So far I have sunk in a little over 10 hours into the new Forsaken expansion for Bungie’s Destiny 2. The shooter has had it’s struggles over the course of 2017, with many of its player-base leaving after the first expansion, Curse of Osiris. Bungie has gone to great lengths to not only retain those players, but also bring in some new ones as well. They even had Destiny 2 be the free game of this month for PlayStation Plus players. All of these efforts clearly show in Forsaken. Bungie has completely revamped the game to make it more accessible, while also taking into the account the criticisms from the community.
Forsaken begins with a bang, and it tries to keep that pace going throughout. The expansion’s opening mission is a blast to play, and it’s Destiny at its most cinematic. Yes, Cayde-6 is killed off in the opening moments. Bungie knew that killing off their beloved character would evoke an emotional reaction from its players. From there on, I was finally motivated to continue on with a Destiny story, something that I’d never thought I’d say. I genuinely want to get revenge as not only do we lose a fan-favorite character, but the villain, Uldren, immediately establishes himself as someone you just want to hate (maybe it’s the hair). He isn’t anything special and won’t be making any “Top Video Game Villains” list, but he holds his own and works for the tone Bungie is trying to set.
Another big reason that I’m invested in the narrative is that our playable character finally speaks again! It’s something so simple, but yet adds so much depth and connection to how we play the game. Our character is quick to exact revenge on Uldren, and it creates this feeling of isolation when you have to go at it on your own since Zavala doesn’t want to take on another war. Quite frankly, it makes more sense story-wise to take on the campaign alone, as this revenge mission is ours alone to bear. Still, joining up with friends is what Destiny is all about. So yes, the campaign so far is enough to keep me invested and continues to keep me invested as I take down all the enemies in my path. Speaking of enemies, there is a section early on where players are tasked with hunting down Barons, which are essentially like lieutenants to our main villain. These are some truly memorable boss fights for the Destiny series, and I hope this trend continues throughout the rest of the campaign.
As far as the game’s structure goes, it’s still the same game, but with some notable tweaks to make it feel different. The biggest change to the overall structure is the inclusion of Bounties, which have been sorely missed from the first Destiny. For those who didn’t play the first game, Bounties are essentially just challenges to take on throughout the game. Getting new gear from certain NPCs still consists of collecting tokens and resources, however this time around, we are able to collect even more through Bounties. For example, Vanguard tokens can now be earned from doing Bounties within a strike, instead of just finishing them. Adding Bounties really adds to the game feeling more productive this time around, and feel less grindy, even though it still is. We also have the complete overhaul of the inventory system. Now we can equip Sniper Rifles and Shotguns in our top two weapon slots, something that shouldn’t have been an issue in the first place, but hey it shows once again that Bungie is listening!
I haven’t delved into Gambit as much yet to give a full-fledged opinion, so I will save that for the full review later. All in all, The Forsaken is the best version of Destiny 2 we’ve had so far. The structure, the narrative, the progression, it all ties together so neatly that it makes me want to start the game over from the beginning. I still have more of the campaign to finish, and the Raid comes out on September 14, so there’s plenty of more Destiny to play throughout the week. Be on the lookout for a full review later!
Activision provided a copy of the game.
