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Better Late Than Never Review: Destiny




Well the sequel is out and has been for long enough that real game journalists are giving their take on it so I feel justified in tackling the original. Lucky for you I didn't play bungie's new IP until right before 2 came out. So rest assured, this is still a better late than never take even if this game is 3 years old.

This is the first game I've reviewed that I really didn't like. Not from the get go I mean. For years people have been trying to sell me on Destiny and for years I planned to get onboard but I never got around to it. It took me worrying that the servers might shutdown with the new one to get me over to the GameStop and buy a used copy.

Destiny then is a FPS with RPG elements with a fair bit of MMO added in.  Players can Sorta but not quite like Borderlands. From what I can tell the story is that an alien intelligence called the Traveler came to earth, boosting our technology. It was followed by something bad which has now reduced humanity to a single city.  You have been chosen by this intelligence and have been brought back to life to...save the Galaxy?  Sounds cool but that's a premise not a plot.  From there I only kinda followed what was happening.

There's a whole lot to Destiny. Three different races to choose from when creating a character as well as three distinct classes for the player to try as well.  Each class has their own tech tree and subclasses and there's a Boarderlands level of guns, all the different classes of which feel and play differently. The locations you visit are breathtaking and have a unique sci-fi feel to them unlike any other series.  The whole experience is immersive for a bit but then it kinda...drifts off.

So what's the hold up?  Well it's a lot of little things and one big one. There isn't a ton of direction in the game to the point where objective markers on the massive levels turn off.  Many of the features in the hub area are not explained, shops replenish weekly instead of daily, loading times are long, and the normal MMO problems of constantly having to switch out to the incrementally better armor and weapons while slightly higher level enemies take an hour to kill.

The game also forces you to play with other people if anyone is in the same area of the game. This can be particularly annoying as it tends to A) Pair you with over-leveled players who rush through the level and related plot without you or B) Kick you from your game (and level progress) and throw you into a different game. At least the Division had the option of going solo if you wanted to.

I harp on this because for the first few levels when it was just me the game was fun, intense, even scary at times. Your robotic companion is funny when you can hear him and his dialogue is part of the context. Sadly even these bits of the plot are sacrificed on the altar of multiplayer.

The good:
-the game is beautiful with lots of places to visit.
-"defend this thing" segments are intense and fun.

The bad:
-the story is hard to follow at the best of times.
-forced co-op is awful.

The major failing in Destiny is the only one that matters. The story and the presentation of that story. Context made The Division for me because it grounded the action in real places so I could overlook the obvious RPG/MMO elements. In Destiny this isn't present and without context for most of what's happening, much of the weight is lost. My ghost is nervous about the upcoming enemies but I still can't figure out why they have caves on the moon...

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