Destiny 2 The Final Shape DLC Review (Xbox)

Have you ever thought to yourself, “Man, I really miss playing a game from my childhood or one that I used to love playing for hours on end?” As gamers, we chase the thrill of the next shiny thing, the dopamine rush of trying or seeing something new. When Destiny was first released, gamers were excited about what Bungie would do to step out of the shadow of the Halo franchise. After the success of the original Destiny, many hoped that Bungie would improve on Destiny and that Destiny 2 would be as great of a sequel as Halo 2. At the start, the Destiny 2 release was marred with controversy, however, over the last 7 years, Bungie has continuously worked on improving the game.

Story

Before diving into Destiny 2 The Final Shape, we had to catch up on the game’s story. In order to catch players up on the story, Bungie released a timeline; that highlighted key moments from each DLC since the game’s launch. The last DLC we reviewed for Destiny 2 was Forsaken but the last one we played was Destiny 2: Beyond Light. With that in mind, we had four years of content to catch up. Playing through the timeline mission gave us an idea of what had happened since we last played; however, after talking with one of our Destiny fanatic friends and playing the missions with him, he was able to explain different aspects of the DLCs that we missed.

Destiny 2 The Final Shape has the Guardian and the Vanguard working together to stop the Witness from turning the universe and everything in it to stone. At the end of the Lightfall DLC, the Witness enters the Traveler planning to corrupt it and use its light to execute its plans. Luckily the Vanguard has a secret weapon to help them access the Travler, Mara Sov, leader of the Scorn.

With only a limited amount of time available, the Vanguard must enter the Traveler and make their way through to find the Witness. Upon entering the Traveler, players are reacquainted with a familiar friend and environment for Destiny 1. As the player goes deeper into the Traveler, the environment becomes more warped and dilapidated. As players get closer to the Witness, they learn that can destroy the witness by using his own tactics against him. At the end of the campaign with new allies, you and eleven other players launch an assault with the Vanguard and other entities from the universe to take down the Witness.

Story Impressions

When it comes to Destiny 2 The Final Shape‘s story, there are some positives and negatives. The return of Cayde-6 (Nathan Fillion) made us choke up and feel like we were reacquainted with an old friend. Returning to the old tower and getting to see it after a long time was like we were returning home after being on a long journey. Also seeing the whole universe work together to take on one big bad after fighting against each other for so long felt like a long journey reaching a dramatic conclusion. Sadly, with the way the DLC ends, we can’t see where the Destiny franchise will go next without creating a new big bad.

Although it was nice to see everyone work together the ending felt a bit hollow; the noble sacrifice did feel like they were finally taking responsibility for their actions and being unselfish. Now, normally that noble sacrifice feels like a great heroic gesture, however, with the passing of Lance Reddick, it felt like Zavala should have been the one; now, this isn’t to say Keith David did a poor job, but you can clearly tell that he isn’t the same and such it pulls you out of the experience.

The overall story feels like one last grand hurrah, but again, it’s hard to picture what comes next. Now, we still have to complete the raid, but will be enough to keep the story going forward; we can’t say.

Gameplay

Destiny 2 The Final Shape gives plays about 10 to 20 hours of gameplay between the story, strikes, and the raid. Since the last time we played Destiny 2, the gameplay feels more polished with bullets registering more precisely. Playing the game, it really seemed like you have to be constantly grinding to get better gear. Yes, the game does offer a catch-up token, but it just brings your light level up without significantly improving your gear.

Destiny 2 The Final Shape DLC feels less like a game about combat/looting and more so focused on puzzles and platforming. I can’t tell you how many times I checked out or decided to scroll on my phone while doing platforming or puzzles rather than taking everything. Yes, some platforming in a game is fine, especially where jet packs are involved but almost every mission had some form of platforming requirement. This gameplay aspect made time feel like it was crawling rather than being an enjoyable experience.

The DLC story missions felt vastly different than prior story missions not only due to puzzles and platforming but more so because they revolved mostly around Crow and Cayde 6’s relationship or the other vanguard’s interpersonal relationships. The final mission being a 12-person assault on the witness was also a cool touch compared to the normal three-person party size or the six-person raid size.

Prismatic & Modifications

The game also adds a new ability that works on top of your primary ability. The Prismatic ability is described as a Coalescence of light and dark. Through missions and the levels, players can find Prismatic pools that charge the Prismatic meter; certain enemies will have a prismatic shield around them and you need the Prismatic ability to be active in order to damage them. The game offers more customization options for the abilities the player can use. Players can modify the Prismatic ability and choose which abilities they want to use from the different primary classes.

Overall

Overall the gameplay and story of Destiny 2 The Final Shape were fun to experience and see what happened next, however, the timeline explanation of events failed to truly explain the situation. If you have been a dedicated fan of Destiny 2 through thick and thin, then you probably loved the DLC. Sadly, the lack of a deep retelling through the timeline didn’t make us care more about the characters we were interacting with. Outside of Cayde 6’s return, everyone else could not have been there or been interchangeable and we could see the outcome remaining the same.

The gameplay is smoother than the last time we played, however, it was easy to tell that there was a difference in caliber between seasoned veterans and new players. In Crucible, things did feel a bit more balanced but the Titan felt a bit weaker.

So if you are a fan of Destiny and have been keeping up with it since the beginning, then we’d recommend picking up Destiny 2 The Final Shape. If you haven’t played every DLC but do want to catch up and see how Destiny 2 potentially ends, then it would be worth picking up the other DLCs, potentially through the legacy collection, and playing through those in order before jumping into Destiny 2 The Final Shape.

A review code for Destiny 2 The Final Shape was provided for review purposes on the Xbox Series X.