Ok, going to write something nice for once. Let me tell you, I loved the original Destiny. It was probably my primary reason for owning a console at that time and I played the crap out of it. When Destiny 2 came out I was rightly excited, though not sure why we needed a whole new game. That excitement waned a bit when it became apparent that this was now an Activision/ Blizzard product that you needed a Bliz account to play.

Still, I bought the game, and the original Season Pass with all upcoming DLCs without a thought, but I found things strange. Why didn't your character talk anymore? What was this push towards microtransactions and eververse exclusives. What happened to the intricate storytelling? The game was shallow and the first two expansions were tossed out without much thought, took a few hours to complete, and then back to the meaningless grind. You want new equipment? Run the same 3 strikes over and over or do some PVP. They had a huge game with Destiny and so much content to keep you busy, but all those planets, and all that content was gone. I said, screw this and uninstalled. Oh, a new Leviathan Raid? Eh. Oh another new Leviathan raid? what? Oh a third new Leviathan raid? I stopped paying attention after that.

Fast forward to the news that Bungie was leaving Blizzard with full ownership of the game. Guess they didn't make the same mistake they had with Microsoft. Anyway, that got me paying attention again. At first there were small changes. Eververse retreated into the background, microtransactions calmed down, the studio announced that they wouldn't rush out content until it was ready like they had with Curse of Osiris and Warmind. They started a new season pass with a free rewards path that included exotics, the seasons become weekly stories where content was expanded upon like a good TV series. Each week a new episode and some new missions.

With the announcement that there would be no Destiny 3, only the continued expansion of the Destiny story through Destiny 2, they hooked me back in. I wanted to see what this was all about, and with the final arrival of the enemy that had been spoken of in lore and whispers since the original Destiny game, I wanted to get back on the train.

With Beyond Light, Bungie has made a clear declaration that they are doing things their way now. If that was not apparent their shelving of the original content speaks volumes. It's no accident that all the work they did under Activision was taken away by the Darkness. While still part of the lore, the Red War, Curse of Osiris, and Warmind are gone from the campaign, replaced with a brand new New Player Experience that tries to get new players caught up with what's going on or at least introduces them to the systems of the game. New players no longer have to sludge through hours of campaign, or pay for a skip, to jump strait into the current story.

Each Season, Player's levels are set to the maximum from the previous season, so it's not hard to get to the next level cap well before the season ends, even if you're a casual player, and there are many ways to level and get better gear. While the strike playlist still exists, and PVP is still a constant, there is now the gambit where two teams compete to summon a primevil and kill it before the other team, there are Nightmare hunts on the Moon, there are Hero story quests, there are dungeons, there are bounties and daily and weekly missions. There are quests for legendary and exotic weapons, and each week sees everything refreshed and another chapter of the story. Will the Darkness bring about a new collapse? Why is the Darkness so interested in the Exos, what is Savathun plotting? Will your character be twisted by the darkness as you use more of its power? I don't know the answers to these questions, but I'm exited to find out.

Ok, going to write something nice for once. Let me tell you, I loved the original Destiny. It was probably my primary reason for owning a console at that time and I played the crap out of it. When Destiny 2 came out I was rightly excited, though not sure why we needed a whole new game. That excitement waned a bit when it became apparent that this was now an Activision/ Blizzard product that you needed a Bliz account to play. Still, I bought the game, and the original Season Pass with all upcoming DLCs without a thought, but I found things strange. Why didn't your character talk anymore? What was this push towards microtransactions and eververse exclusives. What happened to the intricate storytelling? The game was shallow and the first two expansions were tossed out without much thought, took a few hours to complete, and then back to the meaningless grind. You want new equipment? Run the same 3 strikes over and over or do some PVP. They had a huge game with Destiny and so much content to keep you busy, but all those planets, and all that content was gone. I said, screw this and uninstalled. Oh, a new Leviathan Raid? Eh. Oh another new Leviathan raid? what? Oh a third new Leviathan raid? I stopped paying attention after that. Fast forward to the news that Bungie was leaving Blizzard with full ownership of the game. Guess they didn't make the same mistake they had with Microsoft. Anyway, that got me paying attention again. At first there were small changes. Eververse retreated into the background, microtransactions calmed down, the studio announced that they wouldn't rush out content until it was ready like they had with Curse of Osiris and Warmind. They started a new season pass with a free rewards path that included exotics, the seasons become weekly stories where content was expanded upon like a good TV series. Each week a new episode and some new missions. With the announcement that there would be no Destiny 3, only the continued expansion of the Destiny story through Destiny 2, they hooked me back in. I wanted to see what this was all about, and with the final arrival of the enemy that had been spoken of in lore and whispers since the original Destiny game, I wanted to get back on the train. With Beyond Light, Bungie has made a clear declaration that they are doing things their way now. If that was not apparent their shelving of the original content speaks volumes. It's no accident that all the work they did under Activision was taken away by the Darkness. While still part of the lore, the Red War, Curse of Osiris, and Warmind are gone from the campaign, replaced with a brand new New Player Experience that tries to get new players caught up with what's going on or at least introduces them to the systems of the game. New players no longer have to sludge through hours of campaign, or pay for a skip, to jump strait into the current story. Each Season, Player's levels are set to the maximum from the previous season, so it's not hard to get to the next level cap well before the season ends, even if you're a casual player, and there are many ways to level and get better gear. While the strike playlist still exists, and PVP is still a constant, there is now the gambit where two teams compete to summon a primevil and kill it before the other team, there are Nightmare hunts on the Moon, there are Hero story quests, there are dungeons, there are bounties and daily and weekly missions. There are quests for legendary and exotic weapons, and each week sees everything refreshed and another chapter of the story. Will the Darkness bring about a new collapse? Why is the Darkness so interested in the Exos, what is Savathun plotting? Will your character be twisted by the darkness as you use more of its power? I don't know the answers to these questions, but I'm exited to find out.