I have tried for years to get a review or recommendation for destiny 2 down, but every time I tried it ended up being too long, so I'll try and keep it short this time around.

TL;DR : The game isn't handled right. Between inconsistent quality of the content you pay for, the insane amounts of micro-transactions and ways they monetize the game, and terrible - or rather lack of - introduction for new players into the story, I can't recommend it.

I would've put more highlight on how long I have spent with the series, both D1 and D2, but it really doesn't matter. The reason I can't recommend the game anymore, and in all honest why I haven't been able to recommend it for years really, is that it feels like a mishandled game more often than not.

First off, the quality of content isn't consistent. There seems to be a cycle with it, where we get really bad or mediocre content, followed by fantastic content drops or expansions, leading back into bad or mediocre content again. Like a roller coaster.
From the terrible D2 launch state, to Forsaken. From the forgettable Shadowkeep, further down to sunsetting in Beyond Light. From the phenomenal Witch Queen, down to the terrible Lightfall. You get the picture, and I would've delved into each of these expansions in turn, but we'd be here all day.

And sure you have seasons in between these major content drops, and they were great in the beginning but it didn't take long before they started to feel very samey. I like the story content we got with them, but the weekly drip-feed and the overall seasonal activities got old really fast.

Point being that you just never really know with Bungie, you might think that they finally hit their stride and that they surly know what they're doing, and then they flounder what they have and take steps back. Like two steps forward, one step back. We are obviously better off, gameplay wise, than we were with the launch of D2 but it doesn't stop the steps back from grinding on your patience.. Were this free content it'd be one thing, but when you pay for something that does not live up to expectations it becomes a problem. There's a lot to be said about expectations to begin with, but again this isn't the place to get into it.

Secondly, the way they have increasingly monetized the game over the years. It's a game that demands a fairly high entry price, but monetizes itself as if it were fully F2P. As it stands, the game is more 'Free to Try' than anything, if you actually want to experience the game, you need to cough up for the most recent content, like the expansion or season, especially if you want to do anything fun like dungeons, raids, trials (pvp) etc.

And within each season and expansion hides even more micro-transactions. There's been a giant debate around this for as long as I can remember, but it usually boils down to: "They're cosmetic micro-transactions, so it's fine". However when one of the major parts of the endgame, whether you take personal part in it or not, is focused around cosmetics, it becomes a problem. And when the prices for these cosmetics are usually unreasonably high considering the sheer amount of them in the game, it doesn't make things better.

I have spent €100s on this game, through getting the expansions, seasons and the occasional silver bundle to buy cosmetic sets, so I know I have been part of the problem, but there were ways to justify it like: Destiny 2 is the only game I really play, so spending on it would be like getting another game or; The money I spend now will go towards making the game better in the future.
PVP remained largely neglected, content wise, for years, and the core strike playlist is more or less a joke, with most of the new content being reworked old seasonal activities. And lets not even bother talking about Gambit, for it would be giving the mode more attention than Bungie has over the last few years. They rake in money through expansion and micro-transaction sales, but it doesn't feel like it goes back into making the game better.

Thirdly, and going back a bit, sunsetting. The act of removing old content in order to make space for new stuff. It makes sense to remove content that is barely touched in order to trim bloat from the game, but that crosses a line, personally, when the content removed is content that was paid for. Furthermore, for a new player to insert themselves into the story at this point requires a lot of legwork on their part because of it.

Because sunsetting removed not only the base D2 campaign, but stuff up to, and including forsaken, the only way to catch up on that is through YouTube videos. Beyond that, seasons are sunset as well, which means the seasonal story content goes with it, and there's a lot of it. And since Bungie, for whatever reason, never bothered to make recap cinematics you are again forced to find and watch videos on YouTube to cover what you missed or don't have a chance to see for yourself. And while there are plenty of good content creators out there covering this stuff, it nevertheless hurts the new player experience.

If only one of these problems existed at a time, I might've been able to recommend it, because the game is solid and downright amazing when things are good. But between paying for inconsistent content quality, terrible monetization and new player experience I can't recommend it.

Turns out I couldn't make it shorter after all.