new? You load into the same starting spot, but the door to the new content is right there, and takes you to a completely different area.

[RuneDK]

Yep Bungie didn't learn from history so they are repeating it. The fact we are going to be in leviathan for the first year of Destiny 2 endgame says all I needed to know to be honest.

Yea, I wasn't thrilled with that at all. I think Leviathan is a beautiful raid...but as a raid it's exceptionally lackluster....hopefully with these raid addons we actually fight more bosses though.

[Zephyr Storm]

Dunno, maybe its because I'm not basing my point of reference off of destiny 1 but I'm having lots of fun with this game. All the gripes I heard about before playing / continue to hear after playing are just not as significant in practice as they are on forums. The games issues seem so incredibly small compared to how much weight people seem to be giving them.

For me I think the biggest criticism I have is how much worse the campaign was vs what I had heard about it which wasn't a shining review in the first place. I'm curious how much money and time they put into getting all these big name people to voice act characters etc etc for what is probably some of the worst parts of the game. The gameplay itself is strong enough to carry the game through its flaws though, its again a lot like monster hunter. In MH the gearing system is frankly a shit show which is insane considering the entire games function is for you to hunt monsters to make gear, so that you can hunt more monsters to make more gear. You very quickly run out of reasons to continue hunting if your only goal is to get that gear set you want. Despite all that the game is still incredibly fun because the game play is just so strong it makes up for everything else.

For me the raid is fun and a nice introduction to raiding in the game, and pvp is incredibly fun and most of what's keeping me playing. If all I cared about was pve and getting my light level maxed out then yeah I'd have put the game down already but still enjoyed my time with it. It is a shooter though, so I'm glad the pvp is as fun as it is.

The gripes and complaints are all extremely valid, ESPECIALLY for D1 veterans. Just because YOU joined the franchise late doesn’t make anything we say any less valid. You’re just going through the honeymoon phase/new game smell right now is all.

And The Leviathan raid is objectively worse for most people who have experienced every raid Destroy has had to offer to date. It’s great that you’re enjoying it personally, but most D1 vets find it extremely boring and unrewarding and rightfully so.

[Aliven]

The gripes and complaints are all extremely valid, ESPECIALLY for D1 veterans. Just because YOU joined the franchise late doesn’t make anything we say any less valid. You’re just going through the honeymoon phase/new game smell right now is all.

And The Leviathan raid is objectively worse for most people who have experienced every raid Destroy has had to offer to date. It’s great that you’re enjoying it personally, but most D1 vets find it extremely boring and unrewarding and rightfully so.

Oh no. He has fun. Better destroy it with subjective complains.

[Jtbrig7390]

You realize that the Leviathan is huge, right? And the new sections aren't just going to be extra doors off the same courtyard, right?

Does it really matter that it's the Leviathan, if the layout and environment and such is all-new? You load into the same starting spot, but the door to the new content is right there, and takes you to a completely different area.

Its lazy design and I already hated part 1 I'm not going to like Part 2 and 3.

There is no lore reason to be there at all. If you like the raid then fine different strokes, I think it is the 2nd worse raid they have ever done. (Crota's end is first just because its still to this day broke as fuck).

I had my fill of hedonism bot's palace.

Would you like to have spent all of Cata in Dragon Soul or all of Wrath in Icecrown Citadel?

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Oh no. He has fun. Better destroy it with subjective complains.

Those subjective complaints are shared by a vast amount of the community so they hold some weight. Destiny 2 is already bleeding players and has likely sold like shit on PC.

If it didn't sell like shit they would be bragging about it.

[Endus]

Its lazy design and I already hated part 1 I'm not going to like Part 2 and 3.

Well, at least you've decided how you feel based on nothing, then.

There is no lore reason to be there at all.

"No lore reason"?

1> The Leviathan eats planets. It's starting with Nessus. It won't stop with Nessus. We either stop the Leviathan, or everything dies.

2> There's a strong possibility that Calus is the champion of the Darkness, the antithesis of the Light, which is behind the Traveler. So it's not just about our solar system, it's the fundamental Light vs Dark.

There's plenty of "lore reason".

I had my fill of hedonism bot's palace.

The palace was the first raid. The second isn't in the palace at all.

Would you like to have spent all of Cata in Dragon Soul or all of Wrath in Icecrown Citadel?

That's not comparable. Those are single raids.

The Leviathan is bigger than planets. It's more like complaining that Icecrown Citadel sucks because it's in Northrend like Ulduar which you've already done.

Those subjective complaints are shared by a vast amount of the community so they hold some weight. Destiny 2 is already bleeding players and has likely sold like shit on PC.

If it didn't sell like shit they would be bragging about it.

https://www.pcgamesn.com/destiny-2/destiny-2-earnings

Destiny 2 is objectively doing better than the first. Better sales, better player retention, etc. While we don't have data on PC-specific stuff yet, claiming that the top-selling console game of the year is a failure is really freaking silly.

[Aliven]

Its lazy design and I already hated part 1 I'm not going to like Part 2 and 3.

There is no lore reason to be there at all. If you like the raid then fine different strokes, I think it is the 2nd worse raid they have ever done. (Crota's end is first just because its still to this day broke as fuck).

I had my fill of hedonism bot's palace.

Would you like to have spent all of Cata in Dragon Soul or all of Wrath in Icecrown Citadel?

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Those subjective complaints are shared by a vast amount of the community so they hold some weight. Destiny 2 is already bleeding players and has likely sold like shit on PC.

If it didn't sell like shit they would be bragging about it.

Popularity of opinion doesnt make that opinion valid or worthwhile.

[Jtbrig7390]

--snip--

Thanks for showing how ignorant you are of Destiny as a whole, Replying to you is quite pointless.

When you decide to spend 2 mins on google to see how much of what you just posted is wrong get back to me because its not worth my time. Even more so your comments about Leviathan.