Destiny 2 Update Brings Back the Fun, But Don't Pre-Order Just Yet.
Bungie has just recently rolled out Destiny 2's 2.0 update, only a week before the next DLC, Forsaken. The update came with plenty of changes to the game and preloaded parts of the Forsaken expansion. Bungie has taken flack for some parts of Destiny 2, especially after the game made some changes that went entirely against what the former Destiny did correctly. Destiny 2 has had issues with their storytelling, loot based grind, boss encounters and PVP balancing.
Bungie has listened to the player base and made some serious changes to the game's systems. You can read all of the changes on Bungie's post, but I feel like Bungie has not earned my full trust in Destiny 2. Not enough for a blind pre-order.
Yesterday I logged on to Destiny to try out the new weapon system. Update 2.0 has shuffled the weapons around; changing how we carry our weapons and what type of ammo bricks we have to pick up. The system that Bungie has worked out here feels good. Primary weapons with white ammo bricks play like the first line weapons whether they are equipped in our first gun slot or the second. The weapons that use special green ammo bricks are the ones that have received the most change. Green ammo brick weapons can go in either your first or second slot depending on the gun, but the game limits your ammo per brick pick-up. The change will allow you to use those weapons freely but restricts the special weapon abuse in PVE and PVP game modes.
Pink or Purple - depending on who you ask - bricks represent the heavy weapons. Bungie called these "Power" weapons when Destiny 2 first launched and while that may have been a decent name at the time, the word "Power" never really stuck with the Destiny community. Destiny players continue to call them "Heavy" weapons - a habit formed by playing the original Destiny - because that's how the guns should feel. We only break out those weapons when we need high damage, and we need it fast.
Patch 2.0 reverts back to that feeling. We have shotguns, sniper rifles, grenade launchers and rockets in the heavy weapon slot, but each gun does the high damage of a heavy weapon. They hit hard, and they hit fast. I shouldn't have to switch to the heavy weapon to kill low tier enemies. I want to use heavy guns on boss encounters.
Destiny 2's PVP scene has been just about everywhere in the balancing spectrum. Year One of Destiny was a primary weapon meta which worked for quite some time. It was fairly even in a one-on-one gunfight. Players had to rely on the team shooting to take out an enemy quickly. There were no heroic moments or scary close calls. Destiny 2 PVP was a few teammates at one end of the lane shooting another group of teammates on the other side of the path. Where is the fun?
Looter Shooter games should not be competitive in my opinion. While I want there to be a competition, I can't see an even match happening when you have abilities like Nova Bombs, Arc Strikers, and Golden Guns. I want to look at ridiculous things happen in the Crucible when I am playing and watching others play on Twitch or YouTube. Space magic should be just that; Magical.
Update 2.0 has lowered the time to kill and brought back shotguns, fusions, and snipers to regular gameplay. You spawn in with a small amount of green ammo so those special weapons won't last you a full five-minute game. Your enemies will drop more ammo for you if you manage to get the kill but is that is if you can secure the kill. The new PVP meta of Destiny 2 will need some more time to be ironed out, but the little that I was able to play was full of those magical heroic moments I missed.
All of the changes I have experienced since 2.0 have been fun. Story Trailers for Forsaken burn me up with anger after witnessing what Uldren has done to my favorite Guardian, Cayde. By all accounts, I should have given Bungie my money four times over, but I am still not ready to pull that Ace of Spades trigger. I pre-ordered Destiny 2 and its first DLC season for USD 100 just after the announcement. I didn't even wait until the end of the first trailer. After playing the original Destiny, I thought that Bungie would take everything they learned and put it into Destiny 2. I am realizing now that Bungie is only part of Destiny. The Destiny franchise is a giant moving ship with an enormous crew working on every deck. I should be surprised that they can make the changes as fast as they have.
Activision, High Moon Studios, Vicarious Visions, and Blur Studios are all companies that work on some part of Destiny. The studios range from publishing to development, and they can't just change a game's direction overnight. I am by no means an experienced game developer, but I can understand the scale of the job they are performing.
Destiny 2 seems to be moving in a proper direction for now, but I think I am going to wait to see more. I want Destiny 2 to come back to the fun PVP moments, compelling story, compelling boss design, and new weapons to find. So, I'll wait for the prominent YouTube creators to say what they feel about the game. I'll wait for some website game reviews, and until then I can keep some money in my pocket. If I can wait long enough, they might even fix a bug or two.
In this day and age of the always evolving video game, why should I give money before I know all the details? Movies, games, and books don't come to me any quicker if I give up my money faster. So, while Destiny 2 Forsaken looks like it might be a fun experience, I think I will hold out a little longer.
Destiny 2 Forsaken releases on September 4th.