LTTP: Destiny 2
Over the years, there have been three-to-four times that I have sat down determined to get into Destiny. It always starts out well enough but once you start familiarizing yourself with light levels, strikes, raids, crafting, Travelers, crucibles, and exotics, it quickly becomes an overwhelming amount of information to process and I hit a wall. And then there is the overall mission structure itself, which has always been the hardest thing for me to embrace. So much of Destiny’s gameplay revolves around backtracking throughout the same locations and fighting off waves of enemies as your Ghost hacks into a terminal. That grinding-style of gameplay suits some, but I’ve always gotten bored with it quickly.
At the end of 2020, I found myself with an abundance of PTO at work that I needed to use before I lost it. I took the final two weeks of the year off, and since I couldn’t do much of anything else with our never-ending global pandemic, I decided that with the release of Destiny 2’s latest expansion, Beyond Light, I was going to sit down and give the game one more shot.
Since the game had just recently been optimized for the Xbox Series X, I downloaded the game on there and started fresh. Having played here-and-there on the Playstation over the years, I think that starting from scratch was exactly what I needed. I spec’d out a Hunter and dove in. First off, I will say that the game looks unbelievable in its current form on the next-gen systems. Bungie’s projects have always had a unique art style and vivid color scheme that lends itself well to games, but in 4K, with HDR, and running at 60 frames per second, it’s stunning. Yet, still, I found myself beginning to hit that wall pretty early on. “What am I supposed to be doing? What is all of this stuff?” It was a lot to process. I didn’t like my weapons, I was underpowered for the type of enemies that I was encountering, and, overall, despite how gorgeous the game was, I just wasn’t enjoying my time with it. Upon entering the tower for the first time, I nearly quit out completely. “Go meet this person. Go meet that person. Craft this person a cookie.” Information overload would be an understatement. But this is a game that I have heard my friends and colleagues at work talk about for years. I’ve listened to hours upon hours of discussions about this game on so many podcasts that I listen to. What was I missing? I needed to see what they found so appealing with this game before writing it off as not my thing for good.
And then it clicked.
After having my ass handed to me on Europa, I backed out and tried reacquainting myself with Destiny’s mechanics while running around the European Dead Zone. It was here that things started to change for me. I found a gun that I liked. Something that provided a nice punch and had a satisfying recoil. I found another gun that complimented it; it had range and allowed me to rack up headshots. Then, instead of having my special weapon be a grenade launcher that took 5-6 seconds to reload after firing a shot, I equipped a gigantic sword that allowed me to quickly slash enemies while in the third person. Just as I would begin to fall in love with my loadout, I would gather some loot and find a weapon that I enjoyed even more. Now, instead of being annoyed by the waves of enemies, I was excited to test out my new toys on them. One of the best feelings that gaming provides is when you reach that God-like power level. Whether it be Fallout, The Witcher, Elder Scrolls, or anything else along those lines, you begin to reach this point where your skill level is so high that you feel untouchable. You have the confidence that you can handle anything and you’re actively seeking out stronger challengers. Ghost of Tsushima was one of the better examples of this most recently. “Bring it on, bitch.” That’s the sensation that Destiny feeds off of.
One of the first public events that you can join in Destiny 2 involves you squaring off with a massive walking tank. It’s very intimidating the first time that you encounter it. Up until that point, all the enemies were your size and were defeated with a few trigger squeezes. Even with other players to help you out, it takes forever to defeat. You’re aiming for the tank’s vulnerable spots but your weapons aren’t doing a lot of damage and you’re also being attacked by waves of other enemies. It can take upwards to 10-15 minutes of constant “pew pew pew” before the tank finally falls. By the time that you run over to gather what little loot that drops, a new walking tank drops and the entire process begin again. When I re-visited that battle with my slightly more seasoned hunter, things went a little differently. Instead of hiding and popping out for the occasional rifle shot, I triple-jumped into battle, equipped my sword, took a few swings at the legs of the tank, and the tank was defeated within seconds. When the next tank fell from the sky shortly thereafter, I disposed of it just as quickly. All of the other players–who were all level 1 beginners–ran out of hiding and took their share of the spoils. I was the hero and it felt really good.
Destiny doesn’t let you ride that high for very long. Once you have progressed to a certain level, things will scale to retain the challenge. You will go from wiping out waves of enemies within seconds…headshot over here, melee attack over there…and then you’ll run into an enemy that humbles your ass and has you retreating to look for something stronger.
It’s a high that you’re always chasing.
That’s the appeal. Destiny is a drug that you invest hours into so that you can watch damage numbers go higher like a crazy person. It’s oddly addicting. Now that I’ve begun to understand what makes Destiny so enjoyable, I find myself wanting to dive into it even deeper. There is so much content to play, so many new guns to shoot, and so many more shots of dopamine to loot.
Y’all, Destiny is good.
